Multimodal Ukrainian brand narrative: semiotics, structure, archetypes

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The National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

MULTIMODAL UKRAINIAN BRAND NARRATIVE: semiotics, structure, archetypes

NATALIIA KRAVCHENKO Doctor of Science in Philology,

Full Professor, Department of Foreign Philology and Translation,

LIUDMYLA sHANAIEVA-TsYMBAL PhD in Public

Administration, Associate Professor, Department of English Philology

Kyiv



Анотація

Метою дослідження є виявлення структурно-наративних, семіотичних та архетипних властивостей українського мультимодального наративу як семіотичного простору вторинної сигніфікації та соціальної міфологізації. Дані для аналізу включають слогани та рекламні мультимодальні ролики (відеонаративи) українського бренду «Золотий вік». Ґрунтуючись на мультимодальних дослідженнях, теоріях семіотики та міфології реклами та теорії культурних архетипів і застосовуючи мультимодальний, наративний, наративно-семіотичний та архетиповий аналізи, у поєднанні з інструментами концептуальної інтеграції, стаття досягла таких основних результатів.

Український мультимодальний наратив бренду утворює дискурсивний конструкт, що ґрунтується на семіотичних кодах аудіального та візуального каналів із залученням вербальних та невербальних знакових систем.

Вербальний модуль, що спирається на слоган, а також на інваріантний для всіх відеонаративів аудіальний супровід - пісню «Кохання» і позакадровий наратив, підтримує герменевтичний код, оскільки містить ключову метафору, базовану на слогані, і периферійні метафоричні компоненти, що розкривають концептуальні ознаки її цільового простору.

Відеовізуальний модуль формує проарітичний код, заснований на наративних сюжетах рекламних кліпів у трикомпонентному можливому світі: позатекстового рамкового наративу, текстового псевдореального наративу та казкового наративу.

Культурний код реалізується різними мультимодальними ресурсами. Слоган і назва бренду включають цитування вихідного інтертексту на основі пісні. У відеонаративах використовуються прийоми інтердискурсивності, що поєднують елементи фільму-мелодрами, романтичної історії та казки, а також референції до архетипових образів, мотивів та елементів архетипічного циклічного часу. Ідентифіковані архетипні образи мрії, магії, серця та мотиви чарівного помічника-дарувальника, дороги, перехрестя та магічного перетворення тих, хто отримав брендовий подарунок. Ключовими є архетипи золота та кола-кільця, пов'язані із символікою сонця. Циклічна темпоральність, ассоційована с міфологічним часом, актуалізована повторюваними мотивами і пов'язує кохання та коштовності у ракурсі конотацій «вічності» - як вічних духовних і матеріальних цінностей.

Семантичний код конотацій співвідноситься з вторинним сигніфікативним значенням, яке асоціює продукти бренду з «втіленою» любов'ю та спирається на всі модулі наративу бренду, конструюючи його соціальну міфологію.

Символічний код базується на архетипних символах і базовій цінності бренду в його імпліцитній опозиції до цінностей, які є чужорідними для бренда, і апелює до мотиваційної цінності «любові та потребі у приналежності» в ієрархії людських мотивацій.

Ключові слова: український мультимодальний брендовий наратив, соціальна міфологія, семіотичні коди, культурний архетип, наративна структура.



Annotation

MULTIMODAL UKRAINIAN BRAND NARRATIVE: sEMIOTICs, sTRUCTURE, ARCHETYPEs

Nataliia K. Kravchenko, The National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

Liudmyla O. Shanaieva-Tsymbal, The National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine

Key words: Ukrainian multimodal brand narrative, social mythology, semiotic codes, cultural archetype, narrative structure.

The aim of the study is to identify the structural-narrative, semiotic, and archetypal properties of the Ukrainian multimodal narrative as a semiotic space of secondary signification and social mythologization. The data for analysis include slogans and promotional multimodal videos (video narratives) of the Ukrainian brand "Золотий вік" (Golden Age). Based on multimodal research, semiotics and advertising mythology theories, as well as the theories of cultural archetypes, and utilizing multimodal, narrative, narrative-semiotic, and archetypal analysis, in conjunction with conceptual integration tools, the article has achieved the following key results.

The Ukrainian brand narrative is a multimodal discursive construct formed by a combination of multiple semiotic codes realized through verbal and non-verbal sign systems via auditory and visual channels. The modules are integrated through multimodal video narratives, constructing a semiotic world integrated with the secondary signified "love" and the associated concepts that replace the denotative meaning of the brand as a jewelry company and its products as ornaments. The secondary signified is verbalized through slogans, visualized through plots, voiced by background songs or voice-over narrators, and encoded by cultural codes in their intertextual and archetypal aspects.

Multimodal video-narratives, featuring various characters, narrative plots, and formal-narrative structures, exhibit isomorphism with respect to the possible worlds they construct, archetypal images, motifs, and characters, as well as analogous narrative plots with differing levels of reduction in structural narrative elements. narrative archetypal multimodal semiotic

The verbal module, based on a slogan, as well as invariant auditory accompaniment common to all video narratives - the song "Love" and off-screen narrative, supports a hermeneutic code because it contains a key metaphor based on the slogan and peripheral metaphorical components that reveal the conceptual features of its target space.

The audio-visual module forms a proaritic code based on the narrative plots of advertising clips in a three-component possible world: extratextual frame narrative, textual pseudoreal narrative, and fairytale narrative.

The cultural code is realized through various multimodal resources. The slogan and the brand name include explicit references to the source intertext based on the song. In the video narratives, techniques of interdiscursivity are used, combining elements of melodrama, a romantic story, and a fairy tale, as well as references to archetypal images, motifs, and elements of the archetypal cyclical time. Central to these are the archetypal images of dreams, magic, hearts, and motifs of the magical helper-giver, the journey, crossroads, and magical transformation of those who receive a branded gift. The main archetypes are those of gold and the ring-circle, associated with the symbolism of the sun. Cyclical temporality, associated with mythological time, is actualized by recurring motifs and underpins the unity of love and preciousness from the perspective of the connotations of "eternity" - as eternal spiritual and material values.

The semantic code of connotations is related to the secondary signification meanings, which associate the brand's products with "embodied" love and is based on all the brand's narrative modules, constructing its social mythology.

The symbolic code is based on archetypal symbols and the core value of the brand in its implicit opposition to values foreign to the brand, appealing to the motivational value of "love and the need for belonging" in the hierarchy of human motivations.

The perspective for further research is the analysis of the pragmatics of multimodal narratives in Ukrainian brands.



Introduction

Multimodal storytelling first emerged in the mid-1990s, and over the past 30 years, it has become the most influential marketing tool. Furthermore, today, scholars talk about the so-called narrative turn [Kreisworth, 1992] or the narrative paradigm [Fischer, 1985] in all humanities, considering any communicative process as a form of storytelling. Research in the field of neurolinguistics and linguocognitive studies shows that ideas and values associated with specific brands are best “sold" in the form of multimodal narratives because storytelling creates neuro-associations, blending the brand's story, fairy tales, and statistics into a single whole in the consciousness of the target audience for advertising (quote from [Belova, 2021, p. 15]. In connection with this, researchers claim that 92% of consumers would like to receive information in the form of a story, and an effective brand story can help increase the value of a product or service by more than 20 times (op. cit.).

А multimodal narrative has become a relevant aspect of studying advertising discourse in both linguistic [Belova, 2021; Huisman, Murphet, Dunn, 2005; Ryan, 2004] and interdisciplinary perspectives [Geoffrey, 2007; Jenkins, 2006, 2006a; Scolari, 2009]. In a semiotic context, brands are presented as narrative worlds, complex discourse universes with a tangible narrative component, revealed through plots, characters, structures, and motifs. The projection of narrative worlds is the subject of research in the theory of possible worlds [Ryan, 1991, 2004]. Multimodal narratives, constructing one of the possible worlds, do not necessarily have to be “told" in a linear or interdependent sequence, involving various modes that reveal a unified “story" in intermediate, parallel, and peripheral narratives. To form a cohesive semiotic universe, these stories, regardless of their mode and the media platform through which they are presented, should be linked by a shared value - the signified element that resonates with the motivational aspect of consumer identity [Kravchenko et al., 2021].

By embracing this value, consumers of advertising become an integral part of the potential narrative world of the brand - whether it is a story about the messianic role of the brand in the development of civilization (Tesla's transmedia narrative), going “beyond one's own boundaries" (Nike's cross-media narrative “Just do it"), a new way of thinking distinct from existing approaches to IT product and service creation (Apple with its 66 multimodal narratives about “Mac vs. PC"), or a heroic past associated with national identity: Harley-Davidson's storytelling, as well as Ukrainian brands' narratives associated with the images of the nation's spiritual leaders - Hetman Nalyvayko (TM “Cossack"), Bohdan Khmelnytskyi (TM “Hetman"), and others.

In this context, constructing advertising narratives based on multimodal resources becomes a fundamental part of the process of social myth-making in advertising, addressing the human need for self-improvement and self-actualization. The values of a specific brand serve as discourse-shaping elements, saturating consumer consciousness with social mythology oriented towards human motivational needs. Each advertising narrative world is positioned not as one of the “possible worlds" but as the only true reality that shows what and who a person can become by consuming the advertised product or service.

The Ukrainian Multimodal Narrative (UMN) is still in its early stages of development and differs from well-known transnational narratives, primarily English-language ones, in its values and semiotic foundation, structural-compositional features, and semantic characteristics.

In this regard, the study of such a multimodal narrative is both relevant and promising in terms of identifying the specificity of its social-mythological space, manifested in corresponding linguistic and narrative techniques.

The goal of this article is to identify the structural-narrative, semiotic, and archetypal properties of the Ukrainian Multimodal Narrative as a semiotic space of secondary signification and social mythologization.



Theoretical Framework

The theoretical foundation of the article combines research on:

a) Multimodality focused on the use of various modes of communication such as text, images, sound, and more while exploring how these different modes work together to create a narrative world.

b) Narrative Analysis of Multimodal Discourse with a focus on concepts like narrative time, intertextuality, subjective entropy, eventfulness, narrative structure, typical characters, and more. Researchers such as Labov and Valetsky [1997] have made significant contributions to this field.

c) Semiotics and Mythology of Advertising Discourse: This component delves into the semiotic and mythological aspects of advertising discourse, exploring how symbols and signs are used to convey messages and create myths around products or brands.

d) Cultural Archetype Theory - considering that the semiotic space of advertising is organized by combining two planes: one being the realm of advertising social mythology and the other being the semiotic-cultural dimension rooted in cultural and psychological archetypes [Jung, 1976, p. 6; Lindenfeld, 2009].

Let us focus on each of these research premises and their projection onto the theoretical and methodological approaches of this article:

The article examines multimodality as “the use of several semiotic modes in the design of a semiotic product or event" [Kress, van Leeuwen, 2001, p. 20]. It processes multimodal characteristics through cognitive operations utilized in narrative forms, including world projection [Ryan, 1991; 2004], event foregrounding [Emmott, Alexander, 2014; Van Peer, Hakemulder, 2005], perspective [Lwin, 2019], and others. The approach to multimodal narrativity does not confine storytelling to verbal form or “the set of properties characterizing narrative and distinguishing it from non-narrative" [Prince, 2003, p. 65]. Instead, it allows for multimodal mechanisms that activate a narrative genre schema in the viewers' consciousness with varying degrees of prototypical belonging to the category “narrative".

Given the multimodal nature of advertising narratives, Lotman's distinction between “primary and secondary systems of modelling" [Lotman, 1977, pp. 95-98] is of paramount importance for our research. Unlike Lotman, who regarded verbal language as the primary system of modelling in cultures, contemporary studies consider such a system within the framework of narrative, as narrative forms serve as the primary tool for constructing meaning and interpreting events [Ryan, 2004]. Consequently, the way narrative meaning is constructed does not necessarily have to be exclusively verbal.

In multimodal storytelling, narrative worlds are constructed not only through linguistic means but also through other modes, such as imagery and/or sound. Therefore, the second theoretical premise of the article is narrative analysis of multimodal discourses, with a focus on essential narrative properties such as “informational significance," “credibility" (reliability), “causality" (the causal connection between events), and “objectivity" (the degree of evaluation of events). This viewpoint can be referred to as a “structurally-narrative" one, employing two primary approaches to narrative analysis, both of which are utilized in the article. The first approach, referred to as “syntagmatic," is based on the ideas of V. Propp [1968] and is oriented towards identifying the sequence of narrative plot, actions, events, themes, and motifs within multimodal narratives. Additionally, the article uses some narrative-structuring functions and “characters" introduced by Propp, which are identified as invariants for the analyzed video narratives. The second approach to narrative analysis, stemming from the ideas of C. Levi-Strauss [1963], can be called “paradigmatic." It focuses on studying the stylistic and connotative means that shape the narrative and pragmatic characteristics of the entire narrative of a specific brand.

The paradigmatic approach intersects, in our view, with studies in semiotics and the mythology of advertising discourse, drawing on the ideas of R. Barthes [1973] and J. Baudrillard [1998] regarding advertising myth as a secondary semiotic system that generates a unique imperative means of influencing people. This vector can be denoted as semiotic-narratological, aimed at studying the possible worlds of advertising discourse and its mythological values of the second level of signification. Modern advertising discourse is examined by scholars as a space of secondary signification and mythologization, in which associative and connotative implicit meanings “displace" denotative meanings associated with the nominations of a brand, product, or service. The essence of the secondary meaning of advertising discourse can be presented as follows: the signified, actualized by verbal or multimodal means of advertising, becomes a signifier aimed at designating a new signified on an associative-connotative level, which in the advertising myth “alienates" the primary meaning [Kravchenko et al., 2021] by naturalizing values. Instead of products or services, advertisements “sell" ideas and values with which a specific brand is metonymically identified, creating comfortable “possible worlds" for consumers. Thus, Ukrainian “Morshynska" water is no longer just a beverage but an embodiment of health, and banks in their slogans attempt to convey reliability and trust, as in the slogan “The Formula of Your Confidence" (Bank Sich). The issue of constructing a narrative world and narrative techniques in advertising has been addressed by researchers such as G. Long [2007] and C. Scolari [2009], including from the perspective of multimodal transmedia storytelling, extensively explored by Henry Jenkins [2006; 2006a].

Methodology

The article employs an integrative methodology that encompasses various techniques:

1. Narrative analysis [Labov, 1999; Propp, 1968] is used to identify:

(a) Structural components of video narratives and narrative categories such as intertextuality, subjective entropy, and more, (в) Narrative motifs, plots, character invariants, and structure-forming functions. In defining the structural components of multimodal narratives, the article utilizes the traditional six-component narrative structure proposed by W. Labov [1999, pp. 221-235], which includes: Abstract (an introduction justifying why the narrative should be told), Orientation (information about time, place, and characters involved), Complicating action (the main events that occurred), Evaluation (the author's perspective on the events), Result/resolution (how the story was resolved), Coda (the consequences of the events of the narrative).

The identification of character invariants and functions in the article is based on their taxonomy introduced by V. Propp [1968], with a special focus on structural functions like the helper/ donor, magical agent, and hero transformation invariants, which are inherent in the video narratives considered.

2. Multimodal analysis includes the examination of various semiotic modes and elements within advertising, such as visual, verbal, auditory, and gestural components, to identify their interactions in conveying messages and influencing the audience. This analysis is aimed at interpreting the complex semantic space that unfolds within multimodal phenomena or is the result of their interaction - intersemiosis of semiotic resources, as well as analyzing the integration of the semantic potential of different resources. Such an analysis is particularly relevant when studying the resulting semantic space in dynamic texts [ledema, 2001; Liang, 2015] - specifically, video narratives, which are explored in this article.

3. Narrative-semiotic analysis of brand narratives is aimed at identifying multiple semiotic codes and their correlations with discourse-forming values that displace denotative, productrelated meanings [Barthes, 1974]. In Barthes' classification, the hermeneutic or riddle code pertains to elements of the narrative referred to as “partial answers," “suspended answers," and “jammings," and so on. In contemporary narrative studies, this concept is closely related to the term “negative capability," which refers to “the art of building strategic gaps into a narrative to evoke a delicious sense of 'uncertainty, mystery, or doubt' in the audience" [Long, 2007, p. 53]. The proairetic or actional code implies narrative tension and predicts the actions of characters and the development of the plot. The semantic code relates to any element of the text that implies a specific connotative meaning. In multimodal advertising narratives, it is the semantic code that is responsible for creating second-level signification, naturalizing values and ideas. The symbolic code serves as a profound structural principle that organizes the semantic values of a brand in implicit opposition to values that are foreign to it. Within the framework of advertising discourse, the symbolic code, in our view, is rooted in the motivational needs of individuals, which determine the discourse-forming values of brands [Kravchenko et al., 2021]. The cultural code encompasses a set of stereotypes encoding universal or ethnic cultural features. In the article, the concept of the cultural code is clarified in two fundamental aspects: as being based on markers of intertextuality and/or interdiscursivity, and as cultural archetypes embodying universal or culture-specific basic structures of “collective" consciousness through archetypal motifs, plots, images, and symbols.

4. The article also involves an explanatory toolkit of the theory of conceptual blending [Fauconnier, Turner, 2002], which is used to analyze the metaphors of the verbal module of multimodal narratives. The article applies a basic structure of four spaces for the reconstruction of metaphors, consisting of two or more source and target input spaces, the generic space of their shared attributes, and the resulting blended space that combines components from the input spaces, abstracted into frames or schemes of generic space.

5. Archetypal analysis [Belekhova, 2015; Kravchenko, Goltsova, Snitsar, 2021] is employed to identify elements of the cultural code, underlying the social mythology of advertising.

The data for analysis include slogans and promotional multimodal videos (video narratives) of the Ukrainian brand “Золотий вік" (Golden Age) brand, a well-known producer of jewellery. The selected video narratives for analysis include: Таксі. Тобі личить моє кохання¹ [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015]; Тобі личить моє кохання. Золотий Вік. З Новим Роком² [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015a]; Тобі личить моє кохання. Золотий Вік (Я чую вас. Я чую, що ви можете сказати один одному)³ [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015b]; Pianoбой "Кохання". Золотий вік⁴ [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015c]; Три пари. Тобі личить моє кохання. Золотий Вік⁵ [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2016]; Тобі личить моє кохання. Золотий Вік. Осінь⁶ [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2016a]; Колекція обручок від Золотого Віку⁷ [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2017], Золотий Вік. Love season⁸ [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2017a] and others.

Discussion and Major Findings

Brand narrative codes: social-mythological and cultural-archetypal underpinning

The specificity of the Ukrainian multimodal narrative is evident in its values, plots, structure, the involved multimodal modules, and the media platforms on which such a narrative is constructed.

The brand's key slogan, “Тобі лічить моє кохання!" (My love suits you!), as well as the company's name, is based on the song “Кохання" (Love) by the group Pianoboy [Шуров, 2015], which served as the musical background for the brand's “stories" presented in the form of YouTube video series. Brand's multimodal narrative becomes a polymodal construct, which utilizes a wide range of semiotic resources to create a compelling and emotionally resonant brand identity, highlighting the fusion of music, visuals, and cultural references. Multiple semiotic codes are realized through two sign systems (verbal and non-verbal) via two channels (auditory and visual). The auditory channel includes (a) the musical code - a lyrical soundtrack, (b) paralinguistic codes: high pitch, sharp fluctuations in pitch and volume, a specific timbre that intensifies emotions and intonation (increasing strength and tension), (c) linguistic code - voice-over of the “wizard" and the song lyrics, (d) artistic-theatrical code: the refrain reflects the main idea of the video. Additionally, various visual codes are employed: iconographic, graphic-visual (brand logo), kinetic, proxemic, scenographic, and more.

The article examines the verbal, audiovisual, and auditory modules in the specifics of their interaction within the discursive multimodal space from the perspective of the brand's discourse-shaping strategy. Given the constitutive features of advertising, the primary discursive strategy consists of associating the brand with motivational value, creating a secondary associative-connotative level of meaning that replaces the functional value of the product with one of the basic human needs (highlighted, in particular, in Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs [1943]). At the metalevel of meaning, which creates the socio-mythological component of the Golden Age brand's advertising, there is an identification of this brand's jewellery with “embodied" love. Accordingly, the brand's discourseforming strategy can be formulated as follows: “Golden Age" and its products are embodied love, and, consequently, the act of gifting the products also metonymically signifies Love.

At the verbal level of the brand's multimodal narrative discourse, the discourse-forming strategy is implemented through the slogan “My love suits you!'¹, based on the key metaphor: “Love is a Decoration / an Accessory" (that can suit).

1. Taxi. My love suits you

2. My love suits you. Golden Age. Happy New Year

3. My love suits you. Golden Age (I Hear You. I Hear What You Can Say to Each Other)

4. Pianoboy “Love". Golden Age

5. Three Pairs. My love suits you. Golden Age

6. My love suits you. Golden Age. Autumn

7. Collection of Engagement Rings from the Golden Age

The metaphor relies on the integration of two input source spaces in hypo-hyperonymic relation - Thing and Decoration / Accessory, projected into one input target space “Love". The generic space selects from the input spaces the common attribute of “emotional value" in its material and spiritual expressions: much like an ornament or accessory, love can bestow special significance and beauty upon a person's life, as well as emphasize the uniqueness and individuality of each situation or individual. The generic space is projected into the blended space based on the mechanism of compression, involving cause-and-effect relationships with a metonymic shift: If preciousness and love are respectively a material and a spiritual value, then they can be interchangeable, and preciousness can be an expression of love. In other words, the gift-preciousness metonymically substitutes for love.

The elaboration of a blend implies the development of common attributes of the generic space, such as individuality and uniqueness, with the idea of alignment, harmony, and naturalness. During the brand's elaboration stage, the integration is based on causal relationships: if a precious thing can “suit" or harmonize with a person, then love, metonymically substituted for a gift-preciousness, can also “suit" or harmonize with a loved one.

In terms of Barthes' signifying codes, the metaphor in the multimodal narrative structure correlates with the hermeneutic code, requiring additional cognitive efforts from the target audience for its interpretation. The key metaphor encoded by the slogan forms the basis for all of the brand's video narratives, thanks to an invariant auditory module - the song “Кохання" with a repeat “My love so suits you!". Through the lyrics of the song, the metaphor extends to an associative complex that includes peripheral metaphorical components that reveal the concept of love: Love is air, i.e., something you cannot live without: Зробив би так, чтоб все навкруги (...) дихало твоїм Коханням⁹.

Love is a flight: Кохання (...) Розправим крила і полетим¹⁰.

The name of the beloved is a song: Якби я міг врятувати світ Ім'ям назвав би твоїм. Зробив би так, чтоб все навкруги Завжди співало ним¹¹.

In addition to metaphor, the metaphorical complex includes metonymy: “the beloved is a vessel", and “love is the content" (completely fills the beloved, defines her content): Вся, з ніг до голови, Кохання¹². Together with the basic metaphor, these peripheral metaphors encode the hermeneutic code of the video narratives with the auditory module of the song. The metaphorical complex is enriched with the connotation of “lightness" as another attribute of love in the phrase Для нас з тобою цей велетенський світ Стає такий легкий¹³, which combines several stylistic devices: implicit antithesis, oxymoron, and metaphor to denote the state before and after falling in love.

On the other hand, the recurrent repetition of the song, even in its reduced form, contributes to the construction of the hermeneutic code at the level of the entire brand mythology as a “possible" world in which secondary meanings - love, lightness, a state of flight, fullness, vital importance, fulfilment of desires - are naturalized as metonymic substitutes for the brand and its products.

The audiovisual level of the multimodal brand narrative is presented in a 30-second video series that unfold through the creation of parallel stories unified by a common value (love), a shared slogan and brand name, as well as similar narrative motifs and some structural properties. These shared characteristics “embed" the semiotic worlds of the videos into a unified discursive universe--the macro-narrative of the “Golden Age" brand.

From the perspective of narrative codes, videos draw upon common cultural codes in their intertextual and interdiscursive manifestations. In terms of interdiscursivity, narratives have a prototypical genre-hybrid foundation, combining elements of melodrama, romantic storytelling, and fairy-tale narration.^{8 Golden Age. Love season (The translation into English was carried out by the authors of the article).}

⁹ I would do it so that everything around (...) breathed with your Love.

¹⁰ We will spread our wings and fly. If I could save the world, I would name it after you. I would make it so that everything around always sang your name.

¹² All, from head to toe, is Love.

¹³ For you and me, this vast world Becomes so light.

Intertextuality manifests through explicit and implicit techniques. Explicitly, it is evident in the direct borrowing of the brand name and its slogan from the song “Love." Implicitly, the intertextual cultural code relies on cultural archetypes. In this context, it's worth noting that the social mythmaking of modern brands often assumes a cultural-archetypal and psychological-archetypal basis, which appeals to the archetypal and, consequently, the “unconscious" component of the target customer's identity. Engaging with such a component is an effective communicative-pragmatic strategy in advertising because myths and archetypes that tap into “bridges" to the subconscious facilitate the communication process and are an effective way to promote a product.

The multimodal narrative of the “Golden Age" brand applies cultural archetypal images of celebration, dreams, magic, hearts, beauty, and the universal cultural archetype of “gold" associated with the symbolism of the sun. Golden magical items in fairy tales are often combined with the element of a circle (the shape of a golden ring), which is linked to the sun-circle symbolism. Other archetypal elements include the ethnic archetype of “hearts," which is characteristic of the cardio-centric Ukrainian nation and is present in all narrative video series of the brand, as well as motifs of roads, departures, crossroads, where the hero remains in the video “Taxi. My love suits you" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015] (Figure 1).

Figure 1 "Taxi. My love suits you" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015]

The conceptual spaces of the narratives are integrated with the frequently used visual metaphor of golden sparks, which the wizard scatters and ignites people's hearts (Figure 2).



Figure 2 "Taxi. My love suits you" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015]

The metaphor is reproduced in a series of brand videos, such as “Golden Age. Love season" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2017a], “My love suits you. Golden Age. Autumn" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2016] (Figures 3, 4), etc.

The metaphor of golden sparks is an extension of the metaphor blend based on the slogan, but it operates at the level of the visual module and, in turn, partially relies on the conventional metaphor of a “heart burning with love": if love and preciousness are metonymically interchangeable in the slogan “My love suits you," supported by the consistent visual component of video narratives (the gift of preciousness), then preciousness (gold, golden sand) has the power to ignite the soul with love.

Another archetypal model is associated with the temporality of multimodal video narratives, including elements of temporal cyclicality as a repetition of the same, which is connected to archaic mythological times. Formal-structural manifestations of temporal cyclicality identified in linguistic research include, among other things, recurrent motifs, rituals, formality, recurring repetitions (often a symbolic number of times), the motif of renewal, hero rebirth/transformation, symbols, and the repetition of plot elements [Kravchenko, Goltsova, Snitsar, 2021, pp. 75-108].

Figure 3 "Golden Age. Love seaso n" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2017a]

Figure 4 "My love suits you. Golden Age. Autumn" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2016]

In the video narratives considered, temporal cyclicality is realized through the repetition of a dance ritual within the plot, performed by a wizard or lovers, as illustrated below by the clips "My love suits you. Golden Age. Happy New Year" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015a], "Taxi. My love suits you'¹ [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015], "Collection of Engagement Rings from the Golden Age'¹ [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2017], as well as a fairy tale motif of a wizard with a magical golden substance that transforms ordinary people into lovers (Figures 5, 6, 7).

The magician is dressed in modern attire and performs a modern dance, thus involving not only the archaic archetype but also a modern cultural archetype based on intertextuality with contemporary artistic films about "modernized" Guardian Angels.

At the same time, the plot of transformation itself becomes a continuous cyclic repetition that, in the format of the brand-created narrative world, alludes to eternity. Connotations of eternity contributing to the narratives' semantic code are associated with such "eternal" spiritual and material values as love and preciousness. In the video narrative "Three Pairs. My love suits you. Golden Age" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2016], the idea of cyclicality is actualized through the symbolic triple number of transformations, as exactly three pairs are transformed into lovers (Figure 8).

In addition to the elements of cyclic temporality, another mythological cultural archetype, originating from fairy tales, is represented by the magical instrument - golden sand, which is an essential element in resolving situations in video narratives, correlating with such a fairy tale function (the fourteenth function in Propp's system) as the hero obtaining a magical gift. At the same time, the image of “golden sand" is a metonymic allusion to the brand “Golden Age" and its products, verbally supported by the brand name and the functions of jewellery as tokens of love in the visual-narrative space of the video clips.

Figure 5 "My love suits you. Golden Age. Ha ppy New Year" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015a]

Figure 6 "Taxi. My love suits you" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015]

Figure 7 "Collection of Engagement Rings from the Golden Age" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2017]

Figure 8 "Three Pairs. My love suits you. Golden Age" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2016]

Along with the cultural-archetypal code and hermeneutic code encoded in metaphors, the brand narrative incorporates semantic and symbolic codes. From the perspective of secondary advertising signification, the brand establishes enduring connotations with its products, not only as a symbol of love but also as its embodiment. In this context, the semantic code forms the core mythologeme of the brand, which is intended to become the signified concept that is connoted by the nomination of all products associated with it in the minds of consumers. This is the primary communicative-pragmatic goal of creating the advertising discourse of any brand. The semantic code of stable connotations, replacing the brand name with the signified concept of “love," in turn, correlates with the symbolic code because the symbolic value of “love" is implicitly contrasted with values such as status, wealth, prestige, and the like, which can be motivational values for jewellery brands.

In turn, the symbolic code correlates with the “deeper" motivational need of people, represented by the third level of Maslow's hierarchy - “the need for belonging and love." For comparison, the modern brand discourse of Golden Age is based on a discourse that links the brand to a value such as “status," associated with the need for respect at the fourth level of the motivational hierarchy. Despite the brand slogan remaining unchanged, its visual semiotics indicate an orientation towards precisely this component of target consumer identity.

In addition to the mythologeme “embodiment of love," brand video narratives construct several other mythologemes based on the brand's associations with different motivational values: The products of the Golden Age brand serve as a mediator in achieving a beautiful life or fulfilling desires. In the multimodal context of the entire brand narrative, the hermeneutic code, based on the metaphorical slogan, in interaction with semantic, symbolic, and cultural codes, constructs an unalterable possible world in which the brand's jewellery is naturalized as an unequivocal means of attaining “love," a “beautiful life," and the fulfilment of desires.

Narrative structure of the brand advertisement videos: proairetic code

Each of the video stories, which are isomorphic in terms of their secondary signified, constitutes an independent multimodal mini-narrative constructed in accordance with a narrative genre. The narrative videos feature various characters and storytelling plots with varying degrees of reduction in structural narrative elements.

In the video narrative “Three Pairs. My love suits you. Golden Age" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2016] the function of Abstract is fulfilled by the beginning of the song “Love," which precedes the story and accompanies it. The song's lyrics about love's ability to work miracles serve as the value-conceptual basis for why such a story should be told. The Orientation, which includes the time, place, conditions of events, and main characters, serves as a means of the compositional organization of the analyzed advertising narrative as a “story within a story": the love story unfolds within the framework of the song. Thus, the narrative space is divided into two topoi - the topos of the scene where the actress sings and the topos of the dynamic unfolding of events structured by different loci, which are the seffings for various events: the street in front of the house where the quarrel takes place, the taxi where the girl escapes, the square where the magician dances.

The complicating action, which is the most pronounced element of the narrative structure, consists of a visual (without verbal commentary) scene of the lovers' quarrel and their separation, and is accompanied by a change in the emotional status of the characters. Complication, as a structural component of storytelling, contributes to the proairetic code as it creates tension, implying an expected Resolution. It is achieved through the use of the technique “Deus ex machina" technique (from Latin, “god from the machine"), which is employed in narratology to denote an unexpected solution to a seemingly hopeless situation that does not naturally arise from the course of events but represents something artificial brought about by external intervention. The situation is resolved by a magician who ignites the hearts of young people with love using a magical tool - golden sand, which is a metonymic embodiment of the “Golden Age" brand and its products. The concluding element of the narrative, its Coda, is presented at the story level through the presentation of an engagement ring, accompanied by a verbal comment in the form of the brand's slogan, “My love suits you!"

In the advertising video narrative “My love suits you. Golden Age. Happy New Year" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015a] there is a certain variation of the structural parts of the story with their reduction and combination. In particular, the magician's intervention serves as both a resolution and a complicating action - an unexpected turn of events that deviates from the norm. The coda component depicts the actions of the charm on three couples, transforming them into lovers. Within the multimodal space of brand advertising, the coda, which brings the story's events back to the present, is manifested through the brand's slogan, repeated as a refrain in all video narratives. In the brand's narrative multimodal discourse, Coda becomes the concluding structural element that hints to consumers the solution - to acquire the brand's product to satisfy their motivational needs for love, harmony, and agreement.

Another isomorphic narrative element in the stories is their modelling in three possible worlds: (a) the narrative or “pseudo-real" world, based on the love story of contemporaries, (b) the fairy tale world, and (c) the “extra-narrative" world (marked by the singer, who serves as the narrator through words, the accompanist, and the magician, on whose behalf the story is told), as illustrated by stills from the video “Pianoboy “Love". Golden Age" [Орлов, Г., Хардмейер, 2015c] (Figure 9).

Figure 9 "Pianoboy "Love". Golden Age" [Орлов, Г., Хардмейер, 2015c]

The fairy tale world, coexisting with the “pseudo-real" one, is marked by the motif of the magical gift-giver assistant. The narrative function of the archetypal role of the Wizard lies in the construction of an illusory world and filling it with supernatural forces. The Wizard fills human hearts with golden dust, which, on the one hand, embodies the fairy tale motif of a magical object, and on the other hand, corresponds to the narrative archetypal motif of magical transformation, renewing the people who receive such a gift, including the transmission of magical powers to them - as seen in the final scene of the video narrative “New Year." [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015a] (Figure 10).

Figure 10 "My love suits you. Golden Age. Happy New Year" [Орлов, Хардмейер, 2015a]

The material symbol of the transformation of a person in the world of love is the precious object in which the magical item (golden dust) is embodied, and which the “transformed" characters present to their loved one.

The correlation between semiotic codes and the means of their implementation in the brand narrative is shown in the table below.



Table 1

Codes	Devices
Proairetic code	Narrative plots in video-visual module in three-folded possible world: extra-narrative, pseudo-real, and fairy-tale.
Cultural code 1	Explicit intertextuality means - direct quotation of the song-based source intertext in the slogan and brand name.
Cultural code 2	Interdiscursivity devices - elements of film-melodrama, romantic history, and fairy-tale suggesting genre-hybridity of video narratives.
Cultural code 3	Implicit intertextuality devices - references to mythological archetypes and cyclic temporality.
Semantic code	“Connotative semantics" of the narrative, aimed at brand association with motivational value, which is discourse-forming for the socio-mythological semiotic space of the brand.
Symbolic code 1	Archetypal symbols.
Symbolic code 2	The symbolic value / values of a brand implicitly opposed to values alien to it.
Hermeneutic code 1	Metaphors and other stylistic devices.
Hermeneutic code 2	Brand's mythologemes as constructs of a «possible» world in which secondary signifieds - love, beautiful life, dreams, and wish fulfilment - are naturalized as metonymic substitutes for the brand and its products.



Conclusions

The Ukrainian brand narrative is a multimodal discursive construct formed by a combination of multiple semiotic codes realized through verbal and non-verbal sign systems via auditory and visual channels. The modules are integrated through multimodal narratives, constructing a semiotic world integrated with the secondary signified “love" and the associated concepts that replace the denotative meaning of the brand as a jewellery company and its products as ornaments. The secondary signified is verbalized through slogans, visualized through plots, voiced by background songs or voice-over narrators, and encoded by cultural codes in their intertextual and archetypal aspects.

Multimodal brand narratives, featuring different characters, narrative plots, and formal-narrative structures, are isomorphic in relation to (a) a three-dimensional possible world: the “extra-narrative," “narrative pseudo-real," and fairy tale world, which are interconnected, (b) archetypal images, motifs, and characters: the magical gift-giver assistant, the magical tool, “gold" and a circle-ring, the motifs of the road, the departure, the crossroads, the magical transformation of people who receive the brand-associated gift; elements of archetypal cyclical time with connotations of “eternity," associating the brand with love and jewellery as eternal spiritual and material values; (c) similar narrative plots with varying degrees of reduction in structural narrative elements contributing to a proairetic code.

The multimodal space of the video narratives is structured by five narrative-semiotic codes. The semantic code of connotations associates the brand with the concept of love, serving as a discourse-forming element for the brand's mythology. The symbolic code is based on archetypal symbols and implicit oppositions to values that are foreign to the brand. The proairetic code relies on structural narrative elements, which creates narrative tension before resolution, and symbolically resolves with the brand-associated golden dust, a metaphorical representation of the brand's products, as well as its materialization in the form of jewellery or other luxury items, restoring love and harmony. The hermeneutic code provides consumers with a means to interpret and understand the brand's messages and values. It is marked by an associative metaphorical complex based on the lyrics of the song, serving as an auditory backdrop for the video narratives and becoming defining for the brand's mythology as a “possible" world in which secondary meanings - love, lightness, a state of flight, fullness, vital importance, fulfilment of desires - are naturalized as metonymic substitutes for the brand and its products.

Thus, the interaction of visual, auditory, and verbal modules in the brand's narratives implements its discourse-forming strategy - to convince the target audience that by purchasing the brand's products, they acquire not so many material goods as love, happiness, transformation, and fulfilment of desires.

The prospect of further research is the analysis of the pragmatics of multimodal narratives of Ukrainian brands.



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