the ISFC39 Proceedings - International Systemic-Functional ...

to boldly proceed ...they could have been positioned as receiving also lifestyle benefits (improvement of lifestyle,happiness, health, peace of mind), which would be more in keeping with their principle‘Inspiring about health’.Examples of text after the language branding process add a stronger positioning of Sanitasas having feelings, beliefs and thoughts (with mental or near-mental behavioural processes),providing a more human personality of Sanitas, as shown in the following examples:Cuidamos de su salud … [We care about your health]Así entendemos en Sanitas lo que … [That’s how we understand in Sanitas what …]In addition, the newly branded texts position the customer as benefiting from intangibles,with mental processes such as ‘ enjoy’ or ‘like’ (disfrutar de la tranquilidad [enjoy peace ofmind], Porque le gusta poder moverse con libertad [because you like moving freely]), whichconvey their principle ‘inspiring about health’.2.1.2 Reference and chains of referenceChains of reference are examined in language branding to see ‘how the brand and conceptsrelated to it are evoked and kept activated in the mind of the hearer/reader’ (Delin 2005: 12).Based on the work by Halliday & Hasan (1976), Prince (1981) and Gundel et al. (1993),Delin (2005:13-14) develops a very useful tool for assessing how strongly a brand is evokedin texts. Among the most strongly evoking means of reference, Delin includes:repetition: Sanitas … Sanitaspartial repetition: El Grupo BBVA … El Grupoco-reference: BBVA … pronouns (nos), verbal ending (apostamos)brand elements: logo, colour, BBVAnetpossessive inferrables (less strongly evoking): BBVA … nuestras oficinas [our offices]Among the references to brand, it is interesting to notice that Sanitas brands all itsservices by repeating the brand name: Sanitas Oro, Sanitas Multi, Sanitas Dental. Thisconstant repetition strongly evokes the brand.It is also interesting to study whether the brand is referred to as 3 rd person or by using 1 stperson plural. If, for instance, a customer receives a letter from the company and it refers tothe brand by using 3 rd person singular, it gives an impression of detachment and distance onthe writer’s part of the writer.When referring to customers, 3 rd person reference is often used (el cliente [the client]).Sometimes this is combined with the possessive pronoun (nuestros clientes [our customers]),which serves a double purpose: it reinforces the brand by evoking it, and at the same time itpositions the reader as being part of the brand.Another aspect of reference to customer that needs special attention in Spanish is 2 ndperson reference. We will mention these cases in the following subsection on formality vs.informality.2.1.3 Formality vs informalityAn important distinction available in Spanish and other romance languages is that betweenformal and informal second person address. Until a few decades ago, distant address wasrequired in all business transactions. However, nowadays the practices as regards formal150