Why It Sells: Decoding the Meanings of Brand Names, Logos, Ads, and Other Marketing and Advertising Ploys

by Marcel Danesi

Overview

Advertising plays a key role in defining contemporary culture worldwide, creating a variety of meanings in the minds of consumers. Intrigued by this process, Marcel Danesi-an entertaining and insightful tour guide-decodes the messages woven into the advertisements, commercials, brand names, and logos we see on a daily basis. Marketing-oriented messages are made, he notes, through techniques not unlike those used by artists, musicians, and other creatives. Guiding readers through the basics of how to interpret ads, Danesi explores everything from product and package design to jingles, cyberadvertising, ad campaigns, global impacts, culture jamming, and advertising effects. Why It Sells will fascinate and inform all readers interested in how ads, marketing, and branding toke hold in the consumer psyche.

About the Author:
Marcel Danesi is professor of anthropology, semiotics, and communication theory at the University of Toronto

Product Details

ISBN-13:	2900742555456
Publication date:	09/21/2007
Pages:	220
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 1.25(h) x 9.00(d)

About the Author

Marcel Danesi is professor of anthropology, semiotics, and communication theory at the University of Toronto. His books include My Son Is an Alien: A Cultural Portrait of Today's Youth and Cool: The Signs and Meanings of Adolescence, and he is the editor-in-chief of Semiotica.

Table of Contents

Preface     vii
What Is Advertising?     1
Defining Advertising     2
A Historical Sketch     5
Advertising and Society     10
Studying Advertising     16
General Techniques and Strategies     29
Generic Strategies     30
Creating a Brand Image     38
Uses of Technology     41
Mythologization     46
Brand Names     53
What's in a Name?     54
From Product to Brand     57
Inside the Name     60
Symbolic Brands     68
Logos     77
What Is a Logo?     78
Visual Brands     85
Inside the Logo     88
Geometrical Logos     91
Language-Based Techniques     95
General Techniques     96
The Tagline     103
The Slogan     107
Humor     113
Art     117
Advertising and Art     118
Art Techniques     123
Representation     126
Design     129
The Meanings of Ads     135
Desires, Needs, and Emotions     136
Ads     140
Decoding Ads     144
Reality Ads     149
Marketing     155
Marketing     156
The Ad Campaign     159
The Media-Technology Partnership     168
Branding     170
Advertising and Society     175
Social Effects     176
A Glance at the Studies     181
Culture Jamming     185
So, Why Does It Sell?     192
Glossary     195
References     199
Further Reading     203
Online Resources     205
Index     207
About the Author     211

Editorial Reviews

Marcel Danesi achieves a goal to which many aspire: to write a book that is a pleasure to read, but which is informed by the most recent theories regarding how media's messages are created and then conveyed to the general public. We discover that the compelling, yet seemingly simple, information that ads provide rests on a profound insight into how meanings are produced and subsequently interpreted. This outstanding book adds to our growing understanding of how messages are created in our daily lives.

Paul Colilli

This volume is easy to read and understand, and is supported with a glossary, reference, and list of online resources. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, faculty.

Vol. 45 No. 6 (February 2008) Choice Reviews

This volume is easy to read and understand, and is supported with a glossary, reference, and list of online resources. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, faculty.

Vol. 45 No. 6 (February 2008) Choice

This volume is easy to read and understand, and is supported with a glossary, reference, and list of online resources. Summing Up: Recommended. Lower- and upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, faculty.

Vol. 45 No. 6 (February 2008) CHOICE