Reading Culture: A Fireside on Cultural Insight and Brand Strategy with Jennifer Simon…

Ever wondered where a social science degree can actually lead, beyond the routes everyone already talks about? Dr Jennifer Simon is a sociology PhD turned commercial semiotician, futurist and co-founder of Capture the Vision Insights, where she leads brand strategy and cultural insight work. In this fireside chat, hosted jointly by Women in Business and the Sociology Society, she will share her own story and the craft behind her field in an open conversation, followed by a Q&A and time to talk with her informally afterwards.

The conversation will move through:

• How an interest in reading people and culture turns into work that organisations pay for
• Jennifer's path from a sociology PhD and teaching into brand strategy and what actually opened the first door
• Semiotics in action: how a semiotician reads meaning in an everyday ad or piece of packaging that the rest of us walk straight past, shown live with a real example
• What changes when you move from theory to advising a business and what to carry over from your social science training
• Founding and running a company on your own terms and what that path looks like for women building careers in industry
• The honest, practical advice: what to actually do to start out

You will leave with a real feel for how cultural insight drives brand strategy and a few concrete next steps to take with you, plus the chance to put your own questions to Jennifer. Come along, bring your curiosity and see culture the way a semiotician does.