Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 10 No. 1, Januari-Juni 2020, Hal. 94-103 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X Logo Motor Honda sebagai Strategi ... Erlan Aditya Ardiansyah DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.94-103 94 Honda Motor’s Logos as Superimposed Advertisement Strategy in Opera Van Java Television Program Erlan Aditya Ardiansyah English Literature, Faculty of Adab and Humanities UIN Sunan Gunung Djati Bandung erlanaditiya@uinsgd.ac.id Riwayat Artikel: Dikirim 11 Juni 2020; Diterima 17 Juni 2020; Diterbitkan 30 Juni 2020 ABSTRACT A motorbike manufacturer which struggles to market their products is Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred as Honda Motor). This article investigated origin of Honda Motor’s logos and tried to describe the logos as superimposed advertisement displayed in a television program. The study applied a qualitative descriptive method. Data were taken from a commedy situation Overa van Java relayed on Trans7 television channel. The data are the Honda Motor’s logos displayed as superimposed advertisement. The results showed that Honda has denotation and connotation meanings. The company name was originated from the family name of the founder Soichiro Honda. However, there is also another meaning ‘Japanese rice’ due to marketing strategy which delivers cultural values due to promote Japanese products. The Honda Motor’s logos are a red-colored wing on a white background and a white-colored wing on a red background. The logos are discovered as the signified while the products of Honda Motors become the signifier. The logos slid with approximately 11 seconds of duration which depicted brand awareness. This study concludes that the superimposed advertisement employed mini images on the left corner of a television screen. The advertisement strategy is valuable to cause intention of the television audiences through the signifier and signified. Keywords: Logo, meaning, sign, signifier, signified. ABSTRAK Pabrikan sepeda motor yang berjuang untuk tetap memasarkan produknya adalah Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (selanjutnya disebut Honda Motor). Artikel ini menginvestigasi logo Honda Motor dan mendeskripsikan logo tersebut sebagai iklan superimposed yang ditayangkan dalam program televisi. Penelitian ini disusun dengan menggunakan metode kualitatif. Data diperoleh dari situasi komedi Overa van Java yang ditayangkan pada saluran televisi Trans7. Data yang diperoleh berupa logo Honda Motor yang ditampilkan sebagai iklan superimposed. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa Honda memiliki http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.1-10 mailto:erlanaditiya@uinsgd.ac.id Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 10 No. 1, Januari-Juni 2020, Hal. 94-103 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X Logo Motor Honda sebagai Strategi ... Erlan Aditya Ardiansyah DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.94-103 95 makna denotasi dan konotasi. Nama perusahaan berasal dari nama keluarga pendirinya, yaitu Soichiro Honda. Akan tetapi, terdapat makna lain 'beras Jepang' sebagai upaya strategi pemasaran yang memiliki nilai budaya untuk mempromosikan produk dari Jepang. Logo Honda Motor adalah sayap berwarna merah dengan latar belakang putih dan sayap berwarna putih dengan latar belakang merah. Logo-logo tersebut dinyatakan sebagai penanda sementara produk-produk Honda Motor menjadi petanda. Logo-logo ditampilkan saling berganti dengan durasi sekitar 11 detik untuk menyampaikan brand awareness. Penelitian ini menyimpulkan bahwa iklan superimposed menampilkan gambar berukuran kecil di sudut kiri layar televisi. Strategi iklan ini berupaya untuk meningkatkan pemahaman dari penonton televisi melalui penanda dan petanda. Kata Kunci: Logo, makna, tanda, penanda, petanda. INTRODUCTION Advertisments become inherent identity for a certain product which utilize power of an image or so-called a sign. Brandt (2011) demonstrated idea of sign denotes to manifestation that occurs in mind experienced as signifier and signified. Signifier is the physical part or the visible thing while signified is the psychological part or the reaction to the object (Zaimar, 2017). Tinarbuko (2008) argued symbol is a sign base on convenant and recognition by the people. For example, kujang or Sundanese blade symbolizes cultural meaning, however, other people may recognize that it is a regular weapon. Riemer (2010) argued meaning in English is used to refer to things related to ideas in a language, things that refer to part of the language, and translation of words between languages. Things or well-known as nouns in all over the world have their own meanings referred from words. The description tries to explain that only proper nouns contain precise references, but some of them refer to distinctive entitties. Cullen (1976) in Yan & Ming (2015:1) further expressed meaning is made by difference, and difference is made by contrast between signifiers and signified. The study added signifier and signified are similar pair in semiotics reffering the signification or to be conceived as a process; it is the act which binds the signifier and the signified, an act whose product is the sign. Examinations towards advertisements have been broadly carried out. The media play an important role in current information needs triggering scientific research by employed different approaches (Zaimar, 2017). Promotion strategy through media applied today is very unique, including superimposed. Meriam-Webster online dictionary defines superimposed as to place or lay over or above something. Supriono (2010: 102) stated superimposed displays name or brand of the product, company name, slogan, and others due to authenticate the message. Brand is introduced along with tremendous calculation and conceptualized with long-term planned goals (Nastain, 2017). http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.1-10 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 10 No. 1, Januari-Juni 2020, Hal. 94-103 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X Logo Motor Honda sebagai Strategi ... Erlan Aditya Ardiansyah DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.94-103 96 Studies related to logos of many companies have been widely observed. Previous studies (Nugraha, 2015; Ramadhani, 2018; Jayanegara, 2020) examined anatomy of the logo. In additiom, Nugraha (2015) explained that identity of a company is represented by logo which contains philosophy, vision, and aspiration. The study described local wisdom of the Sundanese culture found in the new logo of a state owned company relating water distribution for the people namely Perusahaan Daerah Air Minum (PDAM) Bandung. Some studies (Febriana, 2015; Azmi, 2017) elucidated advertisements via television are widely chosen by promoters to reach people’s interest. Nandaryani (2019) explained several different superimposed advertisemets displayed in a commedy film series with duration 10-60 seconds. There are many promoters such as Honda Motor Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred as Honda Motor) which advertise their logo in television channels, particularly popular television programs. The Honda Motor is a motorbike manufacturer from Japan whose products are widely used all around the countries and had become one of the favorable production especially in purchasing a motorbike (Hua, 2016). The study also stated that the company has been trying to maintain marketing and sale. The company may use distinctive strategy due to promote their products. This study focused on superimposed advertisement strategy displayed on a television program. However, in this study only included one advertisement of the Honda Motor. History of the company would be interestingly investigated and the Honda Motor’s logos are required to be examined through linguistic study. Exclusive side of the advertisement is the two logos slide which could be further be analyzed. Therefore, this study aimed to explain the Honda Motor’s logos and describe superimposed advertisement in raising intention of the television audiences. METHODS A method used in this study is an intralingual equivalent method because the study analysed related lingual elements, whether found in a language or in several different languages (Mahsun, 2005: 118). This method was applied because the data in the form of logos which depict a language as a reference. Furthermore, the advertisement strategy would be examined through linguistic study. Source of data was a commedy situation namely Overa Van Java broadcasted by Trans7 television channel. The situation commendy was popular in Indonesia in the last 10 years because it casted top commedians to attract audiences. Meanwhile, the source data was retrieved from youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3G1tNA5Rk0. Data were obtained after conducting several protocols. First, the video was played due to observe the data. After finding the data, the screen was captured. Based on observation of the source data, data collected in the study are Honda Motor’ http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.1-10 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3G1tNA5Rk0 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 10 No. 1, Januari-Juni 2020, Hal. 94-103 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X Logo Motor Honda sebagai Strategi ... Erlan Aditya Ardiansyah DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.94-103 97 logos displayed in the video as superimposed advertisement. Literature studies were carried out to obtain detailed information regarding to the history of Honda motor as well as development of the company. This technique was used by collecting information from scientific paper and website articles. Afterwards, the data were analysed by using the theoritical approaces. Visual data in the form of logos were defined as a sign. By analyzing the data, signifier and signified along with denotation and connotation would be discovered. FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION Advertisements in the form of logo or unique words may be easily noticed by the people. It requires cognition of the people to remember and identify the advertisements. Logo can be regarded as a symbol which indicates a conception understood by the people to refer to an object. It comes to the situation that a symbol has a distinctive meaning. Subjects in the study are the Honda Motor’s logos which have been being introduced by the company for several decades (Figure 1). The study by Hua (2016) explained history of Honda Motor which was established by Soichiro Honda in Japan in 1906. Honda is believed as a denotative meaning as stated in the previous study. Denotation posesses meaning which concerns the original meaning of the word (Yan & Ming, 2015). Therefore, the name was initiated from the family name of the founder which seems to bring spirit to the company. Gambar 1: Logo Honda As previously explained, the company name has a connotative meaning and is noticed by the people in mind. Semantic code provide information involving connotation in signifier level while cultural code carry expression containing the nature of wisdom, history, psychology, and literature (Tinarbuko, 2008). There may be another definition which comes from secondary sources. Honda means ‘original rice paddy’ since Japan has Sumber: images.google.com http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.1-10 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 10 No. 1, Januari-Juni 2020, Hal. 94-103 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X Logo Motor Honda sebagai Strategi ... Erlan Aditya Ardiansyah DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.94-103 98 become one of leading rice producers in the world (highnames.com/hondas- name-japanese-meaning-explained/). This definition rather shows a matter of cultural values due to promote Japanese products through the nations. The Honda Motor’s logos appear with illustration of a left-sided wing and the word “Honda” is placed below. Logo can be in the form of pictures of something typically singular that has correlation to the historical background (Brandt, 2011; Nugraha, 2015; Luffarelli, et al. 2019). This explantion supports a finding in this study that the logos only show a single wing which represents an inanimate characteristic. Ardiansyah (2013) illustrated inanimate is tipified by any living things which are non-humans. Moreover, the Honda Motor’s logos display the non-human property which looks like the birds’ wing. The layout displays principle nature by placing any object due to aesthetic perspective (Ramadhani, et al., 2018). A sign cannot be recognized if it does not have language unit and had never been promoted in advance. The language unit represents concept contained in the object. The Honda Motor’s logos may be familiar along with graphic representation of a red-colored wing on a white background. In this case, the company exhibits mini advertisement due to remind the people relating to their products. Logo is a base shape, object, and concept form which involves a cognitive process to deliver the advertising message (Tinarbuko, 2008; Bresciani & Ponte, 2017). This notion relates to a situation that commercial advertisment becomes a assembly point of the signifier and the signified as described in the theory of Barthes (1957) cited by Yan & Ming (2015). The theory only includes two elements i.e. signified and signifier. Another theory by Richard and Odgen (1923) in Chaer (2003) briefly demonstrated that an object can be referred by signifian (symbol), signifie (concept), and referent (Figure 2). Based on theory, the conception may be easily recognized by the people. Tinarbuko (2008) added sign will always relate in something which is known as referent. Yellow flag in Indonesia relates in mourning. Flowers are associated with affection. Sign will always relate with something else as object namely denotation. The result showed that the Honda Motor’s logos play a role as the signifiant (linguistic symbol). Concept of the company as a motorbike brand can be regarded as the signifie. Therefore, the motorbikes produced by the company is defined as the referent. The signified meaning of Honda is transferred to an industrilized product as a signification. Signification is therefore a process at which a product or completed one and which is based on competence with the sign system to be understood (Yan & Ming, 2015). The statement indicates that signifier and signified are bound together generating the existence of the company. In this study, the Honda Motor’s logos were discovered in a situation commedy broadcasted in the television (Figure 3). As the television shows sophisticated audiovisual media, the logos might be noticed simultaneously by millions pairs of eyes. This explanation is in accordance with the previous study by Yan & Ming (2015) which elucidated comedy http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.1-10 https://journals.sagepub.com/action/doSearch?target=default&ContribAuthorStored=Luffarelli%2C+Jonathan Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 10 No. 1, Januari-Juni 2020, Hal. 94-103 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X Logo Motor Honda sebagai Strategi ... Erlan Aditya Ardiansyah DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.94-103 99 situation is a commodity without any social class, but under the frame of this advertisement commodities are bestowed with cultural, social, and ideological features with the help of meaning transfer. The promotion can influence what kind of product that we will choose apparently which is caused by massive social disparities. This finding is in accordance with a study by Hua (2016) relating the Honda Motor’s belief. The study mentioned equality are important to appreciate someone’s status and the company deals with fairness among their customers. Gambar 2: Richard and Odgen Triangle (1923) Based on the data collected in this study, first a red backgound logo appeared. Then, the logo slides into a white one. This determines that the superimposed advertisement includes two sliding logos. The superimposed logos are presented to inform the audiences that the the logos represent professionality and credibility which play important role as the marketing tool because customers may first be impressed by the companys’ logo (Supriono, 102: 2010). The red and white background of the logos are believed to symbolize respect to the Indonesian Republic as well as the people. Indonesia is considered as one of the biggest customers of the Honda Motor’s products all around the world so that the company seemed to show appreciation to their buyers. This finding is in accordance with the study by Hua (2016) which described the Honda Motor is one of the largest motorbike manufacturer; there are the three joys of the Honda philosophy which are more connected to their product in the company i.e. joy of buying, the joy of selling, and the joy of creating can help the company to maintain their quality in quantity of the production. Sumber: https://global.honda/products/motorcycles.html Signifie (Concept) Referent /h/, /o/, /n/, /d/, /a/ a brand of two wheels Word Signifiant (Symbol) http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.1-10 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 10 No. 1, Januari-Juni 2020, Hal. 94-103 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X Logo Motor Honda sebagai Strategi ... Erlan Aditya Ardiansyah DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.94-103 100 Gambar 3: Logo Iklan Honda As displayed on the above of the left side, the Honda Motor's logos show featured two images that slided alternately with certain time intervals (Figure 4). The two logos do not have a significant difference, but rather the optimization of graphic design. The superimposed logos are suggested to influence the audiences’ intention to notice to the changes of each logo. The superimposed advertisement is based on a simple concept, which is only to remind people of the responseness of the existence of Honda products or so- Sumber: images.google.com http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.1-10 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 10 No. 1, Januari-Juni 2020, Hal. 94-103 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X Logo Motor Honda sebagai Strategi ... Erlan Aditya Ardiansyah DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.94-103 101 called brand awareness, as well as strengthen the brand image that has been established by Honda Motor or what is called brand image. This finding is in accordance with some studies by (Putri et al. 2018; Jayanegara & Setiawan, 2020) which described visual identity becomes important foundation in establishing brand. Duration of the situation commedy is approximately 60 minutes divided into five intervals. Average of one interval is approximately 10 minutes. However, the data show that superimposed advertisements are only presented at intervals 1, 2, and 3. Therefore, intervals 4 and 5 were not relevant for this study. Gambar 4: Logo Honda This study reveals that each interval displays the superimposed advertisement with approximately 11 seconds of duration. A space of the sliding logo lasts two seconds between one and another. Substitution of the Sumber: images.google.com http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.1-10 Lensa: Kajian Kebahasaan, Kesusastraan, dan Budaya p-ISSN: 2086-6100 Vol. 10 No. 1, Januari-Juni 2020, Hal. 94-103 http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa e-ISSN: 2503-328X Logo Motor Honda sebagai Strategi ... Erlan Aditya Ardiansyah DOI: https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.94-103 102 logo is repeated four times; the red backgound logo appears and then the white background logo slides, and so on. The logos are displayed in different minute duration within each interval without regarding the specific scenes. Although the duration is not long enough or approximately 11 seconds without impressive animation, but this superimposed advertisement has an effective visual ability to attract the attention of the audiences. The superimposed advertisement strategy by contrasting red and white background logos seems to be valuable in shifting the focus point. CONCLUSION Television has a significant influence and impact of information distribution because it is supported by audiovisual technology and motion animation. Promotion through television program becomes a strategic means to advertise the Honda Motor’s products. The linguistic sign dicovered in the logo describe that there are denotation and connotation meaning within the philosophical company history. The superimposed advertisment is in the form of small images displayed on the corner of a television screen. 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Retrieved May 1, 2020, from highnames.com/hondas-name-japanese-meaning- explained/. http://jurnal.unimus.ac.id/index.php/lensa https://doi.org/10.26714/lensa.10.1.2020.1-10 https://link.springer.com/journal/41262 https://link.springer.com/journal/41262