Inventing Brands: Opportunities at the Nexus of Semiotics and Intellectual Property

A central challenge of modern design management is to create a product or service that stands out in the marketplace. This article explores how strategic differentiation intersects with the logic of brand messages. To make the design connection, this paper explores convergences drawn from research in neuroscience, semiotics, and intellectual property management. This paper introduces a brand inventions theory framework for enhancing effective design management and the dynamic co-ownership of brands by manufacturers and consumers. Neuroscience suggests that brand loyalty may indeed be irrational, but it is also logical. To explore how the visual equities can be the agents of value transference, this paper needs to introduce semiotics as described by neuroscience. Because the consumer stands at the center of the brand universe and ultimately shapes the brand's deployment, visual language research can access and explore brand triggers. The visual equities of the brand carry the messages about the differentiation and/or benefits that drive purchase behavior.