Brand Mythology

A Short Introduc-on to Brand Mythology By Thomas Wendt First Itera-on

“A myth is neither a lie nor a confession: it’s an inﬂexion.” Roland Barthes

Myths are “second-‐order signs.” They inﬂect meaning by appealing to bourgeois ideals and recycle themselves through cultural dialog.

Secondary narcissism is our bourgeois ideal.

One part love…

One part hate…

One part aggression…

One part displacement.

Ideal = Self.

The ideal mediated.

The ideal realized.

Brand Mythology Branded Content Fan Interpreta-on Branded Message Audience Fan Ac-on Interpreta-on Social Equity Future Strategy

Brand Mythology A brand’s aOempt at cyclical communica-on. It’s the desire to inﬂect meaning that constantly reinvents and redistributes itself. Brands rub language all over you.

Branded Content Fan Interpreta-on Branded Content: The means by which a brand communicates a desired meaning. Content is nothing without context. Fan Interpreta-on: If a “fan” is any consumer who ac-vely seeks branded content, the fan interpreta-on is complosed of the aggregate sen-ment and derived meaning from those messages. Content is only one step in the process. Brand Signiﬁers Brand Signiﬁeds

Branded Message Branded Message: Idea-on that results from Fan Interpreta-on. These are the cogni-ve processes that inﬂuence sen-ment and percep-on. Message is not a direct result of content. Inﬂec-on

Audience Fan Ac-on Interpreta-on Fan Ac-on: The desired result of a branded message. We might call this a “conversion,” but it can also take the form of an an--‐conversion, or somewhere in between. Beyond sen-ment and percep-on, ac-on is the main outcome of the branded message. Audience Interpreta-on: “Audience” refers to both fans and their social networks, and their social networks, and so on. The audience is every poten-al recipient of the message. ATer the first layer of ac-ve fans, the message is recycled and filtered through various levels of interac-on, with each filtering process decreasing the extent to which a brand controls its own meaning.

Social Equity Social Equity: The result of fan ac-on and audience interpreta-on, social equity refers to overall brand sen-ment within the social space. Equity is a collec-ve experience; it’s a measure of sen-ment across the cultural system rather than individual percep-ons.

Future Strategy Future Strategy: A brand’s aOempt to harness the power of mythology and revise strategy to take advantage of cultural percep-on.

Revised Model

Brand Mythology Branded Content Fan Interpreta-on Branded Message Audience Fan Ac-on Interpreta-on Social Equity Future Strategy

Becomes

Let’s make people buy our shit I like this shit/I don’t Buy our shit! like this shit/This shit is okay I’m ambivalent about this shit I like this shit/I don’t What do you think like this shit/This shit about this shit? is okay People like/don’t like this shit Let’s make more people buy more shit

Brand Mythology is a dialog.

At each point the brand aOempts to hit on cultural ideals, each of which -es back to secondary narcissism, the displaced self-‐love aOached to objects.

Your humble narrator Thomas Wendt Surroundingsigniﬁers.com @thomas_wendt

Brand Mythology

by Thomas Wendt

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