A Semiotic Analysis of Marketing Communication in Advertising Film: The Case of Riri Riza’s Work for OPPO Indonesia

Abstract

This research examines the advertising film produced for OPPO Indonesia's marketing communication, focusing on the OPPO Find X3 Pro 5G smartphone. The study aims to explore the relationship between semiotic signs, their meanings, and the success of OPPO's marketing strategies. Using Roland Barthes' semiotic analysis, the research analyzes denotative, connotative, and myth-ideology signs represented in the advertising film. The findings reveal denotative signs such as the pillow, a photo of a depressed woman, the gate (ivory arch), a red kebaya (traditional women's dress), a washing machine, a blue wall, a man at the south gate, and a painting of a woman. These signs reflect the role and position of women in the domestic sphere of Javanese households. The gate, specifically the plengkung gading (ivory arch), is legitimized as the back gate of the Ngayogyakarta (Jogjakarta) palace. Connotatively, these signs represent the struggles and inner turmoil of Javanese women as they navigate their roles in domestic spaces and seek freedom in the public sphere. This includes their opportunities to reinterpret leadership within the social structure of Javanese society. The director's strategy, combined with OPPO Indonesia's marketing efforts, successfully reinterprets the role of Javanese women in both the social system and marketing objectives, particularly targeting women as a homogeneous audience. This is achieved by dismantling the myth of women as dependent individuals within their cultural and environmental contexts.