Malcolm is a leading figure in the application of semiotics to marketing. He worked with the UK’s first specialist agency, Semiotic Solutions, and pioneered Added Value’s international Decoder offer. He then founded his own semiotics consultancy, Space Doctors, where he remained until 2014. Malcolm now divides his time between the commercial and academic arenas. He works with Luminous and other firms as an independent advisor in cultural and semiotic analysis.

Experience and achievements

• Worked internationally for a wide range of clients including GSK, P&G, Mercedes, Mastercard, Unilever, Coca Cola, Tesco, American Express, Vodafone and UNICEF

• Founder of semionaut.net, a global forum for sharing ideas in brand, cultural and socio-political semiotics

• Extensively published academically and in marketing/consumer insight journals

• Has won three UK Market Research Society Conference awards (including Best Paper twice) and WPP’s Atticus Grand Prix award

• Current interests are semiotic training, innovation, biosemiotics, communicating with citizens and consumers aged 55+, and ethics and perceived authenticity at a time of eroding trust in companies and institutions