A STYLISTIC STUDY OF SELECTED NIGERIAN TELECOMMUNICATION COMPANY SLOGANS

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    The aim of this study is to examine the stylistic and pragmatic strategies used in these slogans to see how they reflect the targets of the selected telecommunication companies. Nigeria runs a capitalist economy. Nigerian telecommunication companies devise various ways of winning customers and controlling them in order to continue to maintain and sustain their places in this competitive world. To achieve this, propaganda is chosen as an instrument. This is entrenched in their slogans. Stylistics, as a branch of language study, is employed in examining these slogans. The chosen theoretical framework will be used in exploring the stylistic features and the linguistic implication of the slogans.

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    ABSTRACT

    Companies carefully choose slogans to arrest the attention of audience and maximise profit. This is evident in the slogans of telecommunication companies in Nigeria. Existing works had seen slogans as a form of advertisement and a way of displaying ideologies but had not specifically placed emphasis on the unique linguistic features of Nigerian telecommunication company slogans. This work, therefore, complements the researches in this area. This research work examines the stylistic strategies used in these slogans and how they capture ideologies, philosophies, core values, and mission and vision statements of the selected companies.

    The research, as a descriptive stylistic study, makes use of the slogans of ten selected telecommunication companies in Nigeria. The data for this research work were collected from the companies’ official websites as the internet presents a very interesting platform for them to sell themselves. Other media like the company billboards, souvenirs, vests, products, SIM packs, newspapers advertorials, branded calendars, diaries, etc. are also sources of data for the research work. The theoretical framework adopted for this analysis is the Systemic Functional Linguistics which underscores language as a functional entity influenced by the socio-cultural context in which it is used.

    The findings show that slogans, as forms of advertisement, are enriched with rhetoric, propaganda and ideology. Certain stylistic strategies which include: brevity of expression, inversion of word order, parataxis, use of ellipsis, use of initial capitalisation, non use of initial capitalisation, use of personal pronouns to establish social relations between the companies and their customers, ambiguity, metaphor, etc. are used in these slogans, meant to gain customers in order to maximise profit. Furthermore, these companies’ slogans are meant to appeal to people to be their customers, are affirmative and portray competition and superiority, summarise what the companies stand for, establish individuality or personal relationship with the customers and show unceasing cares for the customers.
    This research work concludes that slogans are tools employed by companies to promote their images and make profit. Their brevity makes them ambiguous. However, it makes them catchy and could also make them linger on their customers’ memory forever.

     

    Keywords: Slogan, Branding, Telecommunication Company, Stylistics, Systemic Functional   Linguistics. 

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