Coursework 2: Individual essay: Intertextuality, Symbolism, and polysemy
The essay will contribute 60% of the course grade.
Write an essay of up to 3000 words (+10%, excluding reference list) responding to the following task:
Analyse the uses of intertextuality, symbolism and polysemy in advertising.
Requirements:
The essay must explain these concepts, and it must illustrate their use in a selection of examples of advertising.
The essay must be typed double-spaced in 12 point type, and Harvard style citations must be used to support the work theoretically with references to academic work.
Sub-headings may be used within the essay.
There are no other format requirements on format.
The examples of ads being discussed must be copied into the body of the text to assist the flow of analysis. Any form of advertising can be used- if discussing TV ads, use stills or screen grabs, and if necessary web links, for illustration.
The precise narrative direction is entirely up to you. The essay will receive marks for presentation (including elements such as grammar and spelling, logical structure, clarity and fluency of English, correct use of references) and analysis (logical coherence, rigor of argument, extent to which points are well-supported by evidence, reasoning and/or citations to published work).
Solution
Intertextuality, Symbolism, and Polysemy in Advertising
Introduction
The major goals in any profit-making organization are the maximization of profits and the creation of shareholder wealth through the enhancement of returns on equity and investment. Firms adopt and implement different strategies in the quest to achieve the set organizational goals. The effective implementation of corporate strategy remains a vital part of the business entity and sets a ground for organizational success. Corporate strategy is mainly aligned with the goals and objectives the firm sets. Of the different components of corporate strategy and the measures taken to ascertain the achievement of organizational goals/objectives, advertising is of significant importance. According to Hackley (2010, p. 10), advertising is a marketing communication tool used for the promotion and sale of products and services. Considering its importance, firms focus on the development of effective advertising. They apply different techniques such as intertextuality, symbolism, and polysemy among others. This study outlines the importance of advertising by discussing the concepts of intertextuality, polysemy, and symbolism. It integrates specific advertisements used by multinational corporations and an extensive review of literature to bring out an articulate understanding of the concepts.
According to Hackley (2010, p. 63), the concepts of intertextuality, polysemy, and symbolism form an
essential part of advertising and define its quality and effectiveness. The
concept of polysemy, for instance, is utilized in advertising to offer multiple
meanings and interpretations for the same advertisement. While this is the
case, Liu and Le (2013,
p. 11) define intertextuality as the as the
interpretation of one text through the application of textual relation. The authors
assert that the concept is important for the development of quality and
successful advertisements. Moreover, symbolism is an extensively used concept in
advertising. It involves the integration of hidden meaning or the use of simple
but symbolic messages in advertising (Kubat & Swaminathan, 2015, p. 354). The integration of
the different concepts in advertising enhances effectiveness in advertising,
develops promotion and sale of products and services, and leads the
organizations towards success.
Bibliography
Hackley, C., 2010. Advertising and Promotion: An Integrated Marketing Communications Approach. London: Sage Publications Ltd..
Kubat, U. & Swaminathan, V., 2015. Crossing the cultural divide through bilingual advertising: The moderating role of brand cultural symbolism. International Journal of Research in Marketing, 32(4), pp. 354-362. https://zenodo.org/record/889635/files/article.pdf
Liu, J. & Le, T., 2013. Intertextual Techniques in Advertisements. International Journal of Innovative Interdisciplinary Research, 2(1), pp. 11-19. https://studyres.com/doc/13212112/intertextual-techniques-in-advertisements
