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Top 7 Marketing Buzzwords of 2015

Posted by Randy Mitchell on June 18, 2015


Many people wish they could speak another language and I can understand the allure.

Imagine walking into a small restaurant in Barcelona and striking up a casual conversation with the owner. Or hiking along the Loess Plateau in Shaanxi and discussing the weather with your guide.

I am not versed in either Spanish or Mandarin Chinese, but I am fluent in marketing. In fact, I can speak it like a native. Almost.

For example, I can drop terms like “multichannel” and “socialize” with the best of them. But to be honest, some marketing buzzwords still catch me off guard.

To illustrate the point, here are the top seven marketing buzzwords of 2015. Some are relatively new, others are classics, but they all have crept into our common marketing vernacular.

1.     “in the weeds”

Sounds like it means: A nature hike gone wrong. “We strolled along merrily, unaware of the sinister copperhead lurking in the weeds.”

Actually means: Someone who is too focused on the details of a project. When people are in the weeds, they have trouble seeing things from a broader perspective.

Usage: “He never grasped the big idea. He was in the weeds.”

2.     “influencers”

Sounds like it means: People who tempt you into something you shouldn’t do. Like pushing that second helping of bumbleberry pie in your direction.

Actually means: In marketing, “influencers” are individuals who have the power to influence the purchasing decisions of potential buyers. To leverage this, marketers shape their activities around these influencers.

Usage: “If we get the influencers on board, everyone else will fall in line.”

3.     “mindshare”

Sounds like it means: Something Mr. Spock would do on Star Trek. “My mind to your mind, my thoughts to your thoughts.” Sorry, I’ve always been a science fiction geek.

Actually means: Mindshare is essentially consumer awareness of a brand or service. In a crowded category, very few brands can have true mindshare. Given this definition, all awareness communications are trying to help marketers capture more mindshare with their target.

Usage: “There’s no buzz around our brand. We need more mindshare.”

4.     “social currency”

Sounds like it means: Kind of like the Euro. But with a much greater cool factor.

Actually means: Social currency is the actual or potential assets that can be gained from having a presence in social networks and communities. Social currency is generated when you build or strengthen a community through the sharing of valuable information and meaningful experiences with a brand.

Usage: “This Facebook campaign will generate major social currency for us.”

5.     “gamification”

Sounds like it means: A rare condition that starts to appear after you’re lost at sea
for 30 days.

Actually means: Gamification takes the idea of gaming into a new context. In essence, it is the practice of using game thinking in non-game settings to engage users. So one would add game-like elements to a campaign to increase participation.

Usage: “People aren’t engaging with us. Maybe we should try some sort of gamification element on the landing page.”

6.     “sweat your assets”

Sounds like it means: Bestselling 1986 Richard Simmons video. I may still have a copy somewhere, next to the old Star Trek videos.

Actually means: Maximizing the use of your assets. For example, a manufacturing firm that uses its assembly machinery on a limited basis is not sweating its assets. For marketers, this could be something less tangible, such as data. If you’re not maximizing the value of the information in your data then you are not sweating your assets fully.

Usage: “Our customer list could do more for our targeting. We’re not sweating our assets.”

7.     “brand evangelist”

Sounds like it means: Bill Graham interrupting a sermon to sell Coke Zero. “By heaven, that’s one refreshing soda!”

Actually means: Brand evangelists are customers who are “drinking the marketing Kool-Aid,” to borrow another popular catchphrase. These front-running customers believe so strongly in a product or service that they try to get others on board with them. In this role, they provide unsolicited word-of-mouth marketing for a brand.

Usage: “We need a few more brand evangelists to write product reviews for us.”

As you can see, marketing is a language that never stops evolving. But this list just scratches the surface of the terms marketers use every day. That’s why I’m humbly asking you to be brand evangelists or at least influencers for marketing buzzwords.

If you have some more favorites that you want to share, please leave a comment below and let us know about it. In the meantime, may your mindshare live long and prosper.


Topics: Digital Marketing

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