Week 1: Exploring the language of branding

Introduction

To start this course, take a look at the following slideshow of logos.

You’re probably familiar with many of the items in the slideshow. Think for a moment on what one or two of these mean to you.

You may have thought that ‘Ferrari’ denotes status symbols, ‘BBC’ conjures up solid reliability whereas IKEA has a practical vibe.

All of these images and words in the figure are examples of brands. But what makes up a ‘brand’? Isn’t it mainly about the colours and logo? Where does language fit in? And is grammar important?

In this first week of the course, you’ll learn about practical and professional applications of language analysis in one particular area of commerce: branding. After some basics on branding, you’ll listen to an interview with a UK-based branding consultant, Chris West, who discusses how and why he uses language analysis in his day-to-day work. You’ll also have the opportunity to do some brand analysis yourself, giving you a taste of what you can do if you know your grammar.

By the end of this week, you should be able to:

• begin to understand the language around developing a brand
• see how language analysis can be a powerful tool within business
• understand some useful concepts in language analysis.