Brand identity is formed by a system of meanings that interrelate in a coherent whole and distinguish one brand from another. Through the brand audit, we assess strengths and weaknesses of competitors in a category and identify white space for new product development and positioning strategies.

Case Studies
Retail and Merchandising Strategy Development
A brand is a system of meanings that consumers integrate into their personal space to satisfy unmet needs. As a branch of anthropology devoted to symbolic communication, SEMIOTICS provides methods of articulating and codifying brand communication and applying findings to marketing problems. For a major retailer, we used semiotic methods to examine social and psychological cues in-store that shaped the consumer’s experience in the retail setting and affected product purchase. Working with retail designers, we developed an integrated marketing communications grid that tested brand consistency across several channels, including promotional advertising, the product catalogue, and merchandising in-store. Findings incorporated recommendations for redesigning a more consumer friendly retail space consistent with overall brand communication.

Litigation Support: Intellectual Property on the Internet
In the year 2000, Laura Oswald served as an expert witness in two simultaneous trademark violation cases in the Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, involving the use of the word "playboy" on the Iinternet. [United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit; No.9-56239 AHS; DC #cV99-320, the Case of Playboy Enterprises, inc. versus Netscape Communications, Corporation; and No.99 - 56231; DC# CV99 - 321 AHS, the case of Playboy Enterprises, inc. versus Excite, Inc.] The Playboy litigation bears directly on issues of public policy concerning the use of intellectual property in general and brand names in particular, on the Internet. They draw particular attention to the issues involved in proving ownership of a word that, over time and through numerous marketing activities, has achieved brand status and recognition. When an internet user types a word in the search box, there are currently very few restrictions on how that word will be linked to sites on the web ­ will it connect immediately to a site for the brand, or will it bring up lots of other sites where the word is used as a common noun? As these kinds of cases come before the court, the main argument finding trademark violation will concern misleading use of a recognized brand name to bring traffic to sites other than that for the brand in question.

© 2001-2006 Marketing Semiotics Inc. All Rights Reserved.