Brand Communication as Intertextual and Intermedial Myth: A Cultural Semiotic Reading for Audiovisual Campaigns

Abstract

In a context of pervasive connectivity and multimedia environments, brand communication increasingly relies on discursive forms that transcend literal description to produce cultural meanings. These representational structures combine image and text across diverse formats and media, strategically engaging audiences and reconfiguring real referents into widely circulating symbolic narratives. This article advances conceptual foundations for a cultural–semiotic reading of brand communication, conceived as an intertextual and intermedial myth. The focus is on audiovisual and digital campaigns that adapt and appropriate authentic attributes, benefits, and spaces, transforming them into narratives of identity, belonging, and consumption. For exemplification, three main areas are considered: products such as food, clothing, or automobiles; services such as mobile telephony, entertainment venues, or urban transportation; and places such as tourist countries, heritage regions, or developed cities. Recent Portuguese campaigns illustrate these dynamics, demonstrating how cultural references are reworked into intertextual and intermedial myths within the online world. Without
constituting an in–depth case study or a closed methodology, the article proposes an exploratory reading framework that can be applied to different communicational fields and sociocultural contexts. Ultimately, reflecting on brands as cultural semiotic myths clarifies their role in shaping collective imaginaries, generating symbolic value, and constructing shared social realities in the digital age.