Selling homes: the polysemy of visual marketing

Abstract

In this article, we will demonstrate how a social semiotic reading of a housing advertisement campaign differs from the audience reception of it. We have talked to the campaign’s producer – the Norwegian housing developer Block Watne – whose reflections are somewhat different from our own. The producer emphasises a policy of selling homes by choosing certain semiotic resources at the expense of others; however, in contrast to our academic reading, the producer does not pay particular attention to the grammar of visual design, such as composition and modality, which is understandable, because specialist language is required to do so. This is also the case for the audience, without compromising their ability to criticise the campaign in different ways. Furthermore, while we read gender roles in the campaign, the producer and the audience do not. We will demonstrate that incorporating knowledge about sign makers’ intentions and audience reception of visual marketing, provides additional insight into the dynamics of communication.