Marketing Code-X

Enlightened Fun

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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.

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ENLIGHTENED FUN” NORM: Getting realigned, balanced, whole doesn’t have to be so earnest. Instead, the process can and should be fun.

Headspace commercial — “I meditate because my girlfriend told me to.”

ENLIGHTENED FUN” FORMS: A little goofy, silly. Very casual, relaxed. Laughing, enjoying life. Fun, light-hearted tonality. “The heart of meditation is taking ourselves a little less seriously.” “Your brain on Recess.”

From a 2019 audit of the “Getting Whole” space. Defined as: Makes me feel self-reliant, able to take action by helping me get out of my own way, calming me down while also energizing me, restoring a neglected part of my inner life.

Tags: CODE-X, Getting Whole