Leftovers
Language of Life
‘Devolution’ doesn’t mean “opposite of evolution.” It’s actually a much more interesting and complex concept that we marketers need to understand right now. The truth is devolution is the process of transferring power from a central government to local units. Power to the people, so to speak.
Language is the currency of communication. Anyone reading this knows that we Punk guys think without language we have no purpose. Then why as a group have we federalized language, refusing to acknowledge that the power inherent in language is within all of us?
Take jargon. Most of us don’t listen – you are likely super-tasking now—and don’t talk to people in their own language. The Punk way is to create a lexicon and DISCHARGE it with such force that we compel our audience to use the words and phrases we chose. Energy, man. We can develop a lingo. We can set about making it vernacular. But it doesn’t happen when the second we step outside the conference room no one is speaking the language they developed to every single fucking person within earshot.
In politics, devolution creates local bodies to perform tasks previously carried out by centralized groups. To protect the value of the currency of language, marketers must cease to behave as the Big Brother of words—and learn to listen and speak to our audiences in the patois they understand.
In this after the dot com world, where viewer verbs are being made of brands, we see big and emerging companies making up words and phrases and then marketing them as cool, when their audiences have no idea what they’re talking about. What’s a HUNGERIFICLICIOUS snack bar, Snickers? Sounds like full-fledged crap to us.
How many times has a brand manager shot off to his agency, “Yes, but what does that sub-head/tag line/descriptor mean!” Your ever helpful account guy explains it, and the explanation makes sense to you, and you get an immediate sense of feeling smarter. So that’s all good.
Well, then the agency repeats this process in ads and with the press and lo/behold, the words appear far/wide. Go a few months and you’re preparing the presentation before a Board. You got the spiffy slides and the confident swagger and you get to the Q&A when one question stops you cold. “How has the impact of this campaign been, then, on sales?”
Ah, sales.
Your audience hadn’t gotten the explanation. They did not understand the language that came from your centralized body.
Look at McDonalds. The Boardrooms in Des Plaines hosted countless meetings (sure they did focus groups) and from these confabs came a global marketing campaign that would cover everything from advertising to tray liners: I’m Lovin’ It. That’s adorable, but this campaign has not made many long for a Mac. Have you traipsed into your local Mickey D’s to check out their latest menu offerings? According to financial results, not quite.
In order to shepherd the devolution of language do this: When asked for an explanation of the language during a marketing spiel, replace what is being explained with explanation. Use plain English – unless you don’t speak English…then use anything plain.
Listen to the audiences without preconceptions. Assume that the words used in your conference rooms only make sense there. Remember that language is influenced by more than mere demographics. Geography plays an important role. For an illustration of this, try ordering pop in the United States that aren’t in the Midwest.
If you get asked for an explanation, and the explanation makes sense, use the explanation and not the language. It’s not our job to hope audiences are smart. Because you know they’re smart…er.