Teaching language, Teacher and pedagogical assistant, other speakers…

COURSE SYLLABUS Hanoï 2019

SEMIOTICS

1/ COURSE SPECIFICATIONS:

Program Title: MKT – EAM – Marketing Studies and Actions
Course title, Teaching language, Teacher and pedagogical assistant, other speakers…

Semiotics and communication

Duration 14 hours
Lecturer: PhD. Didier Tsala Effa
Learning Goals / Learning objectives: The main objective/goal of the course
To enable participants to understand how sign systems produce meaning in general, and particularly in the marketing communication
To enable participants to understand the brand strategies, beneath the signs
To enable participants to understand how to convey positioning and image of Luxury brands
To enable participants to analyse, produce or modify a “text” or any communication message

Explore the basics of semiotic theory and the most relevant semiotics tools; build a semiotics methodology through the analysis of many mix elements; define what are the keywords when talking about the communication, about the meaning

2/ LEARNING OUTCOMES

Concepts and theories to which students were exposed during the course:

(List of key concepts/theories)

Semiotics, signs, meaning, significant/signifier, semiotics square, narrative scheme, communication scheme, corpus; actantial scheme, figures; communicational strategies

Greimas theory; Roman Jakobson theory; “Immediate constituents ” theory of Noam Chomsky

The knowledge acquired by the students at the end of the course:

(They have to be formulated through a verb, which expresses the idea of knowing, such as: knowing, explaining, identifying etc.)

Understanding the added value of semiotics approach

Mastering the usefulness of semiotics tools for marketing and communication mix

Identifying the process of meaning

Explaining the structure of signs an discourses

Analysing the brands communication strategy behind their communication campaigns

The skills acquired by the students at the end of the course:

Being able to use the main semiotics tools for marketing and communication problematics

Being able to analyse, understand the communication programs of a brand in its competitive environment

Appreciating the differences between corporate and product communication

Identifying the values conveyed by a communication message

Being able to contribute to strategic decisions in terms of communication

Building a communication strategy based on the brand positioning and values

Being able to participate and contribute to creative briefings

The deliverables and productions that students will be able to present after having taken the course:

Semiotics analysis; qualitative research; copy strategies

Creative group presentation

Individual analysis of communication cases

The people that student will have met or contacted during the course :

(External speakers, contacts in companies, professionals, experts, alumni etc.)

The different “entrepreneurs for the world” postures/principles that students will have developed through the involvement in the course:

(Not all of them necessarily apply; please select only the most relevant ones)

Openness to the world and to Society
- Multidisciplinary approach openness
- Multicultural openness
- Critical posture
- Responsible behaviour
- Creative and original perspective
- Risk tolerance
- Value creation for Society

The learning experiences that students will live:

Team-work,

Information search,

mobilization of specific tools

in-depth study of specific concepts

3/ ASSESSMENT OF THE DIFFERENT LEARNING OUTCOMES

(Only the skills and knowledge are formally assessed)

Case analysis

Individual oral contribution

Presentation

Creativity

Assessment activities:

– Form of the individual and group assessment + percentage

Individual assessment 60 %: oral contribution, test 20%, case analysis 30% class contribution 10%
- Group assessment: 40 %: group projects, presentations, studies…

– Individually prepared case study (40%)

You will be given a case in the second part of the course along with questions. You will be required to prepare powerpoint slides along with full commentary on the commentary pages giving your answers to the question at the end of the course

– Group Project (30%)

Participants will be assigned to groups of 3 or 4 people. You will be asked to work on a specific communication campaign, to develop a critical analysis, to benchmark the campaign. The document will be then presented orally to the audience.

– Assessment of the acquired skills and knowledge:

Title assessment method (quiz, case study, presentations…)


Skill 1
Skill 2
Skill 3

4/ LEARNING ACTIVITIES

(Indicate the most efficient pedagogical methods to achieve the Learning Outcomes)

The course will be organized in 2 parts: the first session will introduce the concepts, illustrating by examples etc… while the second part will be based on group case studies.

– Organization, methods and pedagogical means:

Workshops

Group

Individual research

– Precise sequence description:

(Describe the different sequences and their content)

1- Generalities: what is semiotics? where does it come from? what is the goal?

Presentation of some concept theories

2- Semiotics approaches: structural; generative; autonomus

Methodological principles

3- Semiotics tools: Paradigm/ syntagm/ generative approach/ semiotics square/ Narrative scheme/ figures

4- Communication approach: some fundamental communication principles and models