Cotticelli-Kurras / Cotugno / Merlin Names in Times of Crisis

Age of pandemics, energetic deficiency, and war
1. Auflage 2025
ISBN: 978-3-381-13333-8
Verlag: Narr Francke Attempto Verlag
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 6 - ePub Watermark

E-Book, Englisch, Band 7, 342 Seiten

Reihe: Sprachvergleich

This volume addresses the fields of naming and branding, in particular company and brand names, names in slogans, and advertising language in general, and all other proper names that are of economic interest in times of crisis. The contributions analyze both advertising on social media as well as printed material concerning commercial names, slogans for climate advertising, pandemic situations, new branding, and communication strategies in critical times, such as war and energetic deciency. The focus of the volume lies in stimulating reflections on how communication with consumers has changed, on current advertising and marketing strategies, and on naming in the face of sustainability and fairness. The current war scenario and the resulting problems concerning energy supplies, the increased migration in the Western European nations, and the political and social pressure to implement ambitious climate goals lead the economy and advertising agencies to profound reconsiderations.

Prof. Dr. Paola Cotticelli ist Inhaberin eines Lehrstuhls für allgemeine und historische Sprachwissenschaft an der Universität Verona. Anna Dentella ist Doktorandin für historische Sprachwissenschaft an der Universität La Sapienza, Rom. Dr. Francesca Cotugno ist Junior Professorin für allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft an der Universität Palermo. Dr. Stella Merlin ist Stipendiatin für allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft an der Universität Federico II, Neapel. Dr. Valerio Pisaniello ist Professor für allgemeine Sprachwissenschaft an der Universität Chieti-Pescara.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Cotticelli-Kurras, Paola

Cotugno, Francesca

Merlin, Stella

Pisaniello, Valerio

Dentella, Anna

Leseproben

3 Brand Analyzis

This analyzis aims to provide answers to the question: how has the recent focus on climate change influenced digital and social marketing in the Italian context? This research mainly concerns: a) the changed ‘consumer communication’; b) the naming of sustainability and fairness; c) the reputation of brands; d) the invocation of green environmental production, from trade names to climate advertising slogans, from brand identity rethinking to new broad communication strategies.

The real use cases investigated were collected by monitoring the chosen brands’ content on Instagram. It is worth mentioning that many of the Instagram pages reported here did not exist before the climate change discourse took the limelight. The use of Instagram for commercial and marketing purposes by large companies is a fairly recent development, and the timeline partly coincides with the new focus on climate issues; therefore, the ‘changed communication to consumers’ can already be seen at the diamesic level, in the change of platform and, consequently, in the tone of the discourse. This results in brand image and marketing operations, especially in cases where the company under scrutiny is heavily involved in controversies concerning environmental damage.

Our analyzis takes into account some of the major companies in the Italian energy sector: Enel, Eni, Sorgenia, etc., and then includes examples from the tourism sector and others. Starting from the colour palette, we observe ‘feeds’ that are already graphically green, linguistically nourished by a whole series of ‘eco-(neo)logisms’: collocations that invest terms such as ‘’/‘’ (‘energy’/‘energetic’), ‘’/‘’ (‘sustainability’/‘sustainable’), ‘green’; new formations such as ‘prosumers’ or ‘ecolution’; and the manipulation of proverbs and idioms for slogans such as ‘’ (‘green goes with everything’). While the data itself was obtained from social networks and websites, the analyzis was then validated referring primarily to the Treccani Digital Encyclopaedia and Dictionary, and the websites of the companies involved. In our study, the Treccani lexicographic source is considered as a quantitative validation of the observed phenomenon: when absent, the expression is – to the best of our knowledge – still without validation in the dictionaries.

3.1 Eco-neologisms

The prefix ‘eco-’, derived from the Greek word meaning ‘home’, plays a critical role in environmental advertising in Italy, particularly in the realm of social media communication and marketing. This prefix is versatile, signifying concepts such as ‘home’, ‘living environment’, and terms related to ‘ecology’. In advertising, its application ranges from promoting eco-friendly products like ‘eco-fuel’ to highlighting ecological concerns through terms such as , which denotes criminal activities harming the environment.

The evolution of language in response to environmental issues is evident in the emergence of neologisms such as or eco-anxiety, a term that captures the growing unease and fear associated with global warming and its effects, or (eco-anxious). These words, among others, illustrate the increasing public awareness and psychological impact of environmental crises, reflecting a deep-seated concern for the planet particularly among the youth. Thus, the prefix ‘eco-’ not only enriches the Italian lexicon but also serves as a powerful tool in raising environmental consciousness and shaping public discourse on sustainability.

For a glimpse of the phenomenon, figures 1 and 2 show the Neologisms of the Week page, also by Treccani, which covers the week from 11 to 17 September 2023.

Treccani: Neologisms of the Week (11-17/09/2023).

Treccani: Neologisms of the Week (11-17/09/2023).

From “strutture turistiche” (touristic facilities) to “strutture eco-turistiche” (eco-touristic facilities). Instagram: @latitudeslife.

It should be noted that the list depicted in the figures is not exhaustive, as it omits several terms that are presented in subsequent pages on the website. These include, for example, (eco-spirituality), (eco-terrorism), eco-town, (eco-transport), (eco-tourism) etc. While the predominance of this prefix in the environmental context is clear, we will now briefly focus on the last word presented: , as tourism is a sector where we find a significant use of ‘eco-derivatives’.

The eco-touristic facilities shown in Figure 3 can be, for example, (which translates into ecocertified eco-hotels), as shown in Figure 4.

Example of ‘ecohotel ecocertificato’. Instagram: @ecohotelmilano.

‘Ecocamping’ is another example of eco-derivatives in the context of tourism. In Figure 5, the ecocamping facility took a step further by using the word ‘ecolution’ (from eco + revolution) in the slogan ‘Join the Ecolution’. This portmanteau was used in many other cases as well, if we take into account the high number of hashtags and Instagram profiles with this name.

Example of ‘ecocamping’ and ‘ecolution’. Instagram: @ecocamping_vesuvio.

In each one of these examples, the prefixoid ‘eco-’ is used as a way to both build and strengthen a community by evoking shared values. In this sense, it should not come as a surprise that this prefix is used repeatedly even when it would not usually be necessary, such as in ‘ecocertified ecohotel’. The repetition of the prefixoid ‘eco-’ reminds the audience of the importance of this quality, while also conveying a sense of truth with regards to the eco-friendly status of the facility.

Similarly, we also find ‘HVOlution’ (figures 6 and 7), hinting at “Eni’s Hydrotreated Vegetable Oil (HVO), diesel 100 % from renewable raw materials”: in this case the play on words seems to be based on the term ‘evolution’ rather than ‘revolution’, taking into account the slogan found in Figure 6 (Diesel has a sustainable future), but one cannot be certain of it.

‘HVOlution’. Eni website.

‘HVOlution’. Eni website.

3.2 Green

The use of ‘green’ encompasses a wide range of applications, primarily used to refer to themes connected with the...