Name Class Course

: Novita Arsillah :5B : Semiotics

Std. Number : 0807525

A SEMIOTIC ANALYSIS OF THE NOKIA CONNECTING PEOPLE LOGO ABSTRACT Advertising helps to keep the consumers informed about whatever products or services are available in the market at their distribution. Its an essential form of business communication. The approach to advertising we will pursue that it is an instance of rational and relevance communication, even if not all aspects of it seems rational. This paper will discuss the conceptual sign and the relation into creative purposes in advertising texts and accompanying the Nokia logo. The focus is on the elaboration of the sign and their use as a creative basis, rather than on their mere identification, and although the textual content forms the starting point, significant attention is also paid to the inter play between text and image. It will be identified according to how the codes can organize signs into meaningful systems which correlate the signifiers and signifieds in advertisement. The explanation also analyses the creativity in advertisements where the sign and codes is reflected in the combination of text and image. Keywords: Advertising, sign, codes, meaning. INTRODUCTION 1. Background Advertising is a business in which language is used to persuade people to do things, for example, to buy a certain product, or vote for someone, or believe things, such as that corporation is trustworthy or that a political philosophy is a good one. The focus of concern in this paper will consider whether advertisers should be responsible only for what claims entail are also for what they imply, especially in case of sign in advertising. Long time ago in linguistics

field, mainly the work provided by Saussure (cited in Chandler 2002: 18) a linguistic sign is not a link between a thing and a name, but between a concept [signified] and a sound pattern [signifier]. Within this framework, sign is seen as a conceptual process that plays an important part in our structuring and categorization of the world around us and the reality we perceive and interact with, and as such it is central to the creation of meaning. Sign can be found reflected in most of our everyday language. By using codes, we can organize signs into meaningful systems which correlate the signifiers and signifieds. 2. Literary Theories In this part, the writer describes some theories, which are related to her study. I mainly refer to the substitution and comparison views of sign in advertising. Advertisement Williamson (1978 cited in Lundmark, 2005) is a critical study of magazine advertising referred to by many other scholars. It is carried out in the area of culture studies and is thus not primarily concerned with the language, but with the ways in which meaning is created in ads. Her aim is to help people understand the ideological workings of the capitalist society by providing a handbook for decoding advertisements (1978:9 cited in Lundmark, 2005). The idea that there is an objective reality independent of our perception, culture and ideology is also refuted by cognitive linguists, and if there is no such thing as an objective reality then that reality cannot be distorted (Lakoff 1987, Lakoff & Johnson 1999 cited in Lundmark, 2005). Sign Many definitions of sign were given by many experts. Sign, according to an American philosopher Charles Sanders Pierce, sign is something that stands to somebody for something in some respect or capacity (1931, cited in Chandler 2002: 33). While, a Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure declares that a linguistic sign is not a link between a thing and a name, but between a concept [signified] and a sound pattern [signifier] (Saussure 1983 cited in Chandler, 2002: 18). In the Saussurean model, the sign is the whole that results from the association of the signifier and the signified, the relationship between signifier and signified is referred to as signification (Chandler, 2002: 19).

Perceptual Codes Codes organize signs into meaningful systems which relate signifiers and signifieds. Some theories argue that everyday world produces codes. As what Fredric Jameson states thet all perceptual systems are already languages in their own right (Jameson 1972, cited in Chandler, 2002: 150). According to Derrida, we can represent perception depends on coding the world into iconic signs and set it in our mind. Gestalt, psychologists says about the concept of figure and ground in perception. He believes that there are certain universal features in human visual perception which in semiotic term can be seen as a perceptual code. (Chandler, 2002: 150) 3. Research Questions The overall aim of the present work is to analyze the Nokia logo advertisement. In particular, the aim is to answer the following three main questions:

What are the effects that result from the creative ideas about Nokia logo in communication?

METHODOLOGY 1. Research Method This study could be categorized into qualitative descriptive study. Creswell cited in Bandu (2002:62) defines qualitative method as an inquiry process of understanding a social or human problem based on building a complex, holistic picture, formed with words, reporting detailed reviews of informants, and conducted in central setting.

2. Data Source The writer found the data from the internet. The material consists of the Nokia logo that is used in advertising, the picture describes two people who is almost joining hands each other. Another reason for concentrating on the logo is to emphasize the fact that the sign still has ability to attract the attention of society and logo in advertising itself can be one of the effectiveness communication strategies.

3. The Steps . The writer analyzes the data which has collected using four steps. 1. Collecting the data 2. Analyzes the data based on certain methods and theories 3. Develops the data 4. Conclude the compared data. Data analysis involves the organization of the data analytically and systematically so it will fulfil the purpose of the study. FINDING AND DISCUSSION Nokia Corporation has been in the telecommunications business since the 1960s and has become a global leader of the industry. The Nokia logo, like the company, is synonymous with mobile technology and new ways to communicate and explore. So when it came to designing their logo, Nokia Co. made every effort to make its logo represents the companys mission. And thus, the infamous Nokia Connecting People logo came into being. Features of the Nokia logo, if we take a look at the features of the Nokia logo that make the brand so attractive. The Nokia logo consists of a very burly slogan that gives the brand a truly strong position in the telecommunication industry. The slogan cleverly expresses the companys mission, which is to connect people without barrier and distance. This has made the Nokia logo stand out from the rest. By using semiotic principles, this paper will show how the components of the Nokia logo stands for something else, along with the social norms and group experience that they represent. After a general description of the Nokia logo, we can focus on specific elements such as the text and the image including background, color and form with the aim of constructing meaning. The point of interest is the logo of Nokia advertisement features the following parts: 1) the actual physical object (i.e. Nokia phone), 2) an image comprising two hands extending towards each

other, and 3) the brand name Nokia itself. A figure of the Nokia logo in advertising is shown in Figure 1.

[Figure1. The Nokia Logo] Semiotic study should focus on the advertisements images and background. The Nokia logo in advertising forwards the phones image in favour of its background. There is a perfect image of two people almost joining hands with each other on the Nokia logo. The image has given a proper support to the logo and has brilliantly complimented the companys mission and the slogan. A close reading of the two hands is suggestive of the hand of a parent reaching out to his or her child. In short, these elements draw attention to Nokias stated mission, which is connecting people and presumably families. The background is really simple it just has the color white to function as background. One of the characteristics of white is that it is not always perceived as a color, thus it helps other chromatic elements of the advertisement be more prominent to the eye. In the Nokia advertisement, the cold blue color is prominent against white. Overall, the use of a white background and a cold color seem to create a cold, even austere

atmosphere. The Nokia advertisement has a circular form focusing on the way the two hands extend towards each other. In semiotic study, the analysis of signifiers and the signifieds can be seen in the table below which those all use objects, colors and shapes as elements of advertisement design.

Signifiers Image of extending Screen elements hands Nokia Background Color White color Cold color

Signifieds Family Emphasis on the brand name Sky Snow Winter Connectedness Completeness Bringing the pople together Connecting people

NOKIA

Form

Circular form

Mirroring

Extended hands

[Table1. A Semiotic analysis of the Nokia logo] Nokia Figurative level Thematic level Abstract level Ability to connect Genius Creation/miracle

[Table2. Construction of reality in the Nokia logo] If we take a look again, the two hands in the Nokia logo symbolizes something in the history, it remains us to the famous and religious painting the Creation of Adam by Michelangelo Buonarroti. Michelangelo Buonarroti (1477-1564) was an extremely talented painter and is widely considered to be an archetypal Renaissance man. One of his best known works is The Creation of Adam, a section of the Sistine Chapel in the Vatican. The Sistine Chapel contains nine distinct images, which can be separated into three groups of three: the Story

of Creation, the Story of Adam and Eve and the Story of Noah, all of which come from the book of Genesis. In The Creation of Adam, Adam is the ideal young man, based on classical Roman and Greek prototypes. Adam is physically alive, but what Michelangelo shows is the moment where God gives Adam his spirit, soul and intellect. Gods right arm reaches out to Adam to give the gift of life, while Adams left arm is raised and mirrors his pose, which serves as a reminder that man is created in the image of God. Gods finger does not touch Adam, giving the impression of life coursing through God like electricity, reaching out to Adam while Adam is receiving.

[Figure2. Creation of Adam] Nokias phone symbolizes Michelangelos genius and the extraordinary. It suggests, in a subtle manner, that anyone acquiring a Nokia phone is associated with genius and simultaneously is placed in an extraordinary category. The Nokia advertisement suggests that communication is a sacred activity of connecting in a mythical and non earth like environment. Hence it is no surprise that Nokias stated mission is expressed in the slogan Connecting People. Thus, the Nokia advertisement brings to mind God and Heaven, the miracle of creation, and the genius of

Michelangelo. The advertisements colors play a special role. First, the blue and white colors remind one of heaven and sky and, by extension, they bring to mind a Superior Entity, thus referring back to Michelangelos painting. Semiotics promotes understanding reality as a system of signs by which humans actively create meaning in accordance with codes of which they are normally unaware. These codes are present because individuals live in the society, both as creators and as users of the codes. The semiotic analysis presented above leads to concerns that are better addressed by critical theory. Undoubtedly, Nokia is a powerful player in the mobile telecommunication industry. Its mobile phones and gadgets have been infiltrated globally in mobile markets and are the customers favorite. Apart from being celebrated for its mobile phones, Nokia Co. also offers its customer other corporate functions which include multimedia devices and applications, enterprise solutions and network services. This further makes the Nokia logo a common household icon. CONCLUSION This paper has demonstrated how the advantages of Internet marketing show its ability to target promotion and marketing to audiences in new and innovative ways. A thorough semiotic analysis of the elements and signs of a Nokia logo shows that individuals belonging to different cultural groups create meaning in different ways. Our semiotic study demonstrates that alternative visual categories are relevant to different groups. Finally, semiotics can help the market develop appropriate communication strategies and design communication channels with a certain degree of cultural sensitivity. Overall, techniques such as semiotics influence and can improve the impact and effectiveness of currently used promotional strategies.

REFERENCES

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