By Charles Peirce
Deep Metaphors are a concept from Harvard Professor, marketer, and researcher Gerald Zaltman that find their obvious use in marketing but have many possible applications for communication of all kinds. They are similar to Archetypes and Archetype Theory in that they represent a base symbolic language which communicates via the subconscious. But whereas Archetype Theory is based upon Jungian psychoanalysis, Deep Metaphors come primarily from the study of cognitive science, neuro-imaging, and linguistics. While not a substitute for Archetype Theory (nor a replacement), they are a useful tool in dealing with many issues of marketing, not least among them market segmentation and niche audiences.
