Discoursing children characteristics of Zenith bank®, Nigeria, advertising: an expression of clause as representation

Year 2020, Volume: 16 Issue: 1, 333 - 365, 29.03.2020

Taofeek O. Dalamu

https://doi.org/10.17263/jlls.712842

Abstract

This study illuminated the strategy of Zenith Bank®, employing characteristics of children as fascinating instruments to persuade parents-cum-guardians to open a ZECA account for their children. Mrs. Bonke and the author randomly collected the advertisements for one year and nine months with a camera, utilizing a laptop to adjust the advertising frameworks. The author stratified the advertisements, enabling nine advertisements, entwined with features of children, for appropriate analysis. The application of Systemic Functional Linguistics’ ‘Clause as Representation’ facilitated the calibration of the recurrences of the clause processes and circumstantial devices. Nevertheless, tables and graphs explicated the frequency and flow of the grammatical components. The study revealed that Material (holds, give and starts), Mental (matters to, smiles and experience), and Behavioral (speaks and mimic) processes dominated the texts; whereas Location (in your best interest, today and away from me) and Cause (for the first time and of building towards a brighter future) are major enhancing informative mechanisms. The verbal modes and non-verbal modes exhibited general facilities and specific elements in the communications. Some of the universal aspects are open a ZECA account, special memories, the grey background and the Zenith Bank logo. The Hold, The Smile, The Step and The Mimic are parts of the definite building blocks of the advertisements, which appeared in the form of maternal affiliation, paternal partnership, and the child’s image. The investigation further demonstrated these modes in connotative figures. Among others, the images of hands in Plates 1 and 9 reflected strong ties among Zenith Bank’s stakeholders. Owing to the innovativeness of these advertisements, one might call for the production of advertisements in marital domains because such constructs might engender deep love in family affairs.

Keywords

Advertising, clause as representation, connotation, denotation, discourse

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