Information and communication technologies (ICTs) cannot only be used practically in marketing efforts, but also as symbols, due to the images and associations they provoke of for example modernity and speed. The marketing of a city through the use of ICT-images however, also involve risks, as ICTs among certain people also bring about negative associations. Therefore, marketers need to be aware of what happens with the marketing material after it has been developed and sent out. The main argument of this chapter is that sense making emerges through a dialogic process. By analyzing semiotically a marketing leaflet for the Stockholm-based ICT-project mCity, and two ads for Nokia phones that appeared in Europe at about the same time as mCity, this chapter challenges the traditional cybernetic sender-receiver model of communication, and proposes that when the sender has sent the message, the message becomes a speaker on its own, interacting with the listener through a dialogic process set in the mind of the lis ener. When understanding this, marketers should benchmark the use of ICTs in other contemporary media in order to ensure the success aimed for with the city marketing material using ICT-imager.
William Arnot Parker, M.B., C.M.Glasg., Medical Superintendent, Glasgow District Mental Hospital, Gartloch, N.B.