Participatory Culture

The web is more and more becoming a place for consumer participation, creating a participatory culture, in contrast to mass media, where (like on the television) there is one sender of information to many. According to Jenkins participatory culture is a culture in which “fans and other consumers are invited to actively participate in the creation and circulation of new… Read more →

What makes media viral?

Have you ever considered what the term viral media means? Is it content ‘cool enough’ to send, a powerful message or simply something that gets spread around? Douglas Rushkoff (1994) proposes viral media is not something that should be related metaphorically to a virus, rather it actually is one. In this article I will consider several notions concerning viral media… Read more →

The Study of Persuasion

Professions requiring the practice of persuasion have been recently increasing, to illustrate; since 1991 the number of lawyers tripled in a decade (Simons, 2001). It is the fundamental way of exerting influence or making a difference in any kind of environment. The practice can be found by hearing it in a lawyers office, to a politician convincing his view to be the right… Read more →

What’s more important – the product or the experience?

In Advertising the American Dream (1986) an American historian Roland Marchand described the turning point of television ads. During the 1920/30s with the increase of goods the quantity of advertising rose accordingly. The reason of interest for the historian looking into this case, is to answer the question whether a certain era could be observed and understood through its ads.… Read more →

Uncovering EXKI

Having discussed discourse analysis I as explained by Gillian Rose (2001) (a framework which helps us analyse visual images and written or spoken texts) I will present the second type, illustrating it with my own example. This second form of discourse analysis concerns itself with the exploration of similar material, however focusing more on the production, reiteration and maintainment of… Read more →

”More than just a cup of coffee…”

We now know how with the use of semiotics one can distinguish signs and try to identify meaning within the relationship of the signified and signifier. Most scholars use both semiotics with discourse analysis for the search of hidden ideals, messages and values, looking at how they are constructed, encouraged or otherwise practiced daily within for example; institutions like Starbucks. Sociologist… Read more →

Cultural Iconic Branding

It is no secret cultural artifacts, be it human (for instance Woody Allen) and not (objects, like Coca Cola or places, like Paris), dominate our world. Marketing scholars like Douglas B. Holt concerns himself with questions; how exactly do brands become icons? Today’s entry will uncover this question by looking at the principles and logic of cultural branding. The main… Read more →

Introduction to Semiotics

Since cavemen humankind has been striving for communication. Mind you, the messages are quite different from then; instead of drawings showing what one should run away from, nowadays one will rather communicate the meaning of our complex experience of the world. Nevertheless, the study of ‘visual grammar’ is important to no take for granted, as it opens many topics of… Read more →