A part of our job as entrepreneurs is to make individuals see issues in a different way. Typically this entails framing current ideas in new methods (take the startup world’s invention of the time period Growth Hacker or Ogilvy & Mather’s good Diamond Shreddies marketing campaign).
And generally it entails making stuff up. Like new phrases, for instance.
Many of those new phrases are what’s generally known as a portmanteau, a phrase that mixes two current phrases in an effort to clarify a model new idea. Some portmanteaus, similar to smog (smoke + fog) or brunch (breakfast + lunch), have been round so lengthy it’s straightforward to neglect the place they got here from.
Portmanteaus run the gamut from helpful to completely foolish (jeggings, anybody?). However as ridiculous as some may sound, on the earth of on-line advertising and marketing, these phrases will help us make sense of a quickly evolving panorama. Or just make for an excellent chortle.
Listed here are a couple of of the most effective and funniest portmanteaus in advertising and marketing at the moment:
1. Thighvertising = Thighs + Promoting
Huge in Japan, “thighvertising” refers to utilizing the human physique (particularly, the higher thighs) to promote a product. Below the scheme, advertisers can use premium billboard area (usually a lady’s legs) to showcase their model identify or brand throughout city.
An identical guerrilla promoting approach was utilized by New Zealand retailer Superette. With a purpose to promote a sale on shorty shorts, the boutique put indented plates onto public benches and bus stops.
When individuals sat down, the message was imprinted onto the again of their thighs, successfully turning them into strolling billboards for the shop.
2. Blogebrity = Weblog + Celeb
A blogebrity is a sort of web celeb made well-known by means of his or her running a blog actions. Assume Perez Hilton or YouTube persona Jenna Marbles.
Blogebrities will be ranked based mostly on reputation and affect and, like precise celebrities, may even be categorized as A-List right down to D-List based mostly on these metrics.
By the way, “weblog” is itself a portmanteau of the phrases “net” and “log,” so it’s becoming that so many new phrases stem from it, together with a time period closely-related to the blogebrity phenomenon: Blogosphere (net+log+sphere). Name it the Russian dolls of portmanteaus.
3. Masstige = Mass + Status
Masstige might sound like a reputation for a elaborate canine breed, however in truth the time period has very particular advertising and marketing roots.
A kind of downward model extension, masstige refers to prestigious merchandise designed to be offered to the lots. The idea has actually taken off lately, with corporations like Pottery Barn and Bathtub & Physique Works promoting luxurious items at attainable worth factors.
Automobile corporations, too, are huge practitioners of masstige. Lexus, as an example, has seen nice success with its GS sequence of mid-luxury class automobiles which have been touted as a extra reasonably priced different to the Mercedes-Benz E-Class.
As a result of they occupy the spot between mass and sophistication, masstigious (yup, I simply wrote that) merchandise are typically costlier than related gadgets of their market, however are nonetheless typically reasonably priced and all the time available – in contrast to luxurious items that thrive on shortage and exclusivity.
4. Listicle = Listing + Article
Right here’s one other enjoyable little portmanteau that you just’ve in all probability encountered quite a bit. A listicle is an inventory disguised as an article… or is it an article disguised as an inventory?
Both means, it’s a standard function in on-line magazines and blogs, the place bounce charges are excessive and bullet-points are the simplest means of getting info throughout.
Listicles even have the additional benefit of attention-grabbing headlines (Prime 10 Causes To Do X, Y, and Z) and are straightforward to jot down; there’s no want to fret about transitions, sequencing or pacing – all the data is introduced proper there in entrance of you, in an easy-to-digest checklist format.
Not in contrast to this very publish.
An identical, and even stupider sounding, portmanteau is charticle, an article within the type of a chart that’s higher generally known as an infographic.
5. Advertainment = Commercial + Leisure
Nowadays, it’s now not sufficient for an advert simply to carry our consideration. As customers, we now have to be engaged, inspired and, above all, entertained.
That’s why everybody’s speaking about advertainment. Keep in mind when thousands and thousands of individuals watched in awe as Felix Baumgartner broke the sound barrier whereas skydiving from the stratosphere? That was advertainment, made possible by Red Bull.
In the same vein, because the early 2000s, BMW has put out a number of 10-minute lengthy movies that mix plot and product placement, with a outcome that feels extra like a mini movie than an advert.
6. Fictomercial = Fiction + Business
Like advertainment, a fictomercial is a mix of product placement and leisure, solely on this case the product in query is marketed in a novel or quick story.
The primary instance of a fictomercial will be present in Fay Weldon’s 2001 novel The Bulgari Connection, which options heavy-handed references to the luxurious jeweller all through – for which Weldon was handsomely compensated.
Firms that fee fictomercials usually have a set variety of instances a product identify should be talked about, in addition to strict pointers for the context through which it may be mentioned.
Regardless of the medium, it’s a tough activity attempting to promote a product by means of fiction with out shedding readership, and that’s precisely what makes this humorous little portmanteau so fascinating.
7. Cocacolonization = Coca-Cola + Colonization
This portmanteau certain is a tongue-twister. Cocacolonization refers to a franchise or model going world.
The time period is definitely under no circumstances new. It’s been round because the Fifties and gained steam through the Cold War. In the present day it’s come to seek advice from the method of westernization usually, not simply the unfold of Coca-Cola (which, it must be famous, has been fairly profitable; Coke is presently offered in all however two nations, Cuba and North Korea).
8. Badvertising = Unhealthy + Promoting
This phrase could also be new however the concept behind it certain isn’t. See a very obnoxious, flashy or offensive advert? Have to be a product of badvertising. Some adverts are insensitive, some are annoying, and lots of are just plain bad.
They could achieve getting your consideration, nevertheless it’s for all of the flawed causes. Manufacturers responsible of badvertising might have made a false declare, a questionable joke or maybe they simply lack taste.
The flipside of badvertising is the aptly named radvertising. These adverts are so unhealthy they’re good – stuffed with tongue-in-cheek puns and popular culture references. Typically being unhealthy will be fairly… rad.
9. Subvertising = Subversive + Promoting
Subvertising refers to political statements masked as adverts which are usually satirical in nature. Also referred to as a meme hack, the most effective subvertisements take a look at first look like a traditional advert, however the caption or picture makes viewers do a double-take.
This sort of cognitive dissonance (anticipating to see one factor and being confronted with one other) is an efficient means of getting a robust message throughout, so it’s not stunning that subvertisements are inclined to convey a robust, controversial concept, usually satirizing the identical firm they’re mimicking.
An excellent instance of subvertising will be discovered within the work of an nameless avenue artist in Hamburg, Germany, who pasted photographs of Photoshop toolbars onto a number of (closely Photoshopped) billboards for H&M.
Whereas there’s absolutely little question within the thoughts of anybody who views the adverts as to whether or not they’ve been altered, the faux toolbar helps the unknown artist ship a robust message about requirements of magnificence in promoting.
10. Catvertising = Cats + Promoting
Final however definitely not least, we now have one of the crucial pervasive (and efficient!) advertising and marketing portmanteaus to enter our lexicon… Catvertisting.
Sure, that’s a mixture of cats and promoting. How does such a method work you may ask? It’s easy: Simply add cats.
Thus far catvertising exists primarily within the type of spoof and parody, however entrepreneurs are heading in the right direction. In any case, Grumpy Cat has her personal line of merchandise, together with t-shirts and mugs, in addition to an agent.
Maru, well-known for his timeless love of bins, has his personal guide deal and Lil Bub has her personal net sequence.
So whereas catvertising exists at the moment as a humorous jab at conventional promoting methods, it’s solely a matter of time earlier than extra entrepreneurs acknowledge the promoting energy that our feline companions maintain of their paws.
Which advertising and marketing portmanteaus make you chortle/cringe? Share your favorites and least favorites within the feedback!