When buzzwords attack, AKA we’re not going to publish your press release
Does your agency have a "penchant for disrupting, injecting emotion and turning communication into conversation"? Mumbrella's opinion and features editor Josie Tutty reveals adland's most sinful buzzwords, and offers a sincere apology to all the press releases she has let evaporate into the depths of her Gmail inbox.
As Mumbrella’s opinion and features editor, I get sent a lot of copy.
So when I stumbled across Houston PR’s ingenious tool for busting buzzwords yesterday afternoon, I’ll admit I spent more time than I probably should have copy and pasting press pieces that have been sitting in my inbox for an awkwardly long time.
The Buzzsaw’s purpose is to eliminate doublespeak from copy, in an attempt to highlight how passing off meaningless jargon as honest communication has become the norm.
They quote “reach out” “solutions”, “touch base”, “robust”, “repurposing”, “artisan’, “holistic” and “curate” as some of the many examples of marketing nonsense that have been submitted.
I also tried it with a certain media release that has been making the rounds lately, and discovered, unsurprisingly, that “unique”, “market-leading” and “dynamic” are not words favoured by the Buzzsaw.
As Hamish Thompson notes in his most recent LinkedIn post (and the post that led me to the Buzzsaw machine in the first place): “There’s a company in the US that calls itself ‘A global leader in the adhesive labelling solutions sector.’ In other words ‘We sell stickers.’”
Adland clearly has a problem, and ironically, it’s a problem with communicating.
The issue with buzzwords – or, as my boss Tim likes to call them, “weasel words” – is that any feigned attempt at sounding more important than you actually are will always come across as inauthentic.
And if you don’t agree with me, I’ll bet you anything that you’re the one writing, approving and sticking your name on these releases in the first place.
One of the most refreshing op eds I have published over the past few months detailed the slow, painful death of a press release in 22 days, which the anonymous author described as “a soul withering and Kafka-esque tale of mega bureaucracy”.
Kermit summarises the sentiment perfectly
It details the hoops a PR agency has to go through to even get a release approved and sent out to journalists, let alone published. A glance at the piece’s comment thread, and the ensuing Twitter reaction, will tell you that this is a common experience.
So really, it should come as no surprise that when a release lands in our inbox, we can expect to delete approximately two thirds of it without a second thought.
Too many cooks spoil the broth, after all.
And to those PRs out there who have spent the last three weeks going through endless iterations of a press release or opinion piece only to have it rejected – or worse, completely ignored – by every journalist you blasted it out to, I say: sorry.
Sorry, because battling with a buzzword-hungry client is probably more than your job’s worth.
Sorry, because your original idea was probably far removed from the fluffy, jargon-loaded monster it became.
Sorry… but we’re still not going to publish it.
And to be fair to them, it’s not just the PRs. A startling percentage of marketing and ad agencies’ ‘about us’ sections can be an absolute minefield.
They’re integrated communications change makers with a penchant for disrupting, injecting emotion and turning communication into conversation.
They manage multiple connection points across a spectrum of involvement.
They strive to deliver superior results via cut-through creativity.
But the question on most of our lips is: what do they actually do?
As a junior, it was easy to let it all fly over my head and believe the incomprehension I was feeling was 100% my fault.
But by now, I’ve realised a sad truth: no one really knows what they’re talking about. Or if they do, it’s so veiled in mystic meaninglessness that no one else knows what they’re talking about.
Which, when you think about it, is basically the same thing.
So next time you’re about to send over some copy, I’d suggest giving it a whizz through the Buzzsaw, just in case.
And if you’ve made it through this mini rant and still want to send me an opinion piece (you brave thing, you), you can reach me at josie@mumbrella.com.au.
Thanks for the piece – will revert after assessing synergistic collaboration opportunities.
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Use of the word ‘gun’ in job adverts for our industry. What the heck does that even mean?
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Nailed it Josie!
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I’ve asked my team to really lean into the buzzsaw to increase our engagement rates.
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Josie has been most helpful and instructive in my getting pieces published here, so I’d recommend this guidance to anyone trying. That said, I love the word ‘robust.’
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Yup de-tuned and mindlessly embellished with snore inducing headline and a buried lead …and ensure it’s on letterhead with a big logo
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Ironically, this “piece” is so fluffed out that it barely makes a point that could easily have been made in 3 or 4 lines.
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Of course, there is ALSO the possibility that, while these missives do not say much at all, the originator of their message MAY ACTUALLY HAVE NOTHING TO SAY.
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Thanks for this refereshing article Josie – why are the majority so afraid to use the word ‘sell’? That is after all what every business wishes to be successful at!
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Thanks Josie. You made me laugh.
Sad such jargon infects our language.
Except humour, we have no antidote.
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Speaking of jargon, this extract from the Dentsu results announced earlier is a ripper –
“Dentsu in Japan continues to deliver against our digital ambitions and remains focused on our People Driven Marketing (PDM) initiative – an integrated framework which executes full-funnel marketing through the integration of on-line and off-line activities”
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Thank you for actually understanding. Particularly for those of us in PR who are journos by background, it is excruciating having to send former colleagues the kinds of shit we end up forced to write.
We all make the switch with these amazing intentions to finally “fix PR” and write the releases (or rather news stories) that we know we would be happy accepting as journalists.
But faced with the usual combination of corporate ignorance, arrogance, and a hefty dose of cowardice swirled with heavy handed bollocks from “our legal department”, you’re probably going to end up with a two-piece page of unmitigated grandiloquent bullshit.
That’s why many of us rewrite the release as far as possible and send it to you in the guise of a “cover letter”.
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Use of the words engaging or engagement totally disengage my interest!
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‘Gun’: we will pay you peanuts, expect you to do everything and take all the credit. Oh, and you need to work 100 hours this week.
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Taking out your use of examples this article had a Buzzsaw score of 3% (8 words)
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Job ads not immune either. I don’t even bother applying if they’re full of this crap.
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The late and great media planner and pundit Erwin Ephron once made a great comment when asked about the importance of engagement and when you knew the engagement was effective
His answer was along the lines of … it’s round, it’s gold, and it goes on her ring finger.
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Why didn’t they just meld their ‘digital ambitions’ with their ‘full-funnel marketing’ and call it Funnel Web Marketing © – marketing with a real bite.
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I can’t believe you have chosen to dial up a thinkpiece on buzzwords.
The connections industry aims to maximise cohesiveness and holisticality, by ramping up the learnings. This is something you guys should consider circling back on in your next WIP.
Perhaps a framework for respectfully interrogating the big data available to you on many platforms and environments would bring laser focus to your results, Mumbrella.
Were there any queries on the overarching approach to the strategic response I’ve just overdelivered to you guys?
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How much is the dole these days?
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Yeah,
Gun = No mentors, we expect performance
Energetic = Tonnes of overtime
Guru = We are older people wanting a younger person
Great office vibe = We have an unused table tennis table, so we can pay you less
If I read any of these in a job description, I automatically pass.
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I will continue to stand by the term “deep dive”
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I had a tutor at uni who said ‘Don’t ever use jargon – you’re just doing it to make yourself feel smart. It’s not helpful for the person you’re talking to’. She was right.
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