Convention Tabulator – Semiotic Tool #2 of the series
Breakthrough using ‘recombination’
Useful for:
Marketers
Innovators &
Advertisers
Semiotics is the science of meaning
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Take at look at this picture, you probably recognise the style.
Semioticians call this a ‘Code,’ namely, Impressionism.
Let’s explore a bit of jargon to get going....
semiotic-analysis™ – see
2
Semiotic codes operate as a system with scale
E.g.
Zeit Code – Culture versus nature
Uber Code – Western high culture
Meta Code – French high culture
Code - Impressionism
Sub Code - Park scenes
Meaning units
Code Device - Women holding sun umbrellas
Z
Bear in mind some definitions
to begin unwrapping semiotics
 Codes operate on different scales going from mega big to very
small and precise.
 A Zeit code – is a broad set of metaphors operating internationally.
E.g. The idea of culture being civilised versus nature as uncivilised.
 An Uber code operates across a continent or region that has
cultural similarities and describes a common concept e.g. Western
high culture
 A Meta code is an overall theme within a Uber Code e.g. French
‘High Culture’ which often brings to mind art (painting)
 A Code is expression of that theme e.g. Impressionism as an artistic
movement expressed by painters such as Seurat or Monet
 A Sub Code is a further atomisation or expression of the Code
which is common to that Code e.g. scenes in parks were common
Codes of Impressionism
 A Code device is a part of a Sub Code which is recognisable as a
part of the whole as you see it again and again e.g. People
holding umbrellas to create shade from the sunshine.
Semiotics is the science of meaning cont’d
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Let’s get back to the picture
Most people look at the picture and see a French impressionist
painting
You don’t consciously have to look at the umbrella, the
clothes, the river, the use of colour (Sub Codes) – you just
instantly know this overall style
There’s a lot of information here you don’t consciously process
(Sub Codes) but they are essential to understanding the
overall picture
So - a meaning of genuine impressionist painting that most
people would agree on is ‘refined culture’
Yet this is trash can impressionism!
The painting is made up of soda cans which transforms this
visual into something else entirely
It’s meaning becomes pop-art impressionism, effectively
perverting intellectual culture.
semiotic-analysis™ – see
5
Semiotics is the science of meaning cont’d
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Often we don’t understand how we arrive at meaning so
quickly. We just do it
Semiotics breaks down meaning into units (Sub Codes and
Code Devices) which can be recombined to create new
meanings
So you can make the familiar strange very quickly by using
different meaning units (e.g. soda cans)
Check it out - the cans are easy to see in the umbrella in
picture “A” below and become less obvious as you move to
picture “B” and “C” respectively
A
semiotic-analysis™ – see
B
C
6
Semiotics is the science of meaning cont’d
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All you have to do is take the basic structure (the Code – in
this example, Impressionism) and change meaning fast by
using different meaning units (e.g. Soda cans)
So in this example we move from a meaning of refined culture
for a ‘pure’ impressionist painting
And end up at a meaning of pop culture impressionism or
more specifically trash can impressionism simply by using soda
cans to create art
Applying recombination in this way is a low risk, high reward
approach to generating breakthrough comms & products and
services
semiotic-analysis™ – see
7
Demo of the power of your unconscious to
recognise codes & meaning
Read this....
Olny srmat poelpe can raed tihs. cdnuolt blveiee taht I cluod aulaclty uesdnatnrd waht I
was rdanieg. The phaonmneal pweor of the hmuan mnid, aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at
Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn't mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny
iprmoatnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be in the rghit pclae. The rset can be a taotl
mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit a porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos
not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe. Amzanig huh? yaeh and I awlyas
tghuhot slpeling was ipmorantt!
Those whacky kids at Cambridge, what will they come up with next?
Language is a complicated multi layered code. It’s so powerful that our
unconscious recognises the code even when it’s been messed with. You
have just experienced the power of your unconscious to recognise
codes and meaning.
semiotic-analysis™ – see
8
And de-code intuitively if a pizza restaurant is
authentic, fashionable or status driven
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You tap into knowledge that sits there in the background and ‘read’
these different pizza restaurants.
 How?
 You ‘read’ the pizza restaurant ‘Code’ overall to get a feeling
without even consciously thinking about it
 You don’t look at all the Sub codes (e.g. Floor type + furniture type +
pictures) add them up and go ‘ah this is a so and so type of pizza
restaurant’
 Instead you are an instinctive semiotician – the trouble is you don’t
know what you are doing and how to apply it systematically or how
to escape your unconscious assumptions around Codes.
semiotic-analysis™ – see
9
Example of semiotic recombination
Let’s...
1. Find the ‘Codes’ of an advertising category; and
2. Use them to create breakthrough advertising
Bear in mind...
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To do this at a ‘high’ level takes years of practice!
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However anyone can do this basic exercise and benefit hugely from
it
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The end result of the exercise is it allows you to spot new ways of
‘recombining’ standard codes of advertising
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The reason you might want to do this is a follows - it can create
breakthrough territories to explore at low risk – this is a real example
which came through from agency training
semiotic-analysis™ – see
10
Breakthrough with semiotics - Step 1
To begin, we will identify the standard themes (Sub Codes) you
would expect to see on air travel ads (Code). To warm up, here’s
some visuals for some key themes you’ll spot
Discovery
Comfort
Service
Step 1 – Figure 1 – Sub codes
We fill in the Sub Codes across the top of the grid as noted below,
leaving the left hand column blank until Step 2.
Sub Code =
Discover
semiotic-analysis™ – see
Sub Code =
Comfort
Sub Code =
Service
12
Breakthrough with semiotics - Step 2
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You need to get your head into the category fast – so:
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Look at 10 typical airline ads on YouTube
When you watch the adverts, have front of mind the airline Sub
codes noted in Step 1 – discover/ comfort/service – which are
being communicated in the ads (the what)
Jot down any other Sub Codes (ie the different
expressions/ways used to communicate the Codes) you see
And then jot down any examples of those Sub Codes that
appear again and again (Code Devices)
Figure 2 overleaf shows a table generated from doing this exercise
Step 2 - Figure 2: the Sub Codes of airline
advertising
Sub Codes /
Code Device
Sub Code =
Discovery
Code Device
Planes flying in People asleep Welcome
the sky
Smiling hostess
Code Device
Holiday
Beaches
Roomy Seats
High Quality
Food
Code Device
Exotic
Destinations
Staff Putting
Pillows out for
those asleep
‘Luxury’
Environments
semiotic-analysis™ – see
Sub Code =
Comfort
Sub Code =
Service
14
Step 2 - Figure 2: the Codes of airline advertising
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Look at Figure 2 below. A client found an interesting Rubik’s
recombination by considering the Sub Code of ‘Service’ – (Code
Device = Smiling Crew) and Sub Code of ‘Discover’ (Code Device
= Exotic Destinations).
This created a new Sub Code of Authentic Destinations
Codes / Sub
Codes
Sub Code =
Discovery
Sub Code =
Comfort
Code Device
Planes flying
People asleep Welcome
Smiling hostess
Code Device
Holiday
Beaches
Roomy Seats
High Quality
Food
Code Device
Exotic
Destinations
Staff Putting
Pillows out for
those asleep
‘Luxury’
Environments
semiotic-analysis™ – see
Sub Code =
Service
15
Step 2 - Figure 2 New Sub Code created
Authentic Destinations
Code Device: Where our staff go on holiday
Where we go
This Qantas air stewardess is holidaying in Fiji where Qantas fly to
semiotic-analysis™ – see
16
Breakthrough with semiotics - Step 3
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Overall you are looking for interesting combinations
Imagine you had a Rubik’s cube and....
Each side of the cube is a Sub Code
And each square on each side is a Code device
Now - rotate the cube at random and you’ll create a new set of
Sub Codes by combining Code Devices – just like we did in the air
travel example completed in Step 2
Using this approach allows you to stand out’ (e.g. From Step 2 - staff
profiled in adverts) yet ‘stand in’ (pictured in paradise)
semiotic-analysis™ – see
17
Want more information on breaking through with semiotics?
Please email info@jakepearce.com
We’d be delighted to hear from you!