Semiotics in Marketing
How to Decode Signs, Symbols and Market Codes
The English edition of a practical guide to decoding signs, symbols, meanings, and market codes in branding, communication, design, and cultural strategy.
Semiotics in Marketing is a book for researchers, strategists, marketers, designers, creative teams, and students who want to understand how culture shapes brands—and how brands communicate through signs.
Originally published in Polish in 2024 as Semiotyka w marketingu. Jak badać znaki, symbole i kody rynku?, the book is now available in English in an edition prepared for international readers.
Why This Book?
A Practical Guide to Marketing Semiotics
This is not only a theoretical introduction to semiotics. It is a practical guide based on nearly twenty years of commercial semiotic projects conducted for brands, corporations, institutions, and organisations in Poland and internationally.
The book connects classic semiotic concepts with their application in marketing practice. It shows how to move from cultural observation to strategic recommendation: from collecting cultural texts, signs, images, messages, and narratives to mapping codes, identifying tensions, interpreting meanings, and translating insights into brand strategy, communication, and design decisions.
Look Inside the Book
Browse selected pages from the English edition of Semiotics in Marketing.
The preview includes sample spreads from different parts of the book, showing its structure, visual style, practical examples, analytical diagrams, and selected methodological explanations.
Napisali o książce
Książka napisana przez praktyków dla praktyków. Para doświadczonych badaczy pozwala nam zajrzeć do swojej skrzynki z narzędziami do analizy znaków, kodów i opowieści.
Bezcenna pomoc dla ludzi z branży kreatywnej, badaczy rynku i opinii, ale też dla każdego, kto po prostu chciałby lepiej zrozumieć otaczający nas świat kultury.
Professor Marcin Napiórkowski
Institute of Polish Culture, University of Warsaw
About the English Edition
The English edition has been prepared for an international audience. Some references, examples, and footnotes closely tied to Polish linguistic or cultural contexts have been adapted or omitted where they would have required lengthy explanation. At the same time, locally rooted observations and case studies have been retained where they illustrate universal analytical points or offer useful insight into how meanings take shape in a specific market.
Most illustrations have been recreated in English, while original packaging, advertisements, and cultural texts have been preserved where their original form is part of the analysis.
About the Authors
Krzysztof Polak and Marzena Żurawicka are practitioners of marketing semiotics and founders of Semiotic Solutions in Poland.
Since 2005, they have conducted close to three hundred semiotic projects for companies, brands, social organisations, and institutions in Poland and around the world.
Their work combines semiotic theory, cultural analysis, marketing research, and strategic consulting.
Semiotics in Marketing: How to Decode Signs, Symbols and Market Codes
Semiotics in Marketing: How to Decode Signs, Symbols and Market Codes
Semiotics in Marketing is a practical guide for researchers, strategists, marketers, designers, creative teams, and students who want to understand how culture shapes brands—and how brands communicate through signs, symbols, narratives, and market codes.