1

CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background of the study Mass media are media technologies such as the Internet which are used for mass communication. In commerce, media are used to conduct an advertising campaign by business doers (tutor2u.com). Advertisement is a means to introduce a product to the public through symbols, sounds, and texts. Symbols are important features of an advertisement. Therefore symbolism is essential to be implemented in advertising a product. There are some media which are available to introduce a product such as magazines, televisions, radios, and Internet (www.wikipedia.org). An online advertisement is an advertisement which is placed in the Internet while online advertising is a term of promotion by means of the Internet to make a large number of consumers know about products and buy them (www.businessdictionary.com). In this study, the researcher will analyse symbols which are constructed in five Coca Cola online advertisements of Christmas edition, and analyse the relationship between the symbols by means of a semiotic analysis. By identifying the sign, signifier and signified of the advertisements, the message of the advertisements and the construction of the symbols can be analysed. This study will be conducted, as the research believes advertisements are still interesting things to be explored and analysed. The finding of the study is expected to reveal the message and strength of the construction of symbols in the advertisements which affect the sales of the product.

1.2 Problem identification

The problem identifications of the study which the researcher will conduct will be: 1. What are the symbols constructed in five online Coca Cola advertisements of Christmas edition? 2. How are the symbols constructed? 1.3 Research question The research question of the study will be: How are the symbols in the five online Coca Cola advertisements constructed? 1.4 Purpose of the study This study aims at exploring the construction of symbols in five online Coca Cola advertisements. It focuses on what symbols are constructed and how they are constructed. 1.5 Limitation of the Study The research focuses on how symbols in five online Coca Cola advertisements of Christmas edition are constructed. 1.6 Significance of the Study This study is expected to give advances to the Coca Cola Company, the readers of the advertisement and the advertisement maker. It is also expected that the company can empower the strength of the advertisements to get more customers in the virtual world, that the advertisement maker can improve the attractiveness of the advertisements, and that the readers can learn how to make an appropriate advertisement.

1.7 Theoritical Framework

The study will be conducted by using Roland Barthes semiotic theory to explore how the symbols in the online Coca cola advertisements are constructed. The way the advertisement maker conveys information through signs as a representation of ideology will be elaborated with denotative and conotative levels by looking at the verbal and non verbal elements of the Coca Cola online advertisements.

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Semiotics Semiotics, or semiology, is the study of signs, symbols, and signification. It is the study of how meaning is created, not what it is (uvm.edu). Below are some brief definitions of semiotic terms, beginning with the smallest unit of meaning and proceeding towards the larger and more complex: Signifier: any material thing that signifies, e.g., words on a page, a facial expression, an image. Signified: the concept that a signifier refers to. Together, the signifier and signified make up the Sign: the smallest unit of meaning. Anything that can be used to communicate. Denotation: the most basic or literal meaning of a sign, e.g., the word "rose" signifies a particular kind of flower. Connotation: the secondary, cultural meanings of signs; or "signifying signs," signs that are used as signifiers for a secondary meaning, e.g., the word "rose" signifies passion. Myths: a combination of paradigms and syntagms that make up an oft-told story with elaborate cultural associations, e.g., the cowboy myth, the romance myth. 'Semiology aims to take in any system of signs, whatever their substance and limits; images, gestures, musical sounds, objects, and the complex associations of all of these, which form the content of ritual, convention or public entertainment: these constitute, if not languages, at least systems of signification' (Barthes 1967, 9). Roland Barthes' semiotics theory is rooted in the fact that every sign comes from a signifier and a signified.

SIGNIFIER

SIGNIFIED

DENOTATIVE SIGN CONOTATIVE SIGNIFIER CONOTATIVE SIGNIFIED CONOTATIVE SIGN Barthes model of sign (source: based on Obley 1998) Semiotics is important because it can help us not to take 'reality' for granted as something having a purely objective existence which is independent of human interpretation. It teaches us that reality is a system of signs. Studying semiotics can assist us to become more aware of reality as a construction and of the roles played by ourselves and others in constructing it. It can help us to realize that information or meaning is not 'contained' in the world or in books, computers or audio-visual media. Meaning is not 'transmitted' to us - we actively create it according to a complex interplay of codes or conventions of which we are normally unaware. Becoming aware of such codes is both inherently fascinating and intellectually empowering. We learn from semiotics that we live in a world of signs and we have no way of understanding anything except through signs and the codes into which they are organized. Through the study of semiotics we become aware that these signs and codes are normally transparent and disguise our task in 'reading' them. Living in a world of increasingly visual signs, we need to learn that even the most 'realistic' signs are not what they appear to be. By making more explicit the codes by which signs are interpreted we may perform the valuable semiotic function of 'denaturalizing' signs. In defining realities signs serve ideological functions. Deconstructing and contesting the realities of signs can reveal whose realities are privileged and whose are suppressed. The study of signs is the study of the construction and maintenance of reality.

2.2 Symbol Here are some definitions of symbol:

1. Symbols are objects, characters, figures, gestures, and colors used to represent abstract ideas or concepts (spark.com). 2. A symbol is something such as an object, picture, written word, sound or particular mark that represents something else by association, resemblance, or convention (wikipedia.com) 3. A symbol is a sign, shape or object which is used to represent something else (Cambridge dictionary: third edition) 2.3 Symbolism Symbolism is the practice of representing things by means of symbols or of attributing symbolic meanings or significance to objects or events (Amazon.com) and it can also be defined as the use of symbols to represent ideas, especially in art and literature (Oxford dictionary: sixth edition). 2.4 Advertisement Advertisement is a means to introduce a product to the public through symbols, sounds, and texts. Symbols are important features of an advertisement. There are some media which are available to introduce a product such as magazines, televisions, radios, and Internet. In terms of media used to introduce products, advertisements are classified into three main kinds, which are printed advertisements, broadcast advertisements and online advertisemnts. 2.4.1 Online dvertisement

An online advertisement is an advertisement which is placed in the Internet while online advertising is a term of promotion by means of the Internet to make a large number of consumers know about products and buy them. Various companies use this means of promotion to let a large number of people know their products. Online advertising is quite profitable, as it requires a lower cost if compared to conventional ones.

The immediate publishing of information and content that is not limited by geographical boundaries is a major advantage of online advertising. 2.4.2 Coca Cola online dvertisements

Coca Cola online advertisements are online advertisements which are used by the Coca Cola Company as a marketing startegy to make audience in the virtual world know about their products and buy them.

CHAPTER 3

METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research method The research will be conducted by using a descriptive analytical interpretative method to explore the fact with aprpropriate interpretations (Whitney, 1960). The research will analyse the data by using Roland Barthes semiotic theory on the features and text of the advertisement. The semiotic theory comprises denotation and connotation levels. The data of this study is presented in a form of verbal and nonverbal texts. 3.2 Source of the Data The sources of the data in this research are five online Coca Cola advertisements. They include texts and figures. 3.3 Data The data of the research are taglines and symbols of the Coca cola advertisements of Christmas edition which include figures and other objects 3.4 Technique of data collection To collect the data, the researcher will use techniques which include: 1. Finding online Coca Cola advertisements; 2. Selecting five online Coca Cola advertisements of Christmas edition; 3. Printing out the advertisements; 4. Identifying the signs or symbols of the advertisements. 3.5 Technique of data analysis To analyze the data, the researcher will use techniques which include:

1. Categorizing

the

signs

or

symbols

of

the

selected

advertisements into kinds of symbols so that it will be easy to understand from one symbol to another; 2. Interpretting the meanings of the symbols; 3. Finding out the relevance of the symbols to the Indonesian context; 4. Describing the data both qualitatively and quantitatively, the quantitative description aims at measuring the types and amount of the symbols; 5. Drawing a conclusion. The researcher wants to know what symbols are constructed and how they are constructed in order to get customers attentions.

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