Monday, September 5, 2011

Jargon Buster - Advertising, Marketing and PR Edition



It is every client's predicament when an advertising agency they hired uses too much of the industry's (advertising) jargon, which most of it doesn't have a layman's term. If they found themselves in this situation, most likely clients can't help but nod and accord mindlessly with what the agency representatives have to say. For those advertisers who happen to attend the typical meetings with the geniuses of the account and creatives division, these are some of the terms that comes out with every argot's breath



  • Advertiser - organization or person who pays for the production, execution and placement of an advertisement.
  • Advertorial - An advertisement styled to resemble the editorial format and typeface of the content in which it runs. Often generates higher response rates.
  • Brand Activation - a marketing process of bringing a brand to life through creating brand experience.
  • Brief - the outline of what needs to be done on a project.
  • B2B - business-to-business (providing products/services between businesses).
  • B2C - business-to-consumer (as above but products/services are between business and the end consumer).
  • Call to action - a marketing message that includes a focused and specific appeal to the consumer to take action following the receipt of the message.
  • Copy - written material for printing, the text of an advertisement, a press release or an article that is being written (before it has been published).
  • Copywriting - the production of text for marketing materials, such as advertising leaflets, publications and websites.
  • Corporate identity - the ways in which companies identify and brand themselves. This can be through logos, house style and uniforms.
  • Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) - makes companies responsible for their use of resources, both environmentally and socially.
  • Crisis management - used within the PR industry, this term refers to the development of plans that can be effectively implemented when something goes wrong as part of a campaign for an organisation.
  • Digital marketing - is the promotion of brands, products and services using on-line, mobile and other interactive channels.
  • Evaluation - measuring the impact of an advertising/marketing/PR campaign. This process is typically linked with planning and research.
  • In-house - staff within a company or organisation responsible for marketing or PR functions.
  • Internal communications - use of communication to promote messages within an organisation in order to achieve corporate objectives.
  • News/press release - written information that is deemed to be newsworthy. Often sent out to journalists and/or other interested parties.
  • Out to tender - where companies looking for an agency to work on a brand or project will invite various agencies to indicate their formal interest in the project demonstrating how they will meet requirements and proposed costs.
  • Pitch - a presentation where an agency outlines a mock campaign for a particular brand or project to an organisation. The best proposal wins the account.
  • Press office - handles all media enquiries and puts out all company messages to the media on behalf of a particular organisation.
  • Print production - process of producing printed material such as brochures, posters and leaflets.
  • Publics - audiences important to the organisation.
  • Social media - features user-generated content and allows the general public to publish and share information and opinions. Examples of social media include blogs, facebook, twitter, delicious, YouTube and Flickr.
  • Spokesperson - the PR person authorised to speak on behalf of an organisation/individual.
  • Stakeholders - can also be referred to as publics; audiences important to the organisation.
  • Target market - the audience(s) an organisation has chosen to be the recipient of key messages and communication.


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