Post-Angel

Narrative by Stefania Gogna, Posted September 25, 2024

Image provided by the author

The CASE FILE series — to which SEMIOVOX has invited our semiotician colleagues from around the world to contribute — shares memorable case studies via story telling.

Some years ago, while working on a semiotic project for a leading multinational in the cosmetics category, I encountered an unexpected situation that turned out to be… a blessing (if you will). The client was interested in a new brand positioning that they described as “Post-Anglo.” However, in a moment of distraction I misunderstood; I thought they wanted me to help develop a “Post-Angel” brand positioning.

Soon my desk was piled high with branding materials and advertising campaigns which seemed to me to communicate the elusive concept of being something more than an angel, or perhaps what life is like after you’ve seen an angel. In my newfound role as a kind of occult detective unraveling the mystery of the heavens, I pursued depictions of… women finding their innermost self via cosmetics, women being reborn, women in an exalted spiritual state.

As I analyzed dozens of such images and advertising communications, the meaning of “Post-Angel” became more and more clear. This positioning could espouse a leitmotif of peace and serenity: relaxed, confident women depicted with a soft light around them and painted in pastel colours. The sensory bombardment and visual frenzy of typical cosmetics marketing gave way to tranquil moods, suggestions of earthly paradises, enchanted gardens or minimalist strokes where well-being and relaxation reigned.

Narratively, I decided, this “Post-Angel” visual tone would communicate the notion of a world where you can have control back, where everything is in its right place. This positioning would be a radical departure for the client’s positioning, but I decided to be daring and propose to them that their brand could become a sanctuary for the pandemonium of life in the modern world — a place for women to seek calm and salvation from “contact with the angelic” (i.e., escaping from societal pressures/expectations).

Instead of chastising me for having misunderstood the brief, the client was thrilled. Captivated by the vision of inner peace, beauty, and serenity — precisely what the frazzled women of the modern world need — they decide that this should be the soul of their brand going forward. My mistake could have turned into a disastrous unfocused mess; luckily, it instead turned into an innovative opportunity… which they called “Post-Angel” for short.

This experience taught me three lessons:

Experiment with alternative hypotheses — or, at least, adjacent paths. The semiotician’s willingness to see things as they have never been seen before, and to quickly develop positioning concepts that spark ideas, can help a client re-position their brand in unique ways.
Engagement. Open communication and sharing of new insights and the underlying rationale for re-interpreting events and narrative paths engages the client in the creative process, creating a sense of consultant-client harmony that will ultimately lead to a viable resolution.
Remain open to possibilities, and don’t confine yourself to accepted norms. Even an error can become an opportunity to find new perspectives and directions, leading you to conceive of strategies that do not merely meet clients’ needs… but push the client in a new direction.

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