LUCID SEMIOTICS offers foresight, brand strategy, communications and innovation consulting derived from cultural insight and intelligence.
Based in San Francisco, we work with top brands and companies to understand cultural change and find routes to better communication and connection.
Foresight and Inspiration
Understanding emergent culture and what fuels it; finding and articulating new conceptual spaces and their relevance for innovation; enabling culturally-grounded ideation and creativity.
Brand Strategy and Activation
Strategy, positioning and opportunities; mapping competitive presence and possible futures; aligning brand activations with strategy; crafting compelling contemporary storytelling through language, imagery and design.
Cultural Context Immersion
Navigating the changing consumer ecosystem and the beliefs and expectations that drive it; identifying cultural frameworks that resonate and reinforce brands; refining the art of the implicit consumer relationship.
Foresight & Inspiration
Brand Strategy & Activation
Creative Development
Sensory Exploration
Design Intelligence
Target Intelligence
Stimuli Development
Workshops
ABOUT
Ramona M. Lyons, Ph.D.
Chief Explorer, Thinker, and Catalyst
I'm a cultural insights specialist, applied semiotician, and brand strategist. I study and translate cultural codes and narratives to help clients understand what's emerging on the horizon, anticipate change, and connect with their audiences. Together, we find ways to leverage meaning that resonates and breaks open expectations.
LUCID SEMIOTICS is driven by my love of semiotics and its power to surface cultural insight and transform the way we think about the world. With semiotics, you can get beyond explicit meaning to cultural beliefs and implicit understandings that drive emotional resonance. These insights can be leveraged to communicate with control and intention, breaking through where competitors stumble.
Semiotics also often yields unexpected, fruitful alternatives and ways forward. I call myself a "catalyst," because semiotics can stimulate ideas and make them flow again.
I've worked for almost 18 years in market research, brand strategy and creative development, and unlike many semioticians, I've worked on both the client and agency side. As a result, I'm well versed in the full spectrum of research methodologies and how they're applied.
Nothing is rote. I design custom research plans and present relevant, actionable findings in a variety of engaging forms, including short films. For global work, I access an international network of onsite cultural experts who can confirm cultural resonance, and offer up contemporary perspectives.
I have experience across a variety of categories, including spirits, packaged goods, personal care, apparel, auto, hospitality, retail, technology, and pharmaceutical.
For fun, I write cultural and film analysis, and speculative fiction and fantasy. I also love exploring immersive experience design.
More information about what I do is available upon request.
CONTACT
There's so much we can do to meet your research needs and curiosity- including introductory semiotics and innovation inspiration workshops for your team.
If you'd like to know more, get in touch.
