Traditional luxury shops seem to have a natural talent in creating an atmosphere of old luxury. From a semiotic perspective, those shops use a complex texture of different signs for both creating a traditional luxury myth and addressing specific customers who are looking for this brand identity. In our study, we compile a semiotic concept for analysing a shop design which seeks to reflect old luxury and traditional heritage. While the desire for semiotic analysis in the marketing and management domain is increasing, theoretical approaches and case study analyses too often remain superficial regarding the possibilities of semiotic approaches. Our study aims to present a complex analysing concept to fill this gap and apply it to the field of luxury brand management consequently. While semiotic research discusses many different approaches up to today, Peirce’s philosophy may be still regarded as one of the most complex concepts which allows the most precise analysis and classification of meaningful signs. On the basis of his three trichotomies and their major corresponding subcategories we analysed a traditional luxury shop design, discussing the different signs that produce simple to very complex structures of meaning with respect to approaches of creating a mythical frame. The results of our study reflect the need of a shop design using different signs with a complex texture of meaning to support the idea of traditional luxury. From the perspective of communication theories, the semiotic patterns which are presented in our findings create a narrative frame which eventually leads to a specific myth of old luxury branding. While Peirce’s philosophy offers a complex approach, contemporary studies in marketing and management only use the surface of semiotics. Our study may contribute a rather distinguished methodology, though further research will be necessary to apply semiotics more reasonably not only for fashion and luxury but for several fields of interests in marketing and management research. For brand managers in companies with a traditional heritage, creating myths and classical frames must be of core interest. Our study offers several implications of using semiotic signs to create an aesthetic and old fashioned shop atmosphere. As original values, our study compiles a complex semiotic concept to analyse mythical framing in traditional luxury stores. Our results present specific possibilities of creating specific meaning with respect to the need of representing brand identity within a shop. However, the concept may be also valid for other analyses in marketing and management such as advertising and brand semiotics in general.

본 논문은 소비자의 브랜드 수용 및 확산에 신화의 속성을 내포한 브랜드 내러티브(brand narrative)가 가지는 의미의 연관성 규명과 함께 그동안 연구되어온 신화적 원형(mythological archetypes)을 브랜드 내러티브의 구축에 실제적으로 적용하기 위한 개념적 과정의 논의를 목적으로 한다. 이를 위해 원형으로서의 신화가 브랜드 내러티브와 결합하였을 때 적합한 의미 생성 경로로서 작용하는지에 대해 알아보고, 브랜드의 상징체계(symbol system) 구축에 관한 신화적 상징 재목적화(repurposing)의 매개 작용을 규명해보고자 한다. 아울러 Barthes의 기호학 체계를 통하여 신화의 의미 해석에 대해 탐구하고 브랜드 내러티브의 구축을 위한 원형 신화의 함축적 상징체계로서 적용 가능성을 분석함으로써 이를 통한 결론과 시사점을 도출하고자 한다. 본 연구는 신화와 제품 혹은 브랜드 간의 연관성 규명을 위해 부분적으로 활용해 온 기존의 이론들을 하나의 흐름으로 연결, 정립하여 연구 분석의 소재 및 방법을 확장시켰다는 점에서 의의가 있다.