I just got pulled into an impromptu meeting. It involved two account people and a whiteboard, so I knew I was in trouble.
"We need you to look at this. We're talking about 2012 planning."
I looked at the words on the board. Technically I guess you could say I "knew" all of the words. It's not like they were written in some foreign language where they put slanted lines through the Os.
But I didn't, I'll admit, understand a thing that was written.
A very sweet account person took me through the Mandarin, character by indecipherable character.
"What do you think," she asked.
"It's fine, I guess," I said. "Where does the part come in that says we need to write commercials."
"Oh," she laughed. "This is planning. It's so we can discuss what we need to do next year."
"I see," I lied.
"We should have a plan in place by the end to 2011 that will lead our discussions for 2012."
"Now we need to assign people to these tasks," said another account person.
"You don't need me for that," I said and I escaped from the room.
3 comments:
George,
Step into a more civilised world for 5 minutes: http://www.ben-kay.com/2011/11/david-abbott-on-independent-bookshops/
What eloquence, Dave. I was born in the era and, I think, the wrong nation...
George - this is why creative folks get treated like children. I know what you mean, I expect the language on the board was something like:
"formulate consumer platform, audience metrics and media context"
Right?
Well, as someone who at the end of the day should care about how, when and why all the brain power you spend on ideas actually earns you money, you dismiss this exercise and the "jargon" at your peril.
If it's about vague word choice, then help the young account people. If it's legitimately an issue of you being CONFUSED, then perhaps its time for brushing up on the nomenclature your clients and their constituents use every day.
It's banal, yes - but that's why they pay you to do it.
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