Yogyakarta, July 17 — A research team consisting of lecturers and students from the English Applied Bachelor Program at Sekolah Vokasi Universitas Gadjah Mada is currently examining storytelling strategies used in public relations campaigns by three multinational brands in Indonesia through Instagram Reels. The study aims to explore how linguistic elements are employed to shape brand image and build emotional engagement with social media audiences.
The research focuses on three brands representing different industries: @traveloka.id (tourism), @google.indonesia (technology), and @lorealindonesia (beauty). Data is collected from Indonesian-language Instagram Reels that feature English code-mixing, reflecting the current communication style of Indonesian youth.
In its progress report phase, the research team has successfully collected and transcribed 33 Reels from the three official accounts. Preliminary findings reveal that all brands consistently utilize emotionally charged, inclusive, and persuasive lexical choices in their storytelling narratives. The study also identifies the use of complex sentence structures, rhetorical questions, and direct calls to action that enhance the communicative appeal of the brands.
“This research combines three descriptive and interpretative analytical approaches, namely narrative analysis, corpus-based lexical analysis, and multimodal analysis,” said Erlin Estiana Yuanti, the lead researcher. “It not only investigates the verbal content but also how various modes such as visuals, audio, and text work together to convey meaning. This is crucial to understanding the dynamics of digital communication in today’s visual era,” she added.
The researchers found that the tourism industry tends to present personal and emotional stories about family or travel memories, while the technology industry adopts an informative and solution-oriented approach. Meanwhile, the beauty industry frequently emphasizes themes of self-love and personal transformation.
Through the final outcomes of this study, the research team aims to determine whether storytelling strategies vary depending on industry characteristics and to identify both general and industry-specific storytelling patterns.
This research is part of a collaborative initiative between lecturers and students to strengthen applied research competencies in the field of digital communication and public relations in the social media era. The study is expected to contribute to the development of applied linguistics and strategic digital communication, as well as offer practical insights for creative industry practitioners in designing more effective and impactful narrative-based digital content.
Writer: Erlin Estiana Yuanti, S.S., M.A.