Why is it appropriate to use complex language and jargon in marketing?
The other day I asked my 8-year-old what was the greatest word he had ever heard. The answer is obvious. Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious. From Mary Poppins.
It's a great word, and as we grow up, it joins anti-establishmentism and frock nihilification in the great trinity of “big words” used to demonstrate intelligence on the playground.
But Mary Poppins knew exactly why the word big was used, and sang about it in the movie.
“He travels all over the world, wherever he goes/
If he uses words, everyone will say that a wise gentleman has appeared. ”
The song has a satirical overtone, making fun of the word, which sounds pretentious and clever but actually has no meaning.
Boardroom language: What to say and what to avoid Marketing can learn a lot from Mary Poppins. In our industry, the habit of using big words that sound smart is more prevalent than ever.
Consider the terms used today to describe what it takes to do a great job.you can Honestly Please tell me if this makes any sense to the average person.
mental availability
omnichannel
Category entry point
arrival
category heuristic
Recruitment
Distinctive brand assets
Penetration.
Just to name a few.
And I understand. It's important to define what we discover and tell people about it so they can discover it too. But it went too far.
A few weeks ago, a new paper was published on ScienceDirect called “A Market-Based Asset Theory of Brand Competition” by Byron et al. Honestly, I feel a little sick in my mouth.
The desire to codify exactly what works and what doesn't is great, but if it results in the use of arcane terminology, it's gone too far.
What's the point of understanding something so deeply but having so much difficulty actually explaining it to anyone?
My intuition is that our admirable desire to prove the value of marketing (or perhaps I should say marketing's marketing) to prove that we know what we're talking about , I think that led to my belief that I needed to be able to talk about marketing in a geeky way. about.
Are you suffering from impostor syndrome? The cure is easier than you think This is actually a pretty generous view. In a great interview, John James and Matt Watkinson discuss the history of the consulting industry. They articulate how, tragically, the service industry discovered that wrapping something in academic mystery makes it easier to sell. “What enters the management lexicon is not necessarily what works best, but what can be packaged and sold at scale,” they said.
Whatever the reason, the effects are pretty scary.
Even if the terminology were completely understood by the entire marketing department (which it is not, by the way), it would not be enough to drive results.
Marketing is not an individual sport, but rather a collective effort, and it's difficult to have true influence and influence across the business sector when you're all talking in jargon.
This week I heard about one of the world's largest and most well-known brands having a long discussion about the difference between brand personality and tone of voice.
I remember witnessing months of painful debate at one consumer goods brand about whether brand loyalty existed. In the end, everyone agreed that brand loyalty existed, but still disagreed on whether anything could be done about it.
At best, it wastes time, energy, budget, and makes it much more difficult for everyone to market better. At worst, we end up creating barriers to entry and diversity within our industry.
What should we do about it?
What I recommend is to stop trying to introduce and learn new vocabulary and instead start practicing asking really informed questions.
Read books to gain knowledge, tools, and frameworks. Understand the terminology, then use it to ask better questions about your business.
Ask simple questions like, “What impressions do people have of us?”
It's not a memory structure, because someone asks what it means. Someone asks if you mean consumer, not customer. It's not even our brand because someone will ask if we're talking about the logo.
What does the term “marketing transformation” actually mean to businesses, or what are we doing to create that impression?
Are you not getting the right mix of digital sales activation and performance marketing?* Isn't our distinctive brand equity strong enough?Aren't we investing in advertising enough?
(* And yes, this is intentional. If you don't know what is intentional, stop making my point!)
I was once talking to an executive at a Diageo coffee machine. They attended leadership meetings and listened to presentations of strategies for the year ahead. After the presentation, all eyes turned to then-CEO Paul Walsh.
“This is all great,” he said. “But what does that have to do with selling bottles?”
That's the kind of question we should be proud to ask. A simple, deadly, brutal plain English question. “How can I sell more products?”
Marketing Week's Room 101: What would you banish? Here are my top 10 “smart questions”: If you can get real, solid answers to all of them, you'll be a long way towards having what you need to put your marketing together. Great brand strategy.
- What are people buying and what are you selling and why?
- Who is buying what you sell, and from whom?
- Who, where, and from whom are you buying things similar to what you're selling?
- Who wouldn't buy either and do something else instead?
- Why do people buy you instead of something similar or something else?
- Is it clear and convincing enough for them?
- Is it clear enough and convincing enough?
- Will it make you money if enough people buy it instead of something similar or something else?
- Does the money you earn exceed the cost of achieving all of the above?
- If not, what part of the above question do I need to change to do so?
These questions are difficult to ask and answer because they require very deep thinking and the answers are often nuanced.
The truth is, it's much easier to explain and debate definitions of technocratic jargon than to really understand what's going on in our complex and ambiguous world. But understanding that complexity – overcoming ambiguity – is the work that needs to be done.
So, next time someone says we need an ideation session, recommends an overhaul of the VBI, or suggests an assessment of how well it is activating against the market-based asset theory of brand competition. When you propose
Ask yourself one question. What would Mary Poppins think?
Johnny Corbett has held marketing and commercial leadership roles for large corporations and startups across food and beverage, technology, finance, professional services, and even politics and the public sector.
