This document provides an introduction to reading and understanding codes. It begins with defining semiotics as the science of meaning and code as unconscious patterns of meaning. Several examples are then given to illustrate codes, including how the order of letters in a word don't need to be correct for a person to still read it due to reading the word as a whole instead of individual letters. The document concludes by asking the reader to identify standard themes and code devices they would expect to see used in air travel advertisements to convey meanings around discovery, comfort and service.
6. What?
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??
1.CC - Code is unconscious but we read it (80%
unconscious)
7. What?
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??
1. CC – Signs commonly strung together become what
semiotician call ‘code’
8. What?1. CC – We all read code – thinking like a semiotican
make it better
9. What?1. CC – We all read code – thinking like a semiotican
10. What?1. CC – We all read code – thinking like a semiotican
11. What?1. CC – Codes are expected ‘sets’ of signs vs
‘unconventional’…(‘weird’)
make it better
40. Identify the standard themes (Sub Codes) you would expect to see on air
travel ads & the Code Devices which portray that meaning
3. Your Turn
SC = Discovery
CD = (Exotic
Places)
SC = Comfort
CD = (Seats)
SC = Service
CD = (Unusual
Behaviour)
make it better
41. 41
3. Your Turn
Codes / Sub
Codes
Sub Code =
Discovery
Sub Code =
Comfort
Sub Code =
Service
Code Device for
Meaning 1
Planes flying People asleep Welcome
Smiling hostess
Code Device
for Meaning 2
Holiday Beaches Roomy Seats High Quality
Food
Code Device
for Meaning 3
Exotic
Destinations
Staff Putting
Pillows out for
those asleep
‘Luxury’
Environments
43. 3. Your Turn
Codes / Sub
Codes
Sub Code =
Discovery
Sub Code =
Comfort
Sub Code =
Service
Code Device for
Meaning 1
Planes flying People asleep Welcome
Smiling hostess
Code Device
for Meaning 2
Holiday Beaches Roomy Seats High Quality
Food
Code Device
for Meaning 3
Exotic
Destinations
Staff Putting
Pillows out for
those asleep
‘Luxury’
Environments
44. 3. Your Turn – Beer
Codes / Sub
Codes
Sub Code = Sub Code = Sub Code =
Service
Code Device for
Meaning 1
Welcome
Smiling hostess
Code Device
for Meaning 2
Code Device
for Meaning 3
Exotic
Impressionist painting by Sunday Afternoon on the Island of the Grand-Jatte (1884-1886) by Georges Seurat – slightly different....
So Well done for coming – you are part of the new wave of smart companies using or learning about semiotics
We’ll do it like this.
So Well done for coming – you are part of the new wave of smart companies using or learning about semiotics
We’ll do it like this.
Semiotics looks at how signs work together to create meaning in our loves.
In other words, the science shows how our brain decodes the world.
Language is a code – it has a structure. We know it unconsciously but we also know the rules of how it works. Culture is the same, it has a grammar a set of expectations but they are hard to see if you don’t know semiotics. It’s like going to a foreign country and asking why people do what they do differently, they will shrug and say ‘that’s how it is’.
Visuals have a code and moving visuals do – on average people know what category an ad is after 0.5 seconds. We know the rules instinctively but not consciously …all communication and brand is subject a code of expectation by category.
Visuals have a code and moving visuals do – on average people know what category an ad is after 0.5 seconds. We know the rules instinctively but not consciously …
We have expectations of the type of things that go together – even 3 ‘signs’ point towards the idea of a person being a certain way.
If you did not know this person, what would you think they were like? You are reading them from just 3 signs.
The same is true here, you could ‘read’ someone from just these 3 things but it’s deliberately confusing it’s not expected code.
We are always trying to find a middle ground – different enough but not weird and we do that by trial and error. Even signs have codes and it’s hard to know what they are until the rules are broken, a sign which is a sign about signs breaks the code.
Brands need to be ‘normal’ and ‘different’, it’s an incredibly hard balance. These signs show this – the boring and the unacceptable next each other. Semiotics helps you find the right balance.
The problem is the expected code in categories has become so dominant that it’s hard to see any differentiation. Every category’s communication looks very similar.
Given branding is about differentiation – it’s hard to see how premium beers are being different from each other.
We are always trying to find a middle ground – different enough but not weird and we do that by trial and error
We are always trying to find a middle ground – different enough but not weird and we do that by trial and error- we need the rules to find the right balance of standing and standing out.
Semiotics is the science of meaning – you are all brilliant semioticians and you’ll see immediately ‘boring’ vs ‘too far out there’.
To know how to engineer exactly what you want to communicate, you have to understand how signs work together as a system to create meaning. These are examples of ‘stand in stand out’ – the wines labelled Bishop, Wallace etc – are familiar enough to not be scary but different enough to be interesting.
Currently we play dice finding the balance as we don’t know the codes – it’s like cooking with ingredients that we don’t quite understand – too much salt and we’re stuffed. We play dice with communication because we don’t know how to engineer code.
It’s easier if we look at things from the past, the rules are all there immediately, the right rules for the time but totally wrong now. After the war technology was a saviour – the bomb stopped the war – there was a kind of universal acceptance that technology would save us.
If you don’t fully understand the rules and the context you don’t see the same thing.
During the war many young men didn’t know how to relate to women. Either they were ‘men’ or there for ‘sex’. VD was a real problem. This communication relies on you understanding the unconscious code between men and women without the rules – you can’t see it as well, so you might reject it.
This was fine sometime ago. A client signed this off because the unwritten rules were different from today – but it’s v hard, without semiotics, to truly see the code. To get it right you have to get the code, clearly this is wrong for today.
Looking after your man was a genuine aspiration at the time this ad was made but it’s all wrong today.
Semiotics allows us to see in today’s ads from the future...because you can see where the rules are going.
Looking after your man was a genuine aspiration
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/foodanddrink/foodanddrinkpicturegalleries/7835154/Pictures-of-alcoholic-drinks-under-a-microscope-reveal-the-molecules-that-make-up-our-favourite-tipples.html?image=10
Okay so code has rules – and they aren’t always obvious – a bit like the picture i first showed you – it’s not quite what it seems
Codes have rules, and the code sit in bigger codes and they have rules and so it’s a system.
Let’s demonstrate...
You have to learn how to map the codes in your category which requires going way outside it to see. This is a code map for brand new Zealand – which shows the different ways in which NZ is expressing itself.
So semiotics helps you find the sweet spot by mapping the codes.
Is this too far out there?
Is this too tame?
This is a great blend of ‘accepted codes’ – cups etc and more interesting code – it being on a vine. Trying to find this spot is v hard without semiotics, it’s largely guesswork.
So is this too far out or too tame?
Looking after your man was a genuine aspiration
So Well done for coming – you are part of the new wave of smart companies using or learning about semiotics
We’ll do it like this.
Maps allow you to Map the Visible stuff
Onto what the underlying beliefs are to get the macro view – if you map different types of code you start to see repeated patterns.
And these are standard codes for air travel, new codes are a recombination of existing codes – ie they look different but in reality they aren’t.
What is the code combination which has not been ‘done to death?’.
Singapore Airlines spotted it.
It’s obvious after the fact, it’s about showing hostesses being helpful on the ground not in the air.
So you can show clients this is not about breaking the codes – just about recombining them – and that’s the way to stand out and stand in ....
Lots of ads stand in stand out and drive growth.
Anyone twigged yet as to what our pic nic painting is really made of? So the point? Is that our code for ‘pic nic’ is part of a higher set of code called ‘leisure’ which is part of a higher set of code called ‘ freedom’ part of a higher set of code called ...Sign, Code Device – Upto Sub Code
Even Sub Code has Rules – stuff that’s seemingly not that important.
Get the code blend right & nail it
Okay so now what’s in this for me?
Well – I want to teach you a simple formula to show you how to stand in yet stand out – that’s most day to day briefs.
Best semioticians are comedians, detectives and surgeons in that order – the are all great at reading signs...
So we’re going to work on the airline category before we work on your own....Studies show fame is more important than anything else – fame trumps share of voice, awareness – fame is driven by emotion
How do we create greater emotion, create interesting ads without being weird.
Start by the anti ad