"Thinking outside-the-box"
This blog post is a bit of a rant but I'm sure many of you can relate to what I have to say. There's one thing that has been getting on my nerves lately - that's the overused cliche buzz words that us advertising and marketing folks tend to use. I decided to do a little digging to see if anyone else shared my pain. I was surprised to see that there have been a few surveys on this very subject.
Creative professionals who tout "outside-the-box" or "synergistic" thinking and promise to deliver "the big idea" to increase "ROI" may want to rethink the terms they use. While these terms might have resonated with audiences in the past, they were listed among the most annoying industry buzzwords by advertising and marketing executives in a few recent surveys conducted by The Creative Group and Accountemps.
Executives were asked, "In your opinion, what is the most annoying or overused buzzword in the creative/marketing industry today?" Top responses included:
Outside-the-box
Synergy
ROI
Paradigm Shift
Strategy
Integrated Solution
CRM
Customer Centric
Voice of the Customer
Buzz
Make it pop
Circle Back
Break through the clutter
Take it to the next level
Innovation
Organic
Low hanging fruit
It is what it is
At the end of the day
Ducks in a row
Metrics
Take it offline
Value added
Incremental
Core competency
Incremental
I have to take this offline now so I can get my ducks in a row but I'll be sure to circle back to read your comments.
