Design and Marketing Dictionary

Endorsed brands (Sub-brands)

Product or service brand name dominated by the family major brand, i.e. Nestle KitKat. This support by an “umbrella” brand name adds credibility and value.

Deceptive advertising (False advertising)

The practice of using incomplete or misleading information in the adverts, i.e. providers of services that do not inform customers about some surcharges in the price that is announced in an advertisement, i.e. air fair with undisclosed air charges.

See also: Counterfeit goods, Case rate

Body text (Body copy)

Main block of text within advertisement which is apart from headlines, logo, pictures to the ad, etc., i.e. the explanation of it about the product and/ or offer. Usually it is kept brief and short, though main criteria is that it should be convincing and sell well.

DAGMAR

The situation of setting objectives within an advertising campaign of any kind in a way that makes it possible for the constituent goals to be measured and analyzed. DAGMAR is actually an abbreviation of “Defining Advertising Goals for Measured Advertising Results”.

See also: British Codes of Advertising and Sales Promotion, Decentralized organizational structure of advertising

Advertising Value Equivalent (AVE)

PR tool that is used to measure the efficiency of news copy over advertising. AVE usually gives account for the range of reach required, also type of target audience, and then compare them with the cost for certain correspondent space, positioning and budget for as advertising.

Brand positioning

The distinction of value and status that a brand carries within its category. This positioning ensures that customers and prospects from the brand’s target market can distinguish it from its competitors. The successful strategy for Brand positioning should involve varied and well studied elements, integrated in accordance with the image of the brand and the company’s business objectives.

See also: Brand competition, Product positioning

Soft launch (Beta testing)

Initial release of a product or service to a limited audience in order to test new product/ service viability as well as to obtain feedback and response from users/ customers. Used widely by the marketers for such as websites, software products and mobile applications.

See also: Launch, Early adopters, Lean marketing

Marketing leads

Marketing leads are generated through a particular offer, i.e. from a brand’s advertiser. Unlike Sales leads, contact lists of Marketing leads could not be sold and hired more than once.

Royalty revenue

Payments owed by users of intellectual property to the legal owner of it. Patented products, copyrighted works and franchises are usually explicitly subjected to royalties. Contracts could be negotiated into various terms and conditions though it is common that Royalty revenues are agreed based on a certain percentage of income that is obtained using the given property.

See also: Licensing, Super distribution, Stock music, Needledrop

Sales leads

Contacts of potential customers (companies or individuals) that businesses obtain through various marketing initiatives, i.e. special events, consumer contests, call-to-action campaigns, etc. Contacts could be purchased or hired from contact lists providers in order to send out their offers and follow up the feedback from good prospects that are likely to do a purchase and turn into sales. Unlike Marketing leads, Sales leads could be sold, resold and/ or rented by companies multiple times.
Selection of potential Sales leads is based on demographic and socio-economic data (sector, location, age, occupation, gender, etc.)
It is considered a good result if 5-10% of all leads convert to customers at the end of the sales leads funnel.

See also: Leads, Qualified leads

Brand licensing

Indirect marketing technique – a contract between an owner of a brand (licensor) and a company or an organization that markets certain product and/or service (licensee). The licensor extends his brand presence or obtains fixed royalty revenues while Licensee’s party is enabled to employ the associations with the brand (Brand associations) for his own purposes, accelerating reach of consumer segments efficiently.

Minimum Viable Product (MVP)

A new product development technique for startups, hi-tech products, web application, and others that became popular after 2008 with the posts from Eric Ries – a famous startup entrepreneur and author of the book “The Lean Startup”.

MVP is providing an initial version or prototypes of a new product (service, experience) with a minimum set of features, aimed at a minimal target of possible customers who are known to grasp novelties even from an early prototype (early adopters) and who are meant to provide feedback for further developments. The process of prototyping continues until the new product crystallizes and fits to the market based on the findings from feedback, learning and testing of the early versions.

Flight or “Wave”

The term in media planning indicating the active segments of delivering ad messages within an advertising campaign when periods of activity and inactivity succeed one another, i.e. when the advertising campaign follow Flighting or Pulsing.

See also: Drop

Topple rate (Decrepitude rate)

Global phenomenon that is being attributed mainly to technology developments and fast paced business competition. It is the rate at which industries loose their leading positions over certain periods of years. For example, “midrange” computer industry that became extinct gradually within 20 years between 1970s and 1990s, i.e. Topple rate at this case is about 20 years. It is said that the occurrence of such effect is healthy within advancing economies.

Brand attributes (Brand associations)

Rational and/or emotional associations entailed to a brand by its customers and potential buyers. They can be favourable or unfavorable; tangible or intangible; positive or negative and also can have varying extends of relevance and significance within the different consumer groups and customer segments. Brand attributes originate from customer experiences and should correspond to the specifics of brand positioning and differentiation in a category.

See also: Brand pyramid, Brand architecture, Brand equity

Counterfeit goods (Fake goods)

Counterfeit goods are products offered to the market from a manufacturer under the brand name of another company without the permission of the original owners. Counterfeit goods could carry fully identical or copied with indistinguishable differences trademarks that belong to the original products. Their quality is always poor. The practice of producing and selling Counterfeit goods is illegal and punishable by criminal and civil laws. Depending on the type of product put in this vicious practice, counterfeiting could be highly harmful to consumers (i.e. counterfeit baby food, medications, nutrients, cosmetics). It also damages brand owners’ reputation, retailers of the original products as well as local economies with loss of custom tax and duties.

Sales funnel

Visual framework that illustrates the sales process in every stage and helps marketing and sales managers in measuring opportunities and planning various campaigns. If the Sales funnel is properly set up according the specifics of a business and the right metrics, its model would successfully provide structured reports and distinguish between monotonous data.

Brand awareness

The extend of recalling a particular brand and considering its existence on the market as available products to purchase or services to use. Brand awareness is common in measuring marketing communications effectiveness and main priority in marketing efforts.

See also: Brand share, Awareness set

Drop

The term used by media planners to indicate the inactive time segments when the delivery of messages cease according to the scheduling. Usually such periods take turns in scheduling with Flighting and Pulsing.

See also: Flight

Classification merchandising

Splitting already specified category departments into smaller comprising sub-categories in order to keep a narrower track on various data like preference trends and sales performances, inventory planning, etc. – for example Top Sweaters further classified into Blouses, Jackets, Sweatshirts. Its application is appropriate for small retailers as well as large department stores and chains.

Commoditization

Pricing strategy seeking to deploy standard and cheap technology of production, thus diminishing the differentiation between the manufactured goods. In such situation consumers loose motivation to pay premiums on quality brands since they are offered only look-a-like products and are left to make their choices only on the price.

Retail Fashion merchandisers

Agents and employees occupied in Fashion industry who are responsible for final distribution of the fashion products. Retail merchandiser’s task is to reach out target markets, i.e. kid’s stores (for children’s clothing), department stores, discounters, etc. The job requires keeping touch with the buying teams from stores in order to track and forecast consumer trends, inventory levels and sales performance. Retail merchandisers are presenting fashion items within the stores.

Digital Darwinism

The evolution of consumer behavior when society and technologies develop faster than the ability of consumers and businesses to adapt.

Lean marketing (Startup marketing)

Agile marketing methodology promoted by Eric Ries’s “The Lean Startup” that evades the traditional waterfall processes of briefing, planning, designing, approving, testing and launching thus leading marketing steps faster ahead and starting a new product into much shorter marketing cycles than the usual ones in the traditional processing.

Leads

Prospective customers or businesses of certain product or a service from a company. The various marketing efforts (online and/or offline) that are performed in order to generate interest, and eventually, an inquiry (sending a form) about the company’s product or service is referred to as “Lead generation”. As a result of properly conducted Lead generation businesses obtain some explicit information about their prospects which generally remains fresh for a certain period of time and could serve as a base for the process of generating leads to become a continuous effort, resulting to successful sales.

See also: Qualified leads

Soft goods (Consumable goods)

Non-durable goods completely consumed out in one’s usage over some period of time, usually defined to span for less than 3 years. Besides specific usage, soft goods move faster on the market than hard goods.

Qualified leads

Customers with high potential for a purchasing decision, i.e. leads corresponding to the assessment of fit based on explicit information and/ or collected data (occupation/ age/ gender; sector/ budget/ location), and show certain engagement – for example that respond to a teaser campaign.

Early adopters (Light-house customers)

Individuals or companies that purchase and use new products and technologies before other customers do. Early adopters are usually ready to pay more for a new product and obtain certain advantages, such as improved efficiency, optimized costs, sophisticated company image, etc. On the other hand, early adopters’ feedback about the new product’s deficiencies, subsets of features and its market fit is essential for the innovation companies as well as their higher solvency with the ability to cover significant shares of the new development costs.

Production Fashion merchandisers

Executive managers in Fashion industry who are running workflows and timings of production processes in manufacturing the fashion products. Usually Fashion merchandisers who are responsible for the Production take also Quality control which is key operation in overall Fashion merchandising. Strong organizational skills, supervising capabilities and high attention for details are essential at this level of processing here.

See also: Fashion merchandisers, Sourcing Fashion merchandisers, Retail Fashion merchandisers

Pulsing (Pulse scheduling)

In media planning, the combination between the other 2 methods of strategic scheduling that are basic – Continuous pattern and Flighting. Pulsing is applied for products and services that are regularly at sales but have some seasonal specifics and require emphasis over some period, for example clothing and car insurances.

See also: Continuous pattern, Flighting, Continuity, Flight