Semantic Strategies
semantic |səˈmantik|
adjective : relating to meaning in language or logic.
strategy |ˈstratəjē|
noun ( pl. -gies) : a plan of action or policy designed to achieve a major or overall aim : time to develop a coherent economic strategy | shifts in marketing strategy.
When we talk about semantic strategies for brand identity, we are turning the focus away from emotional impacts of color and image, instead highlighting the context and language-based meanings of words.
Even so, words are never isolated in experience, every one is perceived simultaneously by both the intellectual and the emotional intelligence.
A brand like "Apple" : one of the most instantly recognized in the global economy : holds enormous value in its simplicity. The fact that the apple, a fruit, holds a fundamental place in the attention of young children (at least in Euro-US cultures), thereby creating a powerful meme at the origin of language use.
The word "Apple" has nothing at all to do with computers, of course, but the powerful association with a word which is learned (by English speakers) in the first years of life and its connection with sweet, tart, shiny, red – a slew of positive connotations – gives Apple Computers an incredibly valuable 'corner location' in the brand identity game.
Apple Computer, of course, has skillfully built on that 'location', they have created a brand by semantic extension of the subliminal knowledge we all share about apples - friendly, simple, good for you.
