THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK

The analysis of ASICS’ “A personal best is not a number. It’s a feeling.” is based on the frameworks of storytelling and semiotics. The framework of storytelling is essential to creating meaningful content as more and more brands push advertising on to people, therefore creating a feeling of being overwhelmed and spammed by content. In response to these challenges, advertising strategies are changing. Instead of just bombarding consumers with information to convince them, there's a bigger focus on tapping into their emotions to make a stronger impact. Both researchers and businesses are getting more interested in using storytelling to trigger positive feelings and shape how consumers think about products. The goal of storytelling in advertising is to make consumers feel something that matches what the advertisers want. So, the most important thing is to make people care about the main character in the ad. Instead of pushing people to buy directly, the idea is to let them figure things out on their own as they follow the story. This way, they can relate to the product through their feelings for the ad's main character (Park & Lee, 2014).

While storytelling itself is a broader concept, using a framework like Freytag’s pyramid of storytelling serves as a more detailed way of analyzing content. Freytag’s pyramid was established by Gustav Freytag in the 19th century. It consists of five different stages. The exposition, rising action, climax, falling action and resolution. The exposition serves as the starting point of the story, introducing the different characters, places and the general setting of the story. It should give the audience an entry point to the story. The exposition is followed by the rising action. The conflict of the story should be explored further, often by introducing new plot points or characters. This leads to things generally becoming worse leading up to the climax, as tension builds. The climax is the most important part of the story, as this is the highpoint of the story's conflict, its turning point. The main conflict gets addressed in way of no return. The climax also serves as a way of challenging the narrative of the story and its messages, something crucial for meaningful content. Part four of Freytag's pyramid is the falling action. Within this part the story explores the consequences of the climax and how characters react to the changes, it is a way of commenting on the messages of the climax. The falling action serves as a way of introducing a new standard to the world the story takes place in. Freytag's pyramid ends on the resolution of the story. A moment to either end the story by connecting the loose ends or following the consequences of the climax. The resolution is used to continue the story’s main ideas and themes, something important when creating content that provides the audience with an important message (Glatch, 2023).

Semiotics serve as a second framework to analyzing this piece of content. The reasoning behind choosing semiotics is to look into more detailed aspects of each frame. The concept of semiotics has no precise introduction as its components existed for millennia, but it gained traction with the research work of Ferdinand de Saussure and Charles S. Pierce. Structuralist semiotics, inspired by Saussure and Peirce, suggests that the patterns humans see in signs reflect how they naturally perceive and understand the world. This helps to explain why people from different cultures can easily understand the same expressions. Saussure originally called this study semiology, but nowadays it is usually referred to as semiotics. He looked at signs in two ways, synchronically, meaning how they are at a certain time, and diachronically, meaning how they change over time. Semiotics is both a science and a method for studying signs. Peirce described it as the "doctrine" of signs, meaning it's a set of principles, not a religious belief (Sebeok, 2001). It consists of Icons, Indexes and Symbols.  Symbols or symbolic signs are ones where the signifier, the thing representing something, doesn't look like the signified, the thing being represented. Instead, the connection between the two is something people must learn. Examples are language, numbers, or even traffic lights. On the other hand, icons or iconic signs are ones where the signifier resembles or imitates the signified. In other words, the sign looks, sounds, feels, tastes, or smells like the thing it represents. For instance, portraits, cartoons and words that imitate sounds, are all iconic signs. Finally, indexes or indexical signs are ones where there's a direct connection between the signifier and the signified. This connection can be observed or inferred in some way. Natural signs like smoke or footprints, medical symptoms like pain or a rash and recordings like photographs or audio clips are all examples of indexical signs. Symbolic signs, such as language, are widely used and understood, while iconic signs rely on convention to a lesser extent. Indexical signs directly point to what they represent with minimal need for convention. In semiotics, "motivation" and "constraint" describe how much a sign's meaning is determined by what it represents. Iconic signs are highly motivated, while symbolic signs are less so. Regardless of the type of sign, there's always some level of convention involved, even in mediums like photographs and films. These conventions are essential for communication and understanding in our society (Chandler, 1994).

ANALYSIS

INTRODUCTION 0:00-0:05 

Applying Freytag’s pyramid of storytelling, a definite structure can be seen within this content piece. The introduction is a short sequence involving heavy breathing and showcasing sweaty and exhausted people working out and getting pushed by coaches, checking their stopwatch. This immediately introduces the audience to the scene, as it creates an intense feeling of stress and pressure to perform. The introduction works without any voiceovers and solely relies on the ambient sound of coaches screaming and people exercising, creating a more natural and raw feeling. The stopwatch serves as a symbol to show time and the pressure connected with it, underlining the importance of numbers and times to create meaning.