Charles Howarth Semiotics & Strategy

I help clients to identify
what’s next, enabling
them to shape the future
with precision and purpose.

I am a semiotician and cultural strategist, based in Helsinki and London.

Using semiotics, I decode emerging consumer worlds and translate them into winning strategies that shift the dial for business and their consumers.

My work spans across ”big picture” briefs – like ”what’s the future of x?” – to granular, executional challenges that help companies to activate with impact.

I have particular cultural expertise in UK, USA and the Nordics. I work across categories, from CPG/FMCG, to technology, to luxury, to automotive.

I was previously Chief Semiotician at Gemic, where I helped deliver growth for companies in Finland, the US and globally, including Facebook, P&G, Fazer and Duracell. In a previous life, I headed up semiotics at 1HQ London.

Semiotics is at the heart of everything I do

WHAT

Semiotics is an academic discipline that aims to understand how meaning is created.

Commercials semiotics involves the deep analysis of brands, categories and cultural ideas to understand what meanings are communicated to consumers and how.

WHY

Because semiotics is able to seamlessly straddle the gaps between insights, strategy and creative.

It decodes emerging meanings shaping categories and brands, and shows us how to recode these meanings so your brand can take advantage of them.

HOW

I decode what particular “cultural texts” mean and the methods they use to create these meanings.

Cultural texts can be anything from an advert, to a piece of packaging, to a newspaper article, to a product design.

I have worked on some of the toughest insights, innovation and brand strategy challenges.

I am available to work on a range of growth challenges

CULTURAL INSIGHT

Through semiotics, discourse analysis and cultural theory, I help clients to understand how their consumers’ values are shifting, and therefore how to communicate with, profile, or segment them better.

BRAND FUTURING & VISIONING

I help clients to transform their categories and inspire their organisations through creating new value propositions, embedded in a deep understanding of how their markets are evolving

DESIGN & CREATIVE STRATEGY

I use semiotic and design expertise to help clients activate growth opportunities with impact – be it brand experience guidelines, product prototyping, experience design, or creative briefs.

MARKET SCALING

Working with a global network of collaborators, I help clients to understand cultural nuances and therefore ensure their propositions are optimized for new markets.