Gorz (in Arvidsson 238) describes brands as ‘monetizable symbolic values’ (Gorz, 2003: 60). Analyse some discursive practices of promotion (or one example in more depth) through which meanings associated with a consumer brand of your choice are conveyed. Criteria: Select and analyse primary textual materials relevant to promotion of a brand. This can be anything that can be considered as an arrangement of signs involved in generating brand meaning: from ads, artefacts and product events to youtube videos, sponsorships, product placements or media content. Make use of at least one required or recommended unit reading from week 3 by relating your analysis to point(s) made in that text in a sufficiently detailed way that unpacks the meaning of the point(s) and how they apply to your discourse analysis. Refer to at least one other academic secondary source by relating your analysis to point(s) made in that text in a sufficiently detailed way that unpacks the meaning of the point(s) and how they apply to your discourse analysis. Marking is informed by your ability to express your ideas coherently, and how well you: Analyse how brand promotion takes place and is associated with cultural and social contexts, making reference to actual arrangements of signs as evidence. Identify how the kind of discourses you analyse are related to institutionalised discursive practices of marketing designed to create economic value from symbolic value. Identify cultural themes in discourses you examine and develop an argument about their significance to promotion. N.B. Include a bibliography with all primary and secondary texts referred to. If texts referred to are not accessible (e.g. a shop window display, a consumption space, billboard, etc) please take a photo and include it as an appendix. As above, a minimum of two references to secondary sources is required. There is no upper limit if you want to consult more. However, bear in mind only references that have a clear role in helping to develop your discourse analysis will be of value, as the latter is the main focus and space is limited. Guidance: This assignment is designed to extend the discourse analysis skills developed in GCST1601 Introduction to Cultural Studies. Discourse is the principle that communication processes are socially organised and culturally significant. Analysing discourse is a key method in cultural studies because it shows how discernible patterns of representation are evident around particular issues and situations. In doing so it highlights how they may influence culture, perceptions, identities and actions, power relations and social arrangements. Notice the use of the phrase ‘discursive practices’ in the title. It remains a discourse analysis, but this is a prompt for you to think about how certain discourses—such as those of marketing communications—are 1) material and social practices and 2) shaped by the rationales of social institutions that produce them. In this assignment, this is to highlight the ways that organizations with commercial interests address potential consumers in particular ways and associate their brands with things that people (or certain kinds of people?) appear to value in social and cultural contexts. The assignment is thus an opportunity for you to explore themes of interest to you personally such as—by way of random example of a wide range of possibilities— how ‘diversity’ or ‘health’ discourses are deployed, or the presence of brands in certain kinds of youth, online or celebrity culture.
