Symbolism and What It Means

One image stands out as being rife with symbolism, that of a US soldier placing an American flag over the head of Saddam Hussein's statue as they prepared to pull it down.

When that flag was placed on the statue, it represented something. To some, it represents that the USA has taken a major step towards removing oppression and the threat of mass destruction through terrorist organizations. To others, it represented the threat that the US could, at any time, step in in and take over their country and change their way of life.

I can't help but think that someone in Washington, either in the White House or the Pentagon, was the cause of the change of that flag from an American one to the Iraqi one. We'll probably never know, but I wouldn't be surprised to someday hear that it took about two minutes after that flag went up before the joint chiefs heard about it, who called Tommy Franks, who called... until a radio message was heard in the vehicle to "get that flag down now!"

Unfortunately for American interests, it's not the picture of the Iraqi flag, but the one of the American flag, that's getting all of the press and air time in the Arab press.

Symbolism is powerful. People may not remember facts, but they distinctly remember symbols, especially images. Symbols carry with them all of the history, background information and emotion of the event that created it, plus everything else that has been associated with it since. Why do you think flag burning is such a hot issue?

Can symbols be powerful in business? Absolutely. And they can be good and bad.

How many of us who have travelled overseas were grateful to see the famous "Golden Arches" to get some good old "American Food"?

How many of us know the Enron logo today, that never knew it in the past?

There are a number of places where symbolism can be used to create and build an image:

1. In logos and on packaging -

I remember back to the days when I ran part of the Depend(R) brand (you think that was bad - my first job out of grad school was associate brand manager for New Freedom - guys, that's like Kotex!) I learned a lesson about symbols there as we placed a symbol on the package that showed our leakage-prevention system, and how it increased sales by double digit percentages just because it was there. The most interesting part of this story? Due to production issues and running out of old packaging, the feature advertised by the symbol had been in an increasingly-large percentage of the product for 4 months before we actually talked about it on the package, with no corresponding increase in sales. But when we put the symbol on the package, sales spiked.

2. In key communications from the company -

A company known as stodgy and old-fashioned can gain significant mileage through a video or annual report showing their modernistic new building and sparkling-clean robotic production line

The Verizon "can you hear me now" guy (have you seen the one with the monkey and the banana? Great spot!) is a symbol, as is Walmart's maruding happy face. But it doesn't have to be a character. A jingle, a logo, an image, even Circuit City's building are all symbols in their commercials.

3. In their joint ventures, promotions and implementation of corporate strategy. McDonald Douglas, Lockheed and Boeing mean patriotism and American military might here in the US. But for many foreign governments, they mean a great source of military hardware. In other words, these powerhouses have done a great job of communicating to Americans that they support American interests, while at the same time selling weapons that could potentially even be used in battles against American forces in the future.

One other thing about symbolism - it can be created, or it can be borrowed. Holiday sales, back to school promotions, putting an American flag in your window, using the name of the local community, etc. are all examples of borrowed symbolism. Even the minivan commercial uses Celine Dion's song, her face and even her son as a symbol.

What symbols are you using today?

More importantly, what symbols could you be using to build your image with the press and the public?

How could you integrate those symbols better throughout all of your communications with the public?

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