The CODE-X series catalogs a vast codex of source codes (aka “signs”) extracted from past audits.

The object of study in semiotics is not the signs but rather a general theory of signification; the goal of each “audit” is to build a model demonstrating how meaning is produced and received within a category or cultural territory. Signs on their own, therefore, only become truly revelatory and useful once we’ve sorted them into thematic complexes, and the complexes into codes, and the codes into a meaning map. We call this process “thick description”; the Code-X series is thin description.

“NAUGHTY GETAWAY” NORM: A core category story for Jamaica rum, now trending residual, is the idea of Jamaica as a tourist resort. A tropical place to relax and get a little crazy. Rum’s reputation is about a sweet drink mixed with Coca-Cola, punch, or something else – used to loose inhibitions while on tropical vacation, get crazy.

“NAUGHTY GETAWAY” FORMS: Uninhibited women, drinking and dancing….

From a 2019 study of the TOURIST JAMAICA space — which is about appreciating Jamaica’s unique terroir and culture from an outsider’s or tourist’s perspective.