Gobbledegook gets my goat

If you’ve seen any Ronseal TV ads over the past ten years, it won’t surprise you to know I like plain speaking.

Language is there to communicate. If marketers can’t communicate marketing concepts in language colleagues from other disciplines understand, they will be marginalised and ignored. This may be why two-thirds of marketers have no say on pricing (MW February 6) and are on their way to being commercial eunuchs.

Good marketers can explain complex marketing concepts in language that non-marketers can understand. This isn’t easy – it requires more intelligence to educate than to confuse.

Sadly, the majority of marketers (many of whom would struggle to provide a concise definition of what marketing actually is) do not have this capability and will therefore remain confined within what is rapidly becoming the “chattering class” of the business world.

Ged Shields

Marketing director

Ronseal

Sheffield

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