Automated Semiotic Analysis:
Hero, Heretic or Helper?
Webinar July 2022
Andrew Jeavons
Co-founder
Signoi

Sponsors
Communication

This is NOT about replacing semioticians
It’s about EXPANDING the role of semiotics.
It’s about enabling semioticians.

Hero, Heretic or Helper
Hero – does semiotics need heroics?
Heretic – is semiotics an approach that just does not need computers/AI/ML etc?
Helper – is automation going to help semiotics?

Charles Sanders Peirce.
“Charles Sanders Peirce: A
Life
By Joseph Brent.”
“Wasp in a bottle”
“
William James.
“Principles of Psychology”
1890.

Semiotics is the Art and Science of ‘signs’ – knowledge
structures of text and imagery. It’s traditionally been
done by human experts at small scale.
Quantitative Semiotics uses machine learning
techniques to analyse text and imagery, to quantify
the semiotic knowledge structures.

…contemporary interior luxury family
minimalist empty architecture room
glass elegant window comfort furniture
parquet wood apartment mansion
table home spacious hotel classic
simplicity mirror design ceiling
curtain…
MediumBlue
Blue
Olive
DarkOrchid
DarkGreen
Maroon
OliveDrab
DarkOliveGreen
PowderBlue
PaleGoldenrod
YellowGreen
SlateBlue
LightYellow
CadetBlue
CornflowerBlue
Beige
LightSlateGray
LightSkyBlue
MediumAquamarine
SlateGray
PaleTurquoise
LimeGreen
SaddleBrown
DarkBlue
DeepSkyBlue
LightSteelBlue
SkyBlue
Gold
LightPink
Pink
Content Colour Composition &
complexity
Archetypal signifiers
Semiotic &
emotional energies
Hedonism
Richness 9.7
Richness 3.2 Nurture
0
1
2
3
4
5
6
Rebel
Joker
Lover
Caregiver
Everyman
Innocent
Ruler
Sage
Magician
Hero
Creator
Explorer

2001 – popularized the use of Jungian Archetypes in
brand management.

Scale
20,000 images.
5 seconds per image.
27 hours looking at each image once.

Semiotics tend to be practitioner based: individuals.
This leads to a scaling problem, humans can only consistently analyse a limit amount
of information.
Automated analysis is not a total solution to the problem of scale but it is a start.
New approaches need to be developed to deal with the scale of information
available.

12,000
Instagram
posts from
20 brands
Appletiser
Coca Cola
Dirty Lemon
Tango
Dr Pepper
Evian
Fever Tree
Innocent
Irnbru
Karma Drinks
Lipton Ice Tea
Lucozade Energy
Lucozade Sport
Orangina
Pepsi
Perrier
Real Kombucha
Red Bull
Sandows
Tropicana Juices
DATA:
Post image
Post text
Date of post
Number of likes
Number of comments
Follower count

Jungian Archetype Analysis of Soft Drinks

1
2
3
4
5
Universalism
Benevolence
Conformity
Traditionalism
Security
Power
Achievement
Hedonism
Stimulation
Self directedness
Coca Cola
Innocent
Lucozade Sport
Schwartz’s work defined a range of cross-cultural
values that relate to individuals’ worldview and
value systems
They can also provide insight into what brands stand
for in culture based on what they are communicating.
• Universalism – fairness, understanding, tolerance, and protection
in society and for nature.
• Benevolence – preserving and enhancing the welfare of close
individuals and the community.
• Tradition – respect, commitment, and acceptance of the customs
and ideas that are important in culture.
• Conformity – restraint of actions, inclinations, and impulses likely
to upset or harm others and violate social expectations or norms.
• Security – safety, harmony, and stability of society, of
relationships, and of self.
• Power – social status and prestige, control or dominance over
people and resources.
• Achievement – success through achieving personal and social
goals and desires.
• Hedonism – indulgence, pleasure or sensuous gratification.
• Stimulation – excitement, novelty, and challenge in life.
• Self-Direction – independent thought and action; choosing,
creating, exploring.
Archetypes: “narrative character” or “thematic structure”

1
1.5
2
2.5
3
3.5
4
4.5
Harmony
Identity
Empowerment
Authenticity
Community
Belonging
Goodness
Relevance
Purpose
Fulfilment
Development
Love
Exploration
Vitality
Creativity
Growth
Nurture
Empathy
Legacy
Courage
Self-expression
Motivation
Aspiration
Transformation
Challenge
Protection
Escape
Control
Dominance
Mastery
Liberation
Rebellion
Purity
Relaxation
Security
Stability
Comfort
Status
Achievement
Wellbeing
Quality
Enjoyment
Safety
Passion
Desire
Indulgence
Hedonism
Drama
Fun
Excitement
Cultural
Affinity
Personal
Fulfilment
Agency
Quality
Of Life
Hedonia
Fever Tree
Lucozade
• Universal Energies are a more detailed set of core
semantic and semiotic concepts that resonate with
human needs, expressed in different ways through
communications and language generally.
• These and other concepts can form the lego-like
building blocks of new ways of thinking about
brands.
• In this example, Fever Tree speaks to Enjoyment,
Wellbeing, Relaxation. Authenticity, Desire,
Indulgence and Hedonism.
• Whereas Lucozade majors on contrasting codes of
Challenge, Mastery, Achievement, Courage, Drama
and Vitality.

Metrics mean we can
categorize

We then interpret and
name the semiotic clusters

Many metrics determine
the properties of the
semiotic clusters

Innocent Coca Cola

Automated semiotic analysis allows the analysis of much larger data sets than human practitioners can
manage.
Automated semiotic analysis is a tool that expands the use of semiotic analysis.
Semiotics is no longer an “addition” within a project but becomes the core analysis technique for a project.
The ability for semiotic analysis to “scale up” means it can be used on a wider class of problems:
Semiotic analysis of web sites
Semiotic analysis of sales and marketing material
”Cultural Weather” analysis – internal/external communication analysis
”General” cultural analysis – media et al
Implications

Next..
Generate Greimas Squares from a text or image data set ?

Q & A
Ray Poynter
NewMR
Andrew Jeavons
Signoi