Threads of Meaning: Exploring Brand Identity through Language in Pakistan’s Clothing Industry

Abstract

The study analyzes the language used by the Pakistani clothing brands, Generation and
Sapphire on Instagram that they use to construct their identities by selling their products in
an age where branding goes hand in hand with storytelling. This research incorporates both
qualitative and quantitative methodology by focusing on brands’ posts from January-April
2025. The study uses the framework of CADS to identify the linguistic patterns that may not
be seen manually, and Identity Theory to understand and analyze the social positioning of
the brands. The study highlights that besides being marketing tools, the advertising strategies
of these clothing brands shape and influence consumer identity and perception by using the
language that reflects aspirational values, by reinforcing social belonging and values, and by
the strategic use of verbal discourse. The findings show that each brand constructs identity
in different ways. Sapphire constructs brand identity through supporting and softening
narratives of elegance and sophistication. Whereas, Generation portrays itself as a culturallyrooted,
timeless, women-empowering clothing brand. This study fulfills a research gap in
linguistic branding by illustrating how language sustains identity construction in Pakistan’s
emerging online marketing by not only studying the corporate identity construction of the
brands but also the consumers’ social identity that the brands construct by aligning the
consumers’ perception with the brands’ ideas and values. This research also contributes to
the scope of sociolinguistics and corpus theory by applying identity theory to the commercial
and digital domain, using CADS to analyze multimodal marketing, and by introducing
Pakistani brand discourse into global sociolinguistic conversation.