A comparative study of branding cities through semiotic abalyses of the official websites os Seoul, Tokyo and Beijing

Abstract

[Abstract] This study is primarily a series of semiotic analyses of the symbols and visual expressions employed in the contents of the official websites designed to promote three capitol cities of East Asian countries - South Korea, Japan and China. As the investigator assumes that these websites reflect the varying perspectives of the people behind the development and management of these routes of Internet communication, and the semiotic choices made in order to exemplify each city’s cultural image. The study aims to analyze the communication strategies of cultural branding in the cases of online contents regarding Seoul, Tokyo, and Beijing focusing on the comparative points in these cities’ official websites. The investigation includes conducting semiotic content analyses of aforementioned cities’ official web pages, as an attempt to find out the branding strategies to achieve differentiation and more favorable perceptions on these three capitol cities. Building upon the finding drawn from this comparative study, the present research proposes to discuss the more effective ways of strategic differentiation of the images associated with these cities from the view of brand communications. This study also deliberates about the viable directions for designing web contents for a capitol city through which cultural messages are delivered in a thoughtful and effective manner.