If there’s one thing I’m sure we can all agree on, it’s that there is a worrying dearth of impressive-sounding acronyms in our industry. So this is my attempt to add to the marketer’s acronym arsenal (otherwise known as the ‘arsenym’).
CJO
Chief Jargon Officer
Person who takes company-wide responsibility for the optimal implementation of linguistic overcomplexificationism. Core competency is cross-sectoral alignment of value-adding communicative impenetrables.
BDB
Big Data Baffler
Someone who attempts to baffle you with big data (not ACTUAL big data – just the phrase ‘big data’). Most BDBs have never studied statistics of any kind, and therefore think that a p-value refers to the monetary cost of relieving oneself in a European public convenience.
ROG
Return On Gobbledygook
A financial measure particularly favoured by CJOs and BDBs. Calculated by dividing net profit by the frequency of use of certain words in marketing communications (for example: ‘leverage’, ‘value-adding’, ‘innovation’). The ROG acronym is best reserved for those who fully understand its role in leveraging value-adding innovation.
DTL
Down The Line
A contingency strategy activated in the event of a failed marketing campaign. As in: ‘Our ATL and BTL activities didn’t work. We need to blame this on someone DTL.’
B2S
Business To Self
A type of marketing communication in which a business appears to be talking primarily to itself. Characterised by phrases such as ‘We believe …’, ‘That’s why we …’, ‘Our philosophy here at …’, and anything that refers to a ‘journey’. B2S is sometimes abbreviated to just BS.
CTI
Call To Inaction
An element of marketing communication that specifically and emphatically discourages a desired behaviour. Common examples include QR codes, invitations to ‘find out more about John’s story online’, and the phrase ‘join the conversation’.
NFI
Newly Fabricated Institute
An attempt to confer gravitas on what would otherwise be an obvious re-hash of a marketing concept that’s been around for decades. The NFI phenomenon is characteristic of ‘new-wave’ marketers (which would make a good name for an institute, come to think of it).
RTC
Ridiculous Title Creator
One of the most important people in a marketing agency. The RTC is responsible for transforming traditional job titles like ‘Designer’ (BORING!) into cutting-edge sobriquets such as ‘Pixel ninja’.
N2V
Noun To Verb
The practice of ‘transitioning’ a noun to a verb, on the basis that it implies more dynamism. While not confined to any one industry, it has been embraced by marketers, who are especially partial to impacting, ideating and gamifying.
The Wellmark team regularly tweets about topics relating to brand strategy and marketing communications. Simply follow the Twitter feed most relevant to your business: @wellmark_corp (corporate communications and annual report design), @wellmark_health (healthcare communications and pharma marketing) or @wellmark_psf (online branding and thought leadership for professional services firms).
‘DWA!’ image by Nina Miller, courtesy of Flickr Creative Commons under a CC BY 2.0 licence.
Dr Ryan Wallman,
Executive Creative Director at Wellmark.
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