A bespoke branding consultancy leveraging cultural insights and semiotics to enhance brand strategy and consumer research.

WORK

DJG Brand Studio - Number 1

Trends Intelligence

Examine the latest trends in rapidly changing environments to assist brands in making more informed decisions.

  • Bespoke trend reports with Le Bureau Pink Brain: a selection of current topics each year to enhance brand strategy and inspire new developments

DJG Brand Studio - Number 2

Cultural Insights

Utilizing a semiotics methodology, decode emerging cultural forces and analyze cultural shifts to assist brands in better understanding specific cultures or subcultures.

  • Cultural maps using the semiotic square analysis tool

  • Cultural territory scenarios

  • Cultural roadmaps for brands

DJG Brand Studio - Number 3

Brand Strategy

Define or refine an existing brand’s positioning to better respond to cultural shifts and specific consumer needs.

  • Brand books

  • Brand platforms

  • Brand positioning maps

  • Brand positioning scenarios

DJG Brand Studio - Number 4

Consumer research

Conduct qualitative consumer research to gain insights into the needs and expectations of a specific target audience.

  • Facilitate focus groups and online consumer communities

  • Conduct in-depth one-on-one interviews

  • Write both topline and detailed qualitative reports

ABOUT

Dora Jurd de Girancourt

With a robust career spanning over two decades in brand strategy and consumer research, I have honed my skills at esteemed companies like Groupe Clarins and Saint Gobain, and top-tier agencies such as TBWA Group and Kantar Consulting. This journey has taken me across the globe, from France to the USA, South Africa, and Morocco. In 2022, I took the leap to found DJG Brand Studio, a venture that offers immersive semiotics and cultural insights, enriching international brand strategy and consumer research.

As a graduate of ESCP Business School and holder of a Master’s degree in Semiotics from La Sorbonne, I help companies in the retail sector and the creative industries – lifestyle, beauty, luxury, hospitality, sport, and entertainment – define strategies in line with emerging trends and consumer behaviours.

On the academic front, I have taught brand strategy in Morocco at ESCA École de Management and continue to give occasional lectures at business schools. I have also published three books on family businesses in France, South Africa and Morocco.

My journey took an exciting turn in 2024 when I joined Le Bureau Pink Brain, a Swiss-based consultancy renowned for its expertise in semiotics and brand strategy. Here, I serve as an Associate Director, leading the development of the Prospective & Trends department, a role that fuels my passion for innovation and forward-thinking.

DJG Brand Studio - Portrait Dora Jurd de Girancourt

THOUGHTS

How semiotics helps to choose a punchy product claim
29 May

How semiotics helps to choose a punchy product claim

Semiotics can help brands choose the proper claim for a product.

> Choosing the proper product’s claim is a challenging task. It’s very engaging and requires an extensive cultural and consumer understanding. Let’s consider a healthy food brand that needs to choose, for the launch of a probiotic-enriched product, an impactful product claim. Which words are they going to use? Gut health, digestive comfort or pre/pro/post biotics? Will they focus on the functional benefit, the feeling of comfort, or the ingredients’ specs?

> It depends on their targeted geographical market, their consumers’ expectations and the market’s socio-cultural understanding of health. And this is the job of semiotics to understand these cultural nuances to get the impactful claim that will win the game.

How second-hand platforms become real enabler brands that urge consumers to change in a positive and emotional way
29 May

How second-hand platforms become real enabler brands that urge consumers to change in a positive and emotional way

Semiotics can help brands choose the proper claim for a product.

> Choosing the proper product’s claim is a challenging task. It’s very engaging and requires an extensive cultural and consumer understanding. Let’s consider a healthy food brand that needs to choose, for the launch of a probiotic-enriched product, an impactful product claim. Which words are they going to use? Gut health, digestive comfort or pre/pro/post biotics? Will they focus on the functional benefit, the feeling of comfort, or the ingredients’ specs?

> It depends on their targeted geographical market, their consumers’ expectations and the market’s socio-cultural understanding of health. And this is the job of semiotics to understand these cultural nuances to get the impactful claim that will win the game.

Setting the scene for filiation
16 Oct

Setting the scene for filiation

In my opinion, this campaign is particularly inspiring for family businesses, as it presents the concept of filiation in a new light. Le Vieux Campeur, a historic French player in sports

The significance of the Louis Vuitton monogram
22 Sep

The significance of the Louis Vuitton monogram

Have you ever wondered where the two main symbols of the Louis Vuitton monogram – the star and the flower- come from? It's a very well-kept secret, but one thing

Uncover skincare: when a Kenyan native brand uses South Korean advanced technology
22 May

Uncover skincare: when a Kenyan native brand uses South Korean advanced technology

The brand Uncover is the perfect alliance of South Korean technology and African ingredients, offering skincare products specifically tailored for African women.It leverages technology from South Korea, which is known

Whisky with a purpose
22 May

Whisky with a purpose

Rhino Whisky is a new South African brand of single malt whisky founded by two friends, Gerrit Wagener and Brin Kushner, who decided to create a whisky that would not

Yassir: the most valuable startup in North Africa
22 May

Yassir: the most valuable startup in North Africa

Founded in 2017 by Noureddine Tayebi, Yassir provides three basic services: transport, food and shopping delivery, and financial services.In Arabic, Yassir means “easy” and this is the reason for being

All-purpose products : a “less is more” growing trend in most African countries
22 May

All-purpose products : a “less is more” growing trend in most African countries

Is it a sign of resilience against inflation that hardly hit some African countries? Is it a sign of growing eco-responsibility from brands and consumers? Maybe both.We’ve seen in Africa,

PRESS

Here is a collection of my online articles focused on semiotics, brand strategy, and family businesses.

CONTACT

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