Chrysler 300C Advertisement - Assignment Example

Analytical Essay: Media Studies of the appears here] of the appears here] This analytical essay presents an analysis of the Chrysler 300C advertisement by using the Semiotics and Discourse Analysis method. The Works Cited page appends ten sources in MLA format. Outline I. Introduction II. Semiotics and Discourse Analysis III. Analysis IV. Conclusion Introduction In very common words, advertising can be defined as the process of marketing through payment ones products, commodities, services, organizations as well as ideas by an acknowledged sponsor. Advertisement is generally considered by marketers as a major component of an overall promotional approach. Other components of the promotional mix include publicity, public relations, personal selling and sales promotion. As is said, advertisement is the "paid form of a nonpersonal message communicated through the various media by industry, business firms, nonprofit organizations, or individuals. Advertising is persuasive and informational and is designed to influence the purchasing behavior and/or thought patterns of the audience. Advertising is a marketing tool and may be used in combination with other marketing tools, such as sales promotions, personal selling tactics, or publicity" (Advertising, p.1). In our everyday lives, we are surrounded by advertisements all over. It is nearly impossible to save ourselves from one or the other kind of advertisements whether it might be the most recent offer put forward by the local supermarket or perhaps even an advertisement on the television even if we stop reading the newspaper, stop watching television or even stride around with our eyes closed. As mentioned previously, the chief rationale of marketing is to advertise and sell products, but if one ponders, we come to realize the fact that the advertisement not only sells the product to people, but it also puts forward an image of our future which is extremely attractive and full of opportunities and advantages. For this particular essay, an advertisement will be analyzed with respect to semiotic terms and techniques and discourse analysis, and discover how denotation is constructed. The methods chosen for the analysis of the advertisement are the most appropriate methods. This is because through the semiotics and discourse analysis, the advertisement of Chrysler 300C chosen can be best analyzed as it contains the language and signs that require appropriate understanding and analysis that can only be done through the use of semiotics and discourse analysis. The next section presents the concepts of semiotics and discourse analysis that is discussed through the analysis of the literature present in different books, journals, periodicals and internet sources. The literature is reviewed through these sources and then discussed and critically analyzed. Semiotic and Discourse Analysis In the course of the method of being advertised, merchandise turns into an illustration of anything and everything that is desirable for the general public or at least the target market. The basic working of an advert basically is to indicate, to correspond to us, the object of our most unavoidable desires. We can therefore argue that the most important aspect of an advertisement is of what is important to us. For an advertisement to be successful it needs to put forward an image of us and to tell us ways by which we can use the product to make ourselves even more tempting, striking etc. In this way the product is given individuality, communicating to the target market not just plain information but also representation. The advert under consideration is the Chrysler 300C advertisement. The methods that have been taken up are known as Semiotics and Discourse Analysis. A commonsensical way to start here would be by defining Semiotics first. Basically, Semiotics was developed in the 1960s and has its roots in English literature and structural linguistics. Semiotics is the methodical study of signs and the ways by which these signs build and rebuild connotation1. A sign can be concurrently iconic, representational and emblematic. A sign that is iconic puts forward a very good illustration of the suggested denotation, for instance, a snapshot or a work of art. If there is some connection amid the meaning and what is being presaged, then it is known as an index or indexical, for instance, smoke is known by all as an index of fire. It is considered to be a symbol when no relationship between the sign and the meaning is there or exists. It is said that, "Semiotics, the study of signs, which stems from the early work of Saussure (1857-1913), and Pierce (1839-1914), can be applied to virtually any sign that signifies a meaning, or concept as a means of communication in the outside world. This could be in the context of the Highway Code, a selection of historical portraits, or even in the mass media; however, advertisements are the signs that interest me most, since they convey a wide variety of meanings, ideologies, discourses, and "do not simply reflect the world and construct reality", but are, 'specific representational practices', which society interprets for itself" (Richards, p.1). Semiotics actually analyses how meaning is constructed through signs and symbols. Within the domain of media studies, semiotics plays an invaluable role; for example in a television or magazine advert there are signs that are created by the producer in order to create meaning. Media producers use semiotics in their products in order to convey messages to the consumer. Media products are encoded with meanings that the consumer then has to decode. According to Ferdinand de Saussure, a Swiss linguist semiotics or semiology as it is sometimes known teaches us "what signs consist of, what laws govern them". Saussure who incidentally also coined the term semiotics, interpreted it (semiotics) as a "science which studies the life of signs at the heart of social life'. (Saussure 1971: 33). Regarding the Discourse Analysis, it is defined and explained in a number of ways. Discourse Analysis is actually approach used for the analysis of language; either written, spoken or in the form of signs; it is analysis beyond the boundaries of sentences2. Through the discourse analysis research method, a problem or issue can be better analyzed as it provides understanding the problem from different ontological and epistemological assumptions3. It helps in the interpretation of the hidden meanings and aspects of a particular issue or problem. Thus the analysis of the advertisement can be done very efficiently through the discourse analysis as it does not just provides with the interpretation of hidden meanings, but also will help analyze from a broader standpoint and will provide a comprehensive analysis of the advertisement. For example, the analyses of how the linguistics and the signs are analyzed through the derivation of different meanings help better understand a problem. An advertisement is analyzed in a similar way and there exist a number of signs and motivations that are intended to be transferred to the customers, every time they see an advertisement. This is a clear example of semiotics and discourse analysis through which the advertisement under consideration will be analyzed. The next section will apply the concepts of semiotics and discourse analysis for the analysis of the advertisement of the Chrysler 300C car. This section will cover origins and advantages of interactive television advertising and reasons why Chrysler 300C has gone for an interactive advertisement. The section presents a comprehensive and broad view standpoint analysis of the Chrysler 300C interactive advertisement. Analysis Advertising through television has revolutionized the way of doing advertising. For the purpose of advertising, interactive television advertising has become an extremely important tool. The interactive television advertising has further influenced the decision making of the customers as the need to interact and feedback has become an extremely important factor and has derived the origins of Interactive Television Advertising. Interactive Television Advertising offers a number of advantages as it has in major revolutionized the customer-buyer relationship4. The advertising through the means of television demands more participation from the side of customers, customers require not just information or entertainment but they want both things at the same time3. The feedback factor from the customers has become extremely important which has led to the origins of 'interactive' advertising. The major advantages of the interactive television advertising are its capability to provide a audio as well as visual know-how of the product or service that is being advertised, its capability to target a mass market and most importantly it focuses on personal target marketing3. But the advertisers also need to be very cautious and evaluate efficiently the aspects such as a wrong message is not delivered nor there is a mistake in the image building of the brand through the semiotics3. The advertisers need to build up a brand image through which the customers are motivated to see the advertisements and not switch channels due to which the proper message is not delivered 3. The customers lead the way the advertising is done and their need to interact has build up the interactive television advertising through which they can browse to the related websites just by pressing the red button. For this analytical essay, an interactive TV advertisement within the domain of digital television is being analyzed. So why analyze an interactive TV advert My first essay was based on the digital television industry; and interactive TV advert is a 'product' of the digital television industry hence this essay is linked to my first essay. Therefore a proper and prior understanding of the interactive television advertising is developed through the previous knowledge and studies. Digital television has revolutionised the way in which we watch TV. With the digital TV industry constantly expanding, it can be an onerous task in keeping up with the new technologies across the three digital platforms: - cable, terrestrial and satellite5. As analysis I am analyzing a digital television advert for Chrysler 300C that was broadcast on the Sky digital platform. Interactive television advertising allows the viewer to interact with the television through the red button facility. This unique style of advertising allows companies to increase their sales. Through digital TV interactive advertising companies can reach out to potential customers and they i.e. the potential customers can in return reach back to them; and thus the companies can develop relationships. It's an audiovisual way of "meeting" and "greeting". Interactive advertising on the Sky digital platform began as early as March 2000. According to Sky interactive, interactive advertisements on average tend to deliver a higher response; as much as ten times from the viewer than a viewer who would see a normal television advertisement. With over eight million subscribers, advertisers can now reach over twenty million of the UK population; hence advertisers can reach out to a large audience. Through interactive advertising, advertisers have a better opportunity to reach out to their target audience. Around forty eight percent of Sky digital subscribers have seen a digital advert, while thirty seven percent of Sky digital subscribers state that they have pressed the red button whilst viewing an interactive advert. 6 Interactive digital advertising is not available on digital cable and terrestrial television; hence Sky is the only digital platform that advertisers can broadcast on for the time being. The advertisement being analyzed is a car advert that was broadcast on the Sky TV network. The advert was for the new Chrysler 300c car. This advert was screened during an international cricket match on Sky Sports; hence it could be argued that the advertiser Chrysler is targeting the advert at a specific target audience. Through the interactive feature on this advert, potential customers may order a brochure or book a test drive. This feature allows the customer to interact with Chrysler as opposed to just viewing the advert. By allowing the facility of ordering a brochure through the TV it is convenient for the buyer as he/she does not have to go to a Chrysler showroom, hence saving time and money. In terms of semiotics the advert is primarily composed of signifiers. The advert contains a voice over and captions on screen in order to entice a potential buyer. Through the signs and signifiers, the features of the car are portrayed. The first segment of the advert features the outlook of the car. The drive of the car is shown through which a glamorous look of the car is portrayed. The noticeable feature present in the ad that presents semiotics is also that the advert is featured in dark so that its crystal lights can also be shown in an obvious manner. Another semiotic element present in the advert is the red button. It is a sign that welcomes the customers for interaction. Through this the customers to interact and book a test drive or look for more details of the car. The use of semiotics is present as there is a use of the sign and a signifier. A sign is a thing that stands in for, something else but is unarticulated and expressed. Signifier is the word, image or sound that is used to describe the sign (physical form /object). Signified (meaning) is the mental concept created by the signifier and the referent is the real object to which the signifier refers. Denotation (signifier) is the first order of signification (surface meaning) while connotation (signified) is the second order; what is inferred (meant). The denotation is the obvious meaning, while the connotation is the meaning it brings out of you personally (e.g. red means romance). An example is if you have a rose. The rose is the signifier while the signified can be romance. A collection of signs is called a paradigm. Signs are put together according to certain rules. This is called a code. We live in a world that is embossed with innumerable codes. Making sense of a code or making meaning out of the code is called decoding. Decoding is extracting the meaning. Signs are arbitrary; hence if signs aren't agreed then they won't work (e.g. red traffic light). An iconic sign always resembles what it signifies (e.g. a picture of Gordon Brown - it physically resembles the person / photograph or drawing). An indexical sign is when the signifier(s) acts as a kind of evidence (e.g. when you see smoke you assume there is a fire). A symbolic sign is a visual sign, for example if you saw a crown you would symbolise royalty. Polysemic means many meanings. This term can be related to different aspects of the media. Anchorage means when you are narrowing down the meaning (e.g. adverts, DVD cover). The written text within the media product helps to narrow down the message that is encoded within the media product. Paradigm would be choosing a sign from a whole range of alternative signs. For example, "IRA terrorists overran an army post in Londonderry in Northern Ireland. You could substitute the word "terrorists" with "freedom fighters". Within the world of media, the producer's choice of language can be influencing. Synthagm is language that's linear. Juxtaposition means to place something side by side in order to create meaning. For example in a magazine advert, certain objects are positioned side by side in order to create meaning. Myth is a cultural way of thinking. Thus, the advertisement takes into consideration, the customers' requirements through various signs, signifiers, denotation, codes, juxtaposition and myths. These aspects are covered in the analysis of the advertisement through the semiotics and discourse analysis. It clearly interacts with the people through the use of semiotics and makes use of the discourse analysis. Conclusion This analytical essay presents of the Chrysler 300C advertisement by using the Semiotics and Discourse Analysis method. These methods analyze the various signs and signifiers that are used in the advertisement to interact with the customer. The essay discusses the origins and advantages of interactive television advertising which is being used in this advertisement to interact with the customer through the red button that is displayed in the advertisement and just by pressing it the consumers can look for further details or even book a test drive of the car. Thus, a detailed analysis is presented in this paper of the Chrysler 300C advertisement through semiotics and discourse analysis. The analytical study has successfully analyzed the advert through the methods of semiotics and discourse analysis and has also proved that these methods are the best that can be used to analyze the advert under consideration. Signifiers were also made known to have a well-built association with the textual context in which the signs were positioned. Through this study, the following understanding was developed: A thorough understanding of the concepts of semiotics and discourse analysis was developed A proper in-depth study and knowledge of the interactive advertising and interactive television advertisements was gained Also the study assisted in the enhancement of analytical and logical skills in person The research methodology can be improved in future through the following courses of action: A number of other methods can be used for the analysis of other advertisements Analysis of a range of products can be conducted and compared through the different methods Considering a single method of analysis, the competitors can compare their adverts on the basis of these methods Works Cited 1. Advertising. Answers.com. 16 Aug. 2007 . 2. Slembrouck, Stef. What Is Meant By "Discourse Analysis" 2006. 19 Aug. 2007 . 3. Michael, Stubbs. Discourse Analysis: The Sociolinguistic Analysis of Natural Language. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 1983. 4. Sarathy, V Partha. Television Medium Trends & Cases. Icfai University Press 2006. 5. Richards, Sarah. A Semiotic Analysis of Wallis Ads. 1998. 16 Aug. 2007 . 6. Lemke, J.L. Multiplying Meaning, Visual and Verbal Semiotics in Scientific Text. J.R. Martin (ed.), Scientific Discourse. Longman, London. 7. Gmez-Moriana, Antonio. Discourse Analysis as Sociocriticism. University of Minnesota Press. 1993. 8. Weiss, Gilbert and Ruth Wodak, eds. Critical Discourse Analysis: Theory and Interdisciplinarity, Palgrave Macmillan. 2002. 9. Pagani, Margherita. Multimedia and Interactive Digital TV: Managing the Opportunities Created by Digital Convergence. Idea Group Inc (IGI). 2003. 10. Gawlinski, Mark. Interactive Television Production. Focal Press. 2003. Read More