Exhibit 12.7 Clip from a Volvo advertisement.
In today’s markets where
product parity is often the norm, what differentiates brands are the symbols,
values, images, lifestyles, personalities, relationships and emotions that get
associated with them through advertising.
For instance, Apple products are favourably associated
with aspects like style, youth, innovation, creativity, functionality,
excellence etc. Singapore Airlines, through the symbolism of the Singapore
Girl, is associated with hospitality, grace and beauty. Volvo through a variety
of symbols is associated with safety.
Symbolism is also
used in the content of the Volvo advertisement in Exhibit 12.7.
Suggestive directional cues such as the mother’s gaze, her
bulging stomach and the protruding navel draw your attention to the womb and the baby within. The analogy
strikes you on reading the tagline. The baby, symbolizing the passenger, rests protected in the womb, which
represents the body of the car.
