Aerodrome, Charabanc and Research
Posted by Giles Lury on August 24, 2011
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According to Collins the dictionary people, aerodrome, charabanc, wittol, drysalter and alienism are words that have become, or are about to become ‘extinct’. This made me think: what marketing words might be about to follow suit?
First on my endangered list is “Research” which has been under increasing threat from “Insight” for some years now. How many Research departments do you know that have been rebranded Insight departments in the last 10 years? However given the rise and rise of “Co-creation” I suggest research might see off Insight but come to be replaced by “Co-learning”.
Second up, “Advertising” which is on the slippery slope, as advertising agencies all rebranded themselves as communication agencies in the final years of the last century. Replacing advertising I suggest “Engagements”, “Communication Experiences” or my favourite “Communicated Touchpoints” (which could shorten to “CTs”) all of which flow naturally out of today’s focus on customer experience, customer engagement and the aforementioned touchpoints.
Finally and more radically I’ll suggest the word “Brand” may at least be challenged. The same word brand now covers everything from a value-led low-cost producer brand like (Tesco’s) Technika to a vision and values-led brand like Innocent. Perhaps, then, the language needs to evolve along those lines: value led brands and values led brands
Please do let us have any more suggestions you have for the Marketings Words Dodo list.
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