Ferdinand Mongin de Saussure is one of the founders of Semiology, he conceptualised the sign/signifier/signified, which form the main basis of semiotics. A sign is something that can be interpreted by someone as standing for something other than itself, signs can work through any of the senses and take any form.
Roland Barthes furthered Saussure's theory by discussing the connotations and denotations behind texts. A text is an ordered, purposeful assemblage of signs; this could manifest as a sentence, a photo, a film, a sound recording and much more. Connotation refers to the wide array of positive and negative associations that most words naturally carry with them, whereas denotation is the precise, literal definition of a word that might be found in a dictionary.
Semiology is paramount to understanding advertising texts, it helps us to form meaning and communicate messages properly. It can also help audiences to make their own judgement of an advert, people may see different connotations to other people. The way a single sign is read varies for each person due to their unique set of beliefs, background, social factors and demographic. It is important for advertisers to bare this in mind when forming an ad, as the message they believe to be shown could be entirely different for the audience.
Marks & Spencer (M&S) was formed in 1884 by Sir Michael Marks, in Leeds' Kirkgate Market. Since the formation of the company, M&S have adapted their marketing, branding and advertising to fit with social, economic and political trends. As well as following the flux of modern trends, M&S consistently stay true to their heritage within their products and adverts. Famous products and phrases such as 'don't ask the price, its a penny', and their 1950 employee magazine 'Sparks' have been up-cycled and used in current M&S advertising.
When looking round the Marks & Spencer Company Archive in Leeds, one of the most striking eras from an advertising point of view is the 1950s - 1960's. Post WW2, retail economy was boosted back into business when people could stop consuming ration products and begin to purchase more luxury goods. M&S thrived at this time by creating beautifully choreographed advert campaigns to be screened at colour cinemas. The ads contained well sought after brands such as 'Bri Nylon', which was a huge best seller and was largely plugged by the company to drive sales. During this era, M&S were the first retail company to install in house scientists and analysts to help test and innovate new technology within garment production. This gave the company a huge advantage, allowing them to provide 'quality worth every penny', their current slogan. The slogan links to the company's heritage of being a penny bazaar back in its 1884 origin.
One brilliantly defining advert of Marks & Spencer's progress through the eras is the Twiggy 125th Anniversary advert. It features key moments of the companies past, starting from Kirkgate market leading up to current day stores and showcases with grandeur each of their biggest defining moments as a brand.
Style icon Twiggy is the main subject of the TV ad, which she narrates throughout. Visual written codes such as a 'don't ask the price, its a penny' sign have been used to denote the affordability and stability of the business. In her diegetic voice over, Twiggy repeats the third-person plural personal pronoun 'they' in reference to M&S, by doing this she reinforces the companies achievements such as 'they gave us a taste of the exotic'; which signifies that M&S are providing a quality service to the consumer. The ad uses light humour to appeal to an audience of middle aged females through the line 'ooh now thats clever' whilst the camera pans to a mid shot of a topless male. Twiggy also directly addresses female audience members by saying 'we ladies', which allows the target audience to connect to the advert via personal identity, giving them a sense of satisfaction (Blumler & Katz, Uses & Gratifications Theory).
