I just read on the Word of Mouth vs. Advertising blog a post by George Silverman entitled "What are the standards for judging advertising?" In it he says, constructively, about a good American Express Gold Card TV commercial: "The commercial could be improved by making it clear who the person is talking to and by making the benefits less jargonny and clearer."
All advertising is communication and therefore should include the principles of "O'HUG" Communication (Open, Honest, Upfront, and Good = clear, conspicuous, comprehensive, and completely comprehended). Jargon of any kind can be a double edged sword in effective communication. While it provides succinctness, it can hinder comprehension at times. Some like it, while others don't. This TV advertising probably used the jargon of the target market that American Express was going after versus the mass market. The point should be made that the word "jargon" has four interesting definitions according to Dictionary.com.
But, no matter what definition of "jargon" is the most relative for a specific application, jargon can be entertaining at times, if you have a sense of humor. Since I try to have one about myself, here is the "Web Economy Bullshit Generator" which has some words-jargon that even I use like "brand", "B2B", "channels", and "content". Personally, I think some of the individual word examples are not real "jargon", but joined in a keyword string, they sure sound like "Bullshit Jargon"!
All this thought on "jargon" started with a post from Mike McLaughlin and a comment from Robin on Guerrilla Consulting entitled "Master Consulting Speak--Clip and Save". In explaining about his "Consultant's Jargon Generator" he admits: "Of course, consultants aren't the only ones who can talk a lot without saying anything. Others in the business world are equally guilty, including me at times. But I am trying to mend my ways." The same goes for me, so I will never say that my blog "optimizes a cross-platform market space" even though I'm hoping it does. What does that mean, anyway?
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