“Let’s think outside the box.”
“We need to optimise our first mover advantage.”
“In the court of public opinion.”
“Cut-through and engagement.”
"Pushing the envelope"

What excellent nonsense. This is the art of stating the seemingly obvious in language that ensures that everyone misses the point. And it’s not easy – in fact it’s very challenging to use such nonsensical words and sentences.

Is this just a characteristic of the marketing profession? I doubt it but as a marketing professional I want to help clean up our act.

Why? Because even though marketing is vital to the success of any business, I think that as a profession we already have a poor reputation. It’s distrusted by the board. It’s seen as an expense rather than an investment. And when times get tough it’s usually one of the first budgets to get cut.

So why do we exacerbate an already poor reputation and continue to use such ludicrous words and expressions in our jobs? Why do we continue to mystify and baffle our clients? And why do I find myself writing this article?

Some will use this language because they think it makes them look good. Others will use it as they think it will impress their clients. But I think a lot of it can be explained by ignorance.

Ask yourself this question: what are the barriers to entry of setting up as a marketing consultant or agency? The answer is that the barriers to entry are none existent which means that virtually anyone can set up a marketing business.

And while it helps to be a member of a professional body there are no pre-qualification criteria. You don’t even need to have had any experience. Would you expect a lawyer to offer you advice without any qualifications? Would you like to go under the surgeon’s knife when they’ve not even seen the bloody end of a scalpel before?

I thought not. And while marketing is not literally life and death, it is vital to the existence and success of any business.

So what’s to be done? Could one of the professional bodies take more of a role or even introduce regulation? Probably. But we as marketers have a responsibility to weed out the pretenders ourselves by asking some fundamental questions when looking to engage.

So the next time you hear excellent nonsense please have the sense to consign it to where it belongs – in the bin.