Marka Maskotlarında Antropomorfizm Kullanımına Yönelik Göstergebilimsel Bir Analiz: Arçelik Markası Robot Çelik Vakası

Bugünün pazarlama anlayışında, markaların sundukları fayda kadar sahip oldukları kimlik ve tüketicileriyle kurdukları ilişki üzerinden de değer kazandığı görüşü önemli yer tutmaktadır. Bununla birlikte, markalı ürün ve hizmetlere insani özellikler atfedilmesi pratiği giderek artmaktadır. Marka maskotları, antropmorfizm olarak tanımlanan bu pratiğin en yaygın örnekleridir. Bu çalışmanın amacı, marka maskotlarında antropomorfizm kullanımını Arçelik markasının Çelik robotu vakası üzerinden göstergebilimsel açıdan değerlendirmek ve Çelik’in sahip olduğu antropomorfik özelliklerin Arçelik marka kimliğine yönelik inşa ettiği anlamları irdelemektir. Çalışma kapsamında, Çelik robotunun insanlaştırma aşamalarını (çocukluk-genç yetişkinlik-olgunluk) temsil ettiği düşünülen dört Arçelik televizyon reklamı amaçlı örnekleme yöntemiyle belirlenmiş ve göstergebilimsel analiz yöntemiyle incelenmiştir. Analiz sonucunda; antropomorfik marka maskotu Çelik’in sahip olduğu insani özelliklerin (örn. akıllı, yaratıcı, dünya vatandaşı) Arçelik’in yenilenen marka kimliğinin temel özellikleriyle (örn. teknolojik, yenilikçi, global yerlilik) örtüştüğü bulgulanmıştır. Bu durum; marka adının, logosunun, maskotun ve markalı ürün/hizmetin tam bir örtüşme içinde bulunduğu ve birbirinin yerine geçer biçimde tekleştiği “eşleştirme” maskot stratejisinin işlerlikte olduğunu göstermektedir.

Anahtar Kelimeler:

Marka maskotu, antropomorfizm, marka kimliği, göstergebilim

A SEMIOTICAL ANALYSIS OF THE USE OF ANTHROPOMORPHISM IN BRAND MASCOTS: THE CASE OF ARÇELİK’S ÇELİK THE ROBOT

In today’s marketing, the idea that brands gain value not just through their benefit but the identity they project and their relationship with consumers is of great importance. In parallel with this marketing approach, to infuse humanlike qualities to products and services is gaining momentum. Brand mascots are the most widespread examples of this practice called anthropomorphism. The objective of this study is to examine the use of anthropomorphism in brand mascots through Arçelik’s Çelik the Robot case, to analyze the meanings that are conveyed by the anthropomorphic qualities of Çelik the Robot and their association with Arçelik’s brand identity from a semiotic perspective. Within the confines of this study, four Arçelik television commercials that represent different life stages of Çelik the Robot (childhood-young adulthood-maturity) were selected by purposive sampling method and were subjected to semiotic analysis. The results reveal that human like features that the brand mascot Çelik possessed (e.g. smart, creative, world citizen) match with the main determinants of Arçelik’s renewed brand identity (e.g. technological, innovativeness, global locality). This shows that “the match mascot strategy” is in place. This strategy is characterized by congruence, whereby the brand name, the logo, the mascot (i.e. Çelik) and the product/service (i.e. Arçelik) are essentially one and the same.

Keywords:

Brand mascot, anthropomorphism, brand identity, semiotics,

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