everyday life that makes up the culturally constituted world. Hence, the fashion
and advertising systems function as producers of meaning. Consumer goods are
hence in the cultural approach circulators of meaning recognizable to the ‘encul-
turated’ (being a member of a culture endows you with the ability to read the right
kind of meaning into the goods) consumer. The consumer thereby chooses
meaning adequate for his or her life by making consumption choices. If a certain
consumer good delivers a meaningful take on your specific life situation you adopt
this meaning through consumption of the good. This is how goods become carriers
of cultural meaning besides possessing a utilitarian value. In the consumption of
goods, consumers thereby also choose to consume the cultural meaning, which
seems most appropriate to suit their lives:
The consumer system supplies individuals with the cultural materials to
realize their various and changing ideas of what it is to be a man or a woman,
middle-aged or elderly, a parent, a citizen, or a professional. All of these
cultural notions are concretized in goods, and it is through their possession
and use that the individual realizes the notions in his own life.
(McCracken 1988, p. 88)This conceptualization of the transfer of cultural meaning draws heavily on semi-
otics. Semiotics is the study of signs and symbols in communication. Signs and
symbols are considered able to communicate meaning different than the word,
picture (or a composition of words, images and sound as in an advertisement, for
example) itself. The interpretation of the sign systems is dependent on the inter-
preter and his cultural and personal background: ‘The meaning of signs is arbi-
trary. In principle, anything could stand for anything else. It is the cultural context
that frames the interpretation of signs and imbues particular signs with localized
meanings’ (Hackley 2003, p. 162). Intertextuality is an important aspect of semi-
otics; meaning that a ‘text’ refers to another ‘text’ which again refers to something
else. It is obvious that the level of cultural ‘literacy’ and general cultural
knowledge (enculturation) very much determine the interpretation of the ‘text’.
The marketing system is therefore the creator of a ‘string of signs’; marketing
communications are composed of multiple layers of meaning. The production and
circulation of meaning has no beginning and no end.
Core theme: how brands become icons
The theory of cultural branding (Holt 2003, 2003b, 2004) is the core theme of the
cultural approach. In an extensive empirical study of iconic brands, Holt has
conceptualized a new way of perceiving and managing brands. Cultural branding
is the strategic principles behind how to create and manage a brand and alter it into
an icon. Cultural branding is all about what culture can do for brand value creation
(figure 10.1). How Brands Become Iconsis a thorough inquiry into the creation of
the inspired and talented brand communication behind the iconic brands. The
point of departure is the same as McCracken’s in the sense that brands and/or
216 Seven brand approaches