Semiotic Decoding of ‘Cleaning’ in the Indian Context

Marketing suddenly becomes so much more interesting when we refer to it as the “art of giving meaning”. Meaning, in its true sense, can’t exist without a context. And that’s why a semiotic decoding of the context becomes indispensable in order to successfully market anything.

While trying to grapple with an ambitious ‘cleaning’ brand, we employed our semiotic decoding system to understand the culture and context of cleaning. Below are some excerpts of the analysis.

PART I

What does cleaning truly mean? Is it just about removal of impurities? Why is it so important to be clean? What do we mean when we talk about a ‘clean image’? Or for that matter a ‘clean society’? After a dip in the Ganges, in what sense exactly does one really get clean? Many might actually argue the opposite.

“Cleaning” is ensconced in our religious context.  The morning snan and the prayer that goes along with it (har har gangey); the ‘hom hawan’ to sanctify the house and the more contemporary ritual of the cleaning of house during festivals like Diwali, all point towards this.

There are ample mythological and historical cues to establish that being clean is “positive and pure”, while being dirty is “negative and impure”. Those who commit sins are usually depicted as being dirty even in the physical sense. For e.g. Rakshasa consuming madira, looking ugly and living in jungles. Being dirty in a way is being imperfect, while being clean is perfection itself. No wonder our culture associates cleanliness with godliness, the epitome of perfection.

Cleanliness = Perfection = Godliness

PART II

To understand clean, we must understand the unclean. We all realize, for e.g., that food accidentally spilled on a table is not germ ridden and dirty. But it is still seen to be making the table unclean. It’s just that we instinctively believe that food is supposed to be in the plate/bowl. Being “spilled on the table” is merely a wrong context for food to be in.

We can safely deduce that dirt is only that, which exists in a system of which it is not supposed to be a part. And therefore, it causes the system to be imperfect, which is then seen as being dirty.

To clean something essentially means to bring it to its original state of perfection

So, the three broad attributes of cleaning that we could derive were this. Firstly, cleaning is about purification or bringing back perfection. May it be physical (of germs/stains), social (a corrupt imperfect society needs cleaning) or spiritual. Secondly, we realized that being clean affects your social image. It has a positive effect on your status among friends and peer group.

But one of the most critical attributes came to light when we differentiated “being clean” from the “act of cleaning”. The act of cleaning is monotonous and repetitive in nature. It’s a continuous process that involves the need of putting effort over and over again. It tends to get boring.

But why should repetition lead to such drudgery and monotony? Aren’t artists who do riyaz, essentially repeating their act? The key difference there is the element of learning involved in each cycle of repetition. If there is repetition without learning, then it’s nothing but drudgery.

Repetitive nature of a task, without any associated learning, can take you to a point of absurdity. Cleaning in itself might have a higher order meaning, but the “act of cleaning" per say is just a repetition of an act to the point of meaninglessness. The home maker / house wife faces this state of drudgery, boredom and monotony every day. And therefore could there be a need to make this inevitable “act of cleaning” more exciting and meaningful for her?

This could be a potential space for a new cleaning brand to occupy.

PART III

Another often ignored aspect of “cleaning” is that it is about a state that is pure, positive, and pristine and allows you to flourish. Most modern day marketing discourses on cleaning revolve around ‘dirt’ and treating it as an enemy, a negative force that needs to be battled against. It’s a ‘Negatives OUT’ approach. But cleaning could also imply ‘Positives IN’. It could be about allowing the good, the pure and the shubh in the house. The home maker is not necessarily only Durga the warrior, but also Lakshmi, the harbinger of prosperity.

PART IV

At its very core, “cleaning” has a very deep rooted importance in our core social construct. The Manusmriti, howsoever contentious, accounts for an entire set of people dedicated to ‘Karma of cleaning’, one of the 4 most critical Karmas. The other 3 being – Gaining and spreading knowledge (Brahmin), wielding power and leading the society (Kshatriya), and trading goods to generate wealth (Vaishya). The irony is that while the other three Karmas are treated with respect, the cleaning sect Shudras has always been sidelined.

The one who cleans is always seen as being dirty. In fact, to clean something, you have to get dirty

The Dhobi, the maid and the Jamadar are always the lower strata of society. There is a deep resonance here to the plight of a home maker. What gratification does the housewife get for ensuring a clean house? Possibly, housewife is a hero simply because she does the cleaning without getting any gratification or reward – she is, however, an unsung hero.

Also, given that one who cleans is never looked up to, never held in any sort of awe, is there a need to create mythical heroes in the form of cleaning experts? We have the Mr Clean and the Mr. Muscles of the world. Probably this iconification helps the cause of a brand aiming to gain any sort of an affinity, or a first among equals status, among the otherwise functionally driven cleaning category.

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It’s very exciting to realize how something as basic and mundane as “Cleaning” can mean so much more. We just need to be ready to open are minds, go deeper and explore.

By Vivek Chaturvedi, GM - Marketing, DY Works
(with contributions from Ankit Sharma & Siddhartha Gupta)

People ignore designs that ignore them

While operating in the space of brands, and especially the ones which actively exist in the life of end consumers it is not only important but a ‘must’ to have a great deal of understanding about their way of living. If we are intending to create likings and preferences towards the brands we are crafting how and why there should be any disconnect?

In the age of super pace, only if we pause for a moment and look at ourselves, we’ll notice we are humans first before the economic system defined us as ‘consumers’. And, it is an indisputable truth that all the choices, actions that we as humans do comes from the perception and a belief system which we created out of the sensorial, emotional and societal experiences. The outcome/ response of which can be observed in our behaviour; be it individual or collective and all the areas of our expressions e.g. body language to photographs to tweets etc. These subtle signs if decoded in semiotic manner as insights to build design solutions the way they can be received by the audience will be with high degree of effortlessness and synchrony with their lives. However having decoded such signs and patterns by scanning all life-stages of humans is not sufficient as ‘time’ is another important factor that keeps influencing our responses/ behaviour in considerable manner.

Fig.1: An Inside-Out Approach to Design

One such case at DY Works, though not recent one would be the refreshed identity of Thums Up. The brand, a metaphor for Indian masculinity is a leader of its category. It also has an iconic visual signature, which is based on a simple but everlasting positively meaningful gesture. The Coca-Cola Company came to us to get it tuned with the changing times. A semiotic study of various aspects of masculinity in changing India made us discover many signs including the take the new age male had on masculinity.

Fig.2: Men; Then and Now

Fig.3: Devised Thums-up visual mark

One such, the change of perspective from the workman-like to more youthful and relaxed persona as an aspiration. Besides the strength and endurance lot of aesthetic sophistication was fused into the definition. To bring up the value of 'dum/power' in the visual signature of brand, it clearly demanded the fine-tuning in order to infuse clean lined sophistication to the hand silhouette also a refinement of the typeface (from the archaic to simple and upfront). We did remove the thunderous shadow (which held it back, rather than propelled it forward). The change is also reflected in the baseline and the PVC bottle labels, which build on the masculinity and strength of the brand… making the brand vocabulary clearer, assertive and refreshed whilst remaining rooted.

Fig.4: Inside-out approach results compared

The semiotic approach helped us reach the root cause ‘why’ and the means of achievement ‘how’ to help derive the solution inside out. In a way an approach that keeps the solutions in perfect alignment with the mindset of end-consumer in true sense. A simple learning from my experience is, most of the advice we’ve heard about life probably also applies to design;as both are primarily concerned with people.

Prashant Shingade
Associate Creative Director, DY Works

DARWIN'S PACKAGING

In today’s ‘Darwin’s world’ of change, there are only two choices: adapt or perish.
Rekha Pamani-Gulati, Director - Business Development, DY Works, shares her thoughts on change and adaptation in the world of ‘Darwin’s Packaging’

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With marketers and advertisers launching ICBM’s (Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles) at every juncture in our lives  – media, outdoor, internet and so on – how does a brand stand the test of time and not get overshadowed by the new kid on the block?
That brand has to be Spencerian!  (Herbert Spencer incidentally coined the phrase ‘survival of the fittest’)
Creating a Brand World and owning a Brand Language has increasingly become more relevant to brand survival - Packaging and graphic design is one of the most important extensions and expressions of this.
Consumers buy packs, hold and flirt with packs and take them home - they always did and they always will – it’s no wonder that some brands are continuously repackaging themselves to look better, convey their benefits better, to stand out against the clutter, to be recognized and ultimately to be picked up!
Packaging & Design makes promises to its consumers. This could be through structure, closures, dispensing mechanisms, messaging hierarchy, refill packs, multiple skus, variants, brand extensions and graphic elements that become synonymous with that brand or product. They convey a message and fulfill a need.

Antiquity Blue Whisky – created a revolution in its space as a trendsetter – possibly the first bottle globally where the neck of the bottle was designed as the spine of the bottle. Noticeable and not replicable!
Cadbury Dairy milk promised safety sealed new packaging post its worm scare from one supplier – consumers were reassured with that new quality packaged promise seal.
Skincare cosmetics are introducing more textures and sensorials to the substrates being used.
Gold and Global packaging standards are being adopted and reinvented.
Resealable, Reusable and Recyclable packs are the order of the day – ‘be sustainable or die ‘ will be the future mantra.

The first chapter in Anand Halve’s book Darwin’s Brands (not to mention the front cover of the book) showcases Thums Up – a brand that has stood its ground and over time adapted cleverly to counter the plethora of imagery that we are bombarded with. This is in a sense an addendum to that topic!
The brand line ‘Taste the Thunder’ captured the experience while the visual complimented the concept – today Thums Up continues to hold its ground next to the other colas.
Opening Happiness or the drink of the New Generation have not displaced this Indian stalwart – its trademark Thumb has been contemporized, the visual vocabulary of the brand has been extended and the brand continues to remain true to its core – more dum/more power!

Initially available only in glass bottles – over time has extended to pvc bottles and cans – adopting the very need of the changing consumer needs and trends and reinterpreting thunder. The thunderous shadow, which held the design back rather than propelling it forward has been contemporized yet not alienated the core users, the refinement of the hand silhouette from a workman like to a more youthful thumbprint and a refinement of the typeface from archaic to modern has made the brand and the pack more assertive and taken it to a modern space making it more relevant.

Packaging has and will always be the moment of truth…. “The silent salesman has become the vociferous shelf shouter!”

Lakme Retail - R City, Ghatkopar

It was a pleasant surprise to see the DY Works Lakme Retail designs come to life at Shoppers Stop at R City Mall, Ghatkopar. Would love to hear your feedback regarding the same. Thanks.

Lakme Retail Counter

Lakme Retail Counter Top Unit

Customer give-away

Lakme Beauty Assistant Uniform - Interaction Area

Lakme Retail Backwall Branding + Make Over area

Solutions through semiotics

As people – we gravitate towards ‘people like us’. Shared values, shared tastes, shared belief systems are what we seek when opening our hearts to make new friends. Similarly, we accept brands that reflect our values, our style, our taste.

So the simplest solution, really, is to create brands that reflect the innermost belief systems of the consumer. Understanding the consumer, therefore, is the mantra for all marketers. The question remains, how?

Market Research does not work.

How can an individual tell a researcher what his/her deepest desires or motivations are? As people, we are unaware of the causality of behaviour. And need the help of psychoanalysts or spiritualists to identify our inner selves. To believe that a market research practitioner can do the same in an interview is patently absurd.

The other way to understand the consumer is by ‘reading’ behavioural and cultural markers around him. If we identify markers that are unique to a consumer group, we can then decode them to unravel patterns that give us an insight into the inner recesses of the consumer’s mind.  Much like the weatherman that reads atmospheric pressure and wind speeds to understand the current climate, a semiotician understands all symbols and behaviours which are ‘different’ to understand the consumer.

Often leading to dramatically different results. Take for instance the emerging probiotic products in the supermarkets. Yakult from Danone and Probiotic Dahi from Amul are already on the shelves. Others are poised to enter the market. Typically, the process would have been this: Identifying a product category that is doing well in other markets, doing a 3-4 city qualitative research through focus groups, and then bringing the product to the market.

Probiotic?  It is like selling Coal to Newcastle.  There are many Sanskrit shlokas extolling the virtues of buttermilk – which after lunch is compared to ambrosia. It is part of an Indian diet and there needs to be no education about it.

Takram laghu kashayaamlam deepanam kaphavaatajit ||
Showphodaraarshowgrahanidoshamootragrahaaruchee |
Pleehagulmaghritavyaapadgarpaanduvaamayaan jayeth ||

(Takram or Butter milk (BM) does not cause heaviness when consumed. Hence it is known to have the quality "laghu". It gets digested quickly and easily. Aggravated kapha and vata are mitigated by this wonder drink. It is the best appetizer. According to ayurveda it reduces bloating of stomach, eases symptoms of haemorrhoids, soothes intestines and helps in indigestion.)

Yet, the insistence on using an alien and utterly mystifying term such as ‘probiotic’ instead of riding on all the accepted benefits of dahi/ yoghurt is frankly, senseless.

When applying semiotics, it is necessary to understand what symbols and markers can be encoded in a product or brand so that the consumer accepts it in his/her world. A semiotic approach to a problem such as this would have looked at beliefs in terms of digestion, the time of day such products are consumed.

Yakult would be better off placing their drink after lunch, than at a breakfast table. Similarly, flavoured yoghurt would do well to take on ‘dahi – cheeni’ at the lunch table.  

Contributed by Alpana Parida, President - DY Works.

Recession - Tough times call for Funny measures

We recently received this invoice from an image vendor. Brilliantly conceived. Many of us would love to send this out on our own invoices as well.

Third Wave of Packaging

Packaging is no longer design, it is communication. This article tries to map the evolution of packaging design over three distinct phases.
Third Wave of Packaging

Contributed by Dharamraj Ullagadi, ACD - DY Works