Features of the implementation of speech strategies and tactics in the slogan of television food advertising

Khu Ziming ORCID: 0009-0007-7570-1126 Graduate student, St Petersburg University 199397, Russia, Saint Petersburg Autonomous Region, Saint Petersburg, Novosmolenskaya str., 1B, entrance 10, sq. 298 st082227@student.spbu.ru

Introduction

    The slogan is interpreted as "an advertising slogan, a motto containing a concise, easily perceived, effective formulation of an advertising idea" 1^{[1, p. 313]}; "a memorable phrase in advertising expressing the essence of the attractiveness of the product. A slogan, a motto expressing the basic, essential idea of a politician" ^{[2, p. 757]}. The importance of an advertising slogan has been noted by many linguists and advertising specialists. In his work, V. V. Zirka considers the slogan as a "garment", according to which the brand and its product are greeted ^{[3, p. 202]}. According to I. A. Golmana and H. C. Dobrobabenko, "a successful slogan is a powerful advertising tool" ^{[4, p. 27]}. In television advertising, it is the slogan that strengthens the image of the brand and product in the recipient's memory, because, firstly, in modern society, due to the accelerated pace of life, a person tends to pay attention to a short formulation in which important information is concentrated. Secondly, "as you know, an adult perceives by ear a phrase consisting of no more than 15 words. Threshold of children's perception (under the age of 12) even lower – 7 words in the sentence" ^{[5, p. 144]}. In connection with this cognitive feature of a person, the conciseness and memorability of the slogan helps the addressee to perceive information. Thirdly, in order to save the cost of advertising on television, there are usually two versions of the advertising text in the commercial – full and short. Both versions have a slogan. The above defines the irreplaceable role of a slogan in a television advertising text.

   The slogan, as a significant part of the advertising text, has a pragmatic attitude that determines the intensive use of linguistic means within the framework of speech strategies and tactics in order to influence the addressee by speech and achieve the perlocative effect desired by the addressee. In other words, in order to effectively influence the addressee, it is necessary to select certain language tools within the framework of speech strategies and tactics according to the specifics of the advertised product and the target audience, as well as the super-tasks of the advertising text itself.

      Thus, the relevance of this study is determined by the importance of the slogan in the television advertising text and its strategic potential, which is determined to a large extent by the success of advertising communication.

    The object of this study is speech strategies and tactics; the subject is the specifics of the implementation of speech strategies and tactics in the slogan of the television food advertising. The purpose of this study is to identify the features of the implementation of speech strategies and tactics in the slogan of television food advertising.

    Research objectives:

    1. To highlight speech strategies and tactics in television food advertising.

   2. To analyze and describe the linguistic means of verbalization of techniques used within the framework of certain speech strategies and tactics in television advertising of food.

    3. To identify the ratio of the use of speech strategies and tactics in the slogan and the main advertising text of television food advertising.

    The material of this study is 120 Russian television advertising videos about food products selected by the continuous sampling method (2016-2023).

The main part

    Effective advertising communication is ensured by the implementation of appropriate speech strategies and tactics. In our study, we chose as a conceptual basis three hierarchically related concepts ("strategy-tactics-technique"), defined by E. S. Popova, who defines strategy as "a super-task coming from the addressee, aimed at achieving a communicative or practical goal and designed for a certain perlocative effect" ^{[6, p. 278]}, At the same time, tactics are considered as "a kind of speech action aimed at solving one task within the framework of one strategic goal" ^{[6, p. 278]}. "Tactics take their form with the help of a technique that is associated with the enormous possibilities of the language system and the potential possibilities of illustrations, elements of the video series" ^{[6, p. 279]}.

    Based on the models of the advertising text proposed by E. V. Medvedeva ^{[7, pp. 34-36]}, E. V. Romata ^{[8, pp. 94-96]} and H. Kaftandzhiev ^{[9, p. 3]}, we identify the following components of the verbal text of a television commercial: the main advertising text, an ephemeral phrase (slogan/ brand name/ separate phrase), background information. According to H. Kaftanjiev, "the slogan reflects the essence, philosophy of the company, its corporate policy in various fields" ^{[9, p. 3]}. It is used in image advertising. A separate phrase is used to promote a specific product or service ^{[9, p. 73]}. I. D. Morozova considers the slogan as a short, easy-to-remember statement aimed at creating a general brand image or promoting a specific product ^{[10, p. 131]}. In our study, we chose the concept of a slogan proposed by I. D. Morozova as a conceptual basis, since the period for placing an advertisement on television is relatively long, which is why "a separate phrase for a specific product or service" (a product slogan) is permanent, like a corporate slogan. After analyzing the research material, we also highlight a festive slogan specially created for a holiday or anniversary of the brand in a reminiscent advertisement and aimed at the possibility of remembering the existence of the brand.

    Thus, we distinguish three types of slogan in television advertising: corporate slogan, product slogan and holiday slogan. A corporate slogan is used to create and strengthen the company's image in the memory of a potential consumer, a commodity slogan is used to inform about the appearance of a new product, convince or persuade a potential consumer to purchase the advertised product, a festive slogan is used to remind the consumer of the existence of the brand. According to O. A. Feofanov, the corporate slogan is "part of the company's image, and its change is an image change, usually undesirable" ^{[11, p. 222]}, it can be attached to any advertising message of the company, therefore it is considered as an independent text, unrelated to the main advertising text. The product slogan is specially created for a certain product of the company, and the holiday slogan is for a certain holiday or anniversary of the brand, so their content is usually associated with the main advertising test.

   Based on the signs of the slogan's super-task in TV advertising, we identify a presentation strategy, a persuasive strategy (a persuasion strategy and a persuasion strategy) and a similar strategy, which can also be implemented in the main advertising text.

      The presentation strategy consists in informing consumers about the existence, appearance of a certain product, its qualities and positive features through its presentation in an attractive form ^{[12, p. 96]}. This strategy is implemented through attention-grabbing tactics and mnemonic tactics. The language tools used within the framework of the presentation strategy are independent of each other, therefore, regardless of the type of slogan, the organization of language tools within the framework of the presentation strategy in the slogan is not conditioned by the content of the main advertising text. Thus, we consider the specifics of the implementation of this strategy and tactics in the slogan separately from their implementation in the main advertising text. The analysis of the material of our study shows that in the slogan of the TV advertising of food, the actualization of the tactics of attracting attention occurs through the technique of creating novelty and taking "your circle". Among them, the "own circle" technique is used to attract attention from a certain target audience. According to E. A. Shaglanova, "There are advertising texts that offer goods for a certain target audience, respectively, the form and method of expression are chosen for this target audience in such a way as to involve the consumer in this created circle" ^{[12, p.100]}.

    The verbalization of the technique of creating novelty in a slogan is realized in two aspects. Firstly, lexical units with the semantics of novelty are used to attract the attention of the addressee:  

    "Maggi seasonings. A new level of your dishes."

    "Take a fresh look at coffee with Nescafe Dolce Gusto."

    "Smoke Smoke. Try the new items in the collection series."

   Secondly, in the slogan of television food advertising, novelty is often created through language play, such as occasionalism, unusual lexical compatibility and pun. The following examples use the occasional:

    "My Family. Novo-Fruitovo. Berry is profitable."

    «Carlsberg Wild Non-alcoholic. Hello."

    In the first slogan, information about a new and profitable drink is transmitted with the help of occasionalism. In the second slogan, the occasionalism "Danish" is associated with the word "Denmark", where delicious beer is produced. In the slogan, the unusual lexical compatibility makes the argument more expressive:

    "Crunching The Baguette. The attraction of taste."

    "Carat. A cheesy treat."

    With the help of a pun, the message is given an accompanying meaning:

    "Victory. Always on your side."

    In the slogan of the food TV advertisement, the verbalization of the "own circle" reception is realized by:

    1) using vocabulary with neutral "human" semantics:

    "The dough is Frosty. Note to the hostess!"

    "Frutonian. To help mom and Dad"

    "It tastes better in men's company with Lays strong."

    2) The use of jargon

    «Snikers. Don't slow down. Snickers."

    «Flash Up Energy. Charged to a new level."

    Mnemonic tactics are implemented by receiving repetitions and receiving the allocation of important information. Repetition is the most popular stylistic technique for keeping a slogan in the recipient's memory. In the slogan of a food TV advertisement, this technique is implemented at the following language levels:

    1) at the phonetic level:

    "Gifts of Kuban. A gift from nature."

    "The upper reaches. Responsible for every step."

    "Ryaba is a farmer. Milk, yolk and tenderness."

    2) at the syntactic level:

    "Rollton pasta. Created in Italian, delicious at home."

    "This is edbul. Nat to ryliev."

    3) at the lexical level:

    «Nestle. The quality of products, the quality of life."

    «BORJOMI. Living water. A living legend."

    4) at the morphological level:

    "My Family. Novo-Fruitovo. Berry is profitable."

    "Lyubyatovo cookies. Love to the last crumb."

  Highlighting important information helps the addressee to remember the features of the advertised product. A name sentence is often used in the slogan:

    "Ryaba is a Farmer. Milk, yolk and tenderness."

    "Kinder Penguin. Our delicious break."

    The essence of the persuasion strategy and the persuasion strategy consists in forming a preference for the brand, changing the consumer's idea of a product or service, differentiating their product from competitors' products, encouraging them to switch to the advertised product or service ^{[13, p. 4]}. But the ways to solve them seem to be different. Persuasion affects mainly the addressee's mind and often in an open form, while persuasion affects emotion and often in a hidden form ^{[14, p. 4]}.

    As noted in the work of V. V. Zirk, "the main thing in the slogan is the motivation of the advertising offer and appeal to the feelings of the consumer. It is motivation and appeal that determine the advertising impact: first, interest in a product, object or service, maximum memorability and, as a result, motivation to act" ^{[3, p. 204]}. The ultimate goal of advertising communication is to encourage potential consumers to purchase the advertised product or service. However, in advertising communication, a direct and explicit call to buy a product - "buy (those) / buy (those) our product!" can cause disgust towards the advertising message and the product, which leads to a failure of communication. "Advertising is a form of communication that tries to translate the quality of goods and services into the language of consumer needs and requests" ^{[15, p. 64]}. So, to ensure effective communication, an advertiser often creates a text based on the structure of activity proposed by A. N. Leontiev ^[16]: Need ? Motive ? Actions ? Result. When choosing a food product, the consumer's motive may be rational and (or) emotional. "Zealous motives are profit (savings), risk reduction, convenience, quality, guaranteed service, reputation. Emotional motives include: "one's self", recognition, cognition, following fashion, the desire to be accepted in society, prestige" ^{[17, p. 109]}. According to the theory of the hierarchy of motives proposed by A. Maslow, human needs can be innate and acquired. Innate needs include physiological needs and safety, and acquired needs include belonging, respect and self–affirmation ^{[18, pp. 142-144]}. Taking into account the peculiarities of food and based on the theory of the hierarchy of motives proposed by A. Maslow, we distinguish two types of needs of the addressee: basic (hunger, thirst, rest, taste, health, benefit, convenience) and non-basic (friendship, family, entertainment, success, high social status, creativity, love, joy). Rational motives are correlated with basic needs, and emotional motives are correlated with non–basic needs.

    In the slogan of the TV advertisement of food products, as part of the persuasion strategy, the formation of a rational motive in the addressee occurs through the implementation of the tactics of appeal to meet basic needs. The analysis of the material of our study shows that in the slogan of TV advertising of food products, the actualization of this tactic occurs through the reception of highlighting a positive sign of the product and the reception of creating a problem situation and solving it. It is worth noting that the mechanism of persuasion is complex, since within the framework of a persuasion strategy, some linguistic means are used conditionally, in other words, the effect of linguistic means used within the framework of a persuasion strategy works in context.

    Highlighting a positive feature of a product is the most popular persuasion technique used in a slogan. "Due to the fact that, when persuaded, the listener perceives the information of the advertising appeal with critical understanding, a detailed description of the composition and properties of the advertised product is necessary" ^{[14, p. 6]}. The verbalization of the reception of highlighting a positive feature of a product in a slogan occurs in two aspects. According to E.M. Wolf, "language reflects the world from all sides. First of all, language represents objective reality, objects, properties, and actions available in the world, including a person with his feelings, thoughts, and actions, and their correlations. This side of language expressions can be considered descriptive. Language also reflects the interaction of reality and man in a variety of aspects, one of which is evaluative: the objective world is divided by the speaker from the point of view of his value character - good and evil, benefit and harm, etc., and this secondary division, conditioned socially, is reflected in a very complex way in linguistic structures" ^{[19, p. 5]}. In advertising communication, descriptive and evaluative speech acts are used in persuasion. First, let's look at the objective description in the slogan. Unlike the usual conversation in advertising discourse, in most cases the purpose of the description is not only to convey information about the advertised product, but also to convince the potential consumer that the advertised product has undoubted advantages and is better than the products of competitors. When persuaded in context, descriptive statements have positive semantics:

    "Dumplings Miratorg Black Angus. Dumplings made from real meat."

    "Sausage of Smokes. 100% and real meat."

    "Good afternoon. Not a gram of added sugar."

    In examples 1 and 2, the adjective "real" is used, which in itself is a neutral lexeme, but in the context has positive semantics. In Example 3, in the context of the noun phrase "added sugar" has negative semantics. By using the negative particle "ni", a descriptive statement has positive semantics.

   In advertising communication, evaluative speech acts are often used in order to influence the addressee and encourage him to buy the advertised product. As part of the belief, the evaluation should take place with an objective description of the product, since the evaluation words reflect the advertiser's subjective attitude to his own product. Without a detailed description of the product, the evaluation argument is considered as self-praise, which has little effect on the mind and logic of a potential consumer:

    "Matroskin: Where are you going, Sharik?

    Sharik: I'm leaving. I'm tired of eating the same thing for breakfast.

    Matroskin: You haven't tried our novelty. Natural cottage cheese with strawberries. Only natural cottage cheese and ripe berries.

    The ball: A delicious and satisfying novelty.

    Matroskin: And natural.

    Prostokvashino. A delicious breakfast for the whole family."

   The slogan uses the evaluative lexeme "delicious". The subjectivity of the evaluation in the slogan is reduced by means of a detailed description of the product in the main advertising text.

    The analysis of the material of our study showed that this technique is also used in the corporate slogan, but much less often than in the trade slogan, since most brands have different products, and in the corporate slogan as an independent advertising text, a detailed description of the company's goods is not the most effective way to create a comprehensive brand image and influence the addressee:

    "Petelinka. A clean product without harmful additives."

    "The technique of creating a problem situation and solving it usually covers the whole text" ^{[14, p. 6]} Within the framework of persuasion, this technique consists of three parts: problem - solution - effect. In a slogan characterized by conciseness, this technique, as a rule, does not contain all three parts. The verbalization of this technique in the slogan is presented as highlighting the main idea of the main advertising text in a generalized form. Speech utterances that implement this technique within the framework of a persuasion strategy allow "a motivated justification of the advantages of the advertised product and the benefits of its acquisition" ^{[20, p. 217]} The technique of creating a problem situation and solving it is usually used in a product slogan:

    "Boy: Is it done?

    Dad: No.

    Boy: Is it ready now?

    Dad: No.

    Boy: Is it ready now?

    Mom: Let's add the benefits of fruits.

    Dad: It's done now. Dinner is ready when with balanced nutrients. Good apple juice contains potassium, magnesium and other trace elements from ripe fruits. Good. Add the benefits of fruit to dinner? Easy!"

    "What does your baby need for a restful sleep? A comfortable crib, a favorite toy, or something else. He needs a calm tummy. When feeding Similac Premium, 70% of mothers noted a decrease in colic. After all, Similac Premium is without palm oil. This is a unique composition with bifidobacteria and probiotics for a comfortable digestion of the baby. Now your baby can sleep peacefully and so can you. Similac. The tummy is fine and the mother is calm."

    The tactic of appealing to the satisfaction of basic needs is also implemented as part of the persuasion strategy. When persuading information about the positive signs of a product, it is often necessary for the addressee to extract it from the slogan himself, in other words, such information is presented as implicit. According to Yu.K. Pirogova, "she acts bypassing analytical information processing procedures. Therefore, the addressee is not inclined to subject it to any assessment, treat it critically or doubt it" ^{[21, p. 214]}. In the slogans of food TV ads, it often acts due to the connotative and associative semantics of words:

    "Gifts of Kuban. The power of the sun. The power of vitamins."

    "Parmalat. The chef is in your kitchen."

    In the first example, the implicit meaning boils down to the following: fruits containing vitamins grow thanks to the sun. And such fruits are used to make drinks Gifts of Kuban, which are useful for our health. When using the word "sun", an associative series is built: the sun is a natural ingredient - health - benefit - quality. In the second example, the implicit meaning boils down to the following: everyone is able to cook delicious food with Parmalat.

   When persuading, the positive sign of the product is described using tropes such as epithet, comparison, metaphor, hyperbole, and language games, which causes emotion in the recipient:

    "Brighter taste, brighter mood with the brand, I love cooking."

    "Young corn Bonduel. Towards delicious adventures!"

    "Hrus teamA baguette. The attraction of taste."

    "Hrusteam. All the power is in the croutons."

    In the slogans of TV advertising of food products, as part of the persuasion strategy, the formation of an emotional motive in the addressee occurs through the implementation of the tactics of appealing to the satisfaction of non-basic needs by receiving the allocation of important life values for the consumer. The slogan uses lexemes with value semantics:

«Nesquik. The first victory of a successful day."

"Jubilee. There is always a reason for happiness!"

«Oreo. It's a family thing."

    In the slogan, this tactic is often implemented together with the tactic of putting on a mask, the actualization of which occurs due to the substitution of a communicative goal. According to A. N. Nazaykin, "the main focus should be on verbs. They create an image, a "picture" in the reader's imagination better than other parts of speech. Verbs involve and motivate well" ^{[22, p. 152]}. In the slogan, in order to achieve the goal of advertising communication, in comparison with the statement about the possibility of satisfying the needs of the addressee with the help of arguments, the indirect or hidden incentive of the addressee to purchase at the expense of predicate verbs that do not denote the purchase of goods is more effective. In the slogans of TV advertisements for food, verbs in the imperative mood (2nd l, units and many numbers) and verbs in the indicative mood with the particle "let", verbs in the form of an infinitive are used. After analyzing the material of our research, we identify 3 types of appeals:

    As part of the persuasion strategy, the tactic of appealing to the individual is also implemented, the essence of which is to focus on the addressee (potential consumer) and the addressee (advertiser). The actualization of this tactic occurs due to the reception of a compliment and the reception of self-presentation of the personality. In advertising, a compliment focuses on the real or imaginary advantages of a potential consumer. "The main function of a sincere compliment is to establish contact and maintain good relations" ^{[23, p. 178]}. In advertising communication, this technique is used to support the addressee's position and inspire him with the idea that by purchasing this product, he is such a person. In slogans, a compliment is expressed using vocabulary with positive semantics:

    "Staropramen Is Non-alcoholic. Brewed by experts for true connoisseurs."

    «Krusovice. A royal pleasure."

    In advertising communication, sometimes they do not show the quality of the product, but focus on the advertiser's personality, such as responsibility and care, in order to appeal to the emotions and feelings of a potential consumer. The verbalization of the reception of self-presentation of the personality is realized through semantic implication.

    "The upper reaches. Responsible for every step."

    "Klinsky. We do everything to make it delicious for you."

    If the super—task of the presentation strategy is for the addressee (potential consumer) to pay attention to the advertising text and remember the brand or its product, then the super-task of the reminding strategy is so that the addressee (consumer who purchased the advertised product) does not forget the brand. Thus, a reminiscent strategy is usually implemented in holiday slogans created for the brand's anniversary and holiday, due to the tactics of demonstrating the brand for the holiday and the tactics of appealing to the brand's history.

  The actualization of the tactics of brand demonstration for the holiday takes place through the technique of creating a festive atmosphere through the use of words on the theme of "holiday" and lexemes that evoke human emotions and feelings:

    "The New Year is more fun together. M&M’s.»

    "May the New Year be Kind."

    "Ryaba mayonnaise. Prepare a holiday for your family."

    In slogans, the tactic of appealing to the history of the brand is implemented by taking the mark of the "age" of the brand through the use of a numeral:

    "Rollton. 20 years are true to those who are true to their taste."

    «Heinz. 150 liters in a piece."

   The slogan of a TV advertisement is characterized by compression. To save language resources and ensure the effectiveness of advertising communication, "the same message usually combines the implementation of several communication strategies correlated with different goals – both basic and additional. <...> At the tactical level, they can be matched by the same communication technique. Specific tactical techniques can be used to implement various strategies" ^{[24, p. 457]}. For example, in the examples given, where a reminiscent strategy is implemented due to the tactics of brand demonstration for a holiday, a persuasion strategy and a presentation strategy are also implemented using different tactics and techniques.

Conclusion

    Thus, based on the above, we come to the following conclusions:

1. The slogans of food TV commercials implement a presentation strategy, a persuasion strategy, a persuasion strategy and a reminiscent strategy.

2. The presentation strategy is implemented through the tactics of attracting attention through the technique of creating novelty and receiving "your circle" and mnemonic tactics through the reception of repetitions, the reception of highlighting important information and the reception of language play. In slogans, this strategy is implemented regardless of the main advertising text.

3. The persuasion strategy is implemented through the tactics of appealing to the satisfaction of basic needs by highlighting a positive feature of the product and accepting the creation of a problematic situation and its solution. This tactic is also implemented as part of the persuasion strategy. The methods of their implementation seem to be different. In the trade slogan, the implementation of this persuasion tactic is related to the main advertising text. In the corporate slogan, its implementation appears to be independent. The strategy of persuasion is also implemented through the tactics of appealing to the satisfaction of non-basic needs and the tactics of putting on a mask. To implement the tactics of putting on a mask, there are 3 types of appeal that hide the real purpose of advertising communication.

4. The festive slogan implements a reminiscent strategy due to the tactics of demonstrating the brand for the holiday by using the technique of creating a festive atmosphere and the tactics of appealing to history by using the mark of the "age" of the brand.

5. In the slogan of food TV advertising, several strategies and tactics are often implemented simultaneously to ensure the effectiveness of advertising communication.