Business Jargons for Management Speak

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Business Jargon
Mohit Joshi

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• Above-The-Line Marketing
– ATL is the traditional advertising technique using
specific channels to promote products and services.
This strategy makes use of traditional media like
newspapers, magazines, radio and TV.
• Below-the-Line Promotions
– BTL is a technique using unconventional methods
than the usual mass media to promote products or
services. It typically focuses on direct postal mail or
email promotion, exhibitions, road shows, point-of-
sale activity, targeted at a particular audience to
maximize response rates.

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• Ambush Marketing (Guerrilla)
– It is an unconventional way of doing marketing
promotion on a very low budget. It could be about
gaining from the competitor’s ad-spend without
paying anything for it. For e.g. a promotion campaign
focused on a sporting event sponsored by a
competitor.
• Branchising
– Empowering a company’s regional office to operate
more like franchises. In other words, decentralisation.

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• Cannibalization
– It happens when a new product takes away the sales
from an existing one of the same company. Although
cannibalization is usually undesirable, the profits from
the new product can make up for the costs of its
development and the lost sales.
• Churn rate
– It is the average number of customers who leave a
service or buy another product during a period of one
year.

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• Core competence
– It is defined as the singular capability among a
portfolio of capabilities that can lend the company a
distinctive and sustainable advantage. A core
competence is something a company does especially
well in comparison to its competitors.
• Cold Calling
– It means an uninvited call by a salesman with the
intention of securing an interview leading to the
placing of an order.

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• Concept Testing
– It is about a new product idea being tested for its
acceptability in the market before a prototype is
made. Used as a first stage in screening a new
product concept, the potential benefits are put across
to prospective buyers to get their reactions.
• Beta testing
– Beta testing is a stage in product development where
a product has passed the alpha stage during
development and has been released to selected
users for usability testing before its official release.

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• Critical Mass
– It is the amount of fissile material needed for a
sustained nuclear chain reaction. This term is used
figuratively, as a mass of users sufficient enough to
allow large scale production of a product or service.
(Also called Threshold Level or Tipping Point)
• Demographics
– It is the science of population statistics that is
essential for market research and campaign planning.

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• Key Customer Management
– It is about focussing on few sets of customers to build
a long-lasting relationship. The Pareto Rule states
that only 20% of your customers contribute to 80% of
your revenue.
• Mass Customization
– It is the use of flexible computer-aided manufacturing
systems to produce customised output. These
systems combine the low unit costs of mass
production processes with the flexibility of individual
customization. The famous Dell ‘build-to-order’ model
is a classic example.

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• CRM
– Customer Relationship Management is all about customisation and one-
to-one marketing which involves IT-enabled tools and other database
techniques to build a relationship with the customer.
• ERP
– Enterprise Resource Planning is a management information system that
integrates and automates all the business operations. ERP systems
typically handle manufacturing, logistics, distribution, inventory,
shipping, invoicing, and accounting and can also control other activities
like sales, billing, inventory and HR.
• SCM
– Supply Chain Management deals with supply chain planning process,
which is now automated where software takes care of components like,
demand forecasting, order deadlines, production scheduling, distribution
plan and logistics.

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• FMCG
– It is an acronym for Fast Moving Consumer Goods which is
defined as fast selling, low unit value consumer products
normally in universal demand. This includes categories like
toiletries, cosmetics and other non-durables. Unlike FMCG,
Consumer Durables such as kitchen appliances are generally
replaced once a year.
• SMEs
– Small and Medium-sized Enterprises are companies whose
headcount or turnover fall below certain limits. The current
accepted definition is companies with fewer than 100 employees
as ‘small’, and those with below 1000 employees as ‘medium’.
(SMB, MSME)

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• Gut Feel
– It means a hunch or opinion based upon intuitive grasp of a
situation, arising from experience rather than logical deduction.
• Hedging
– It means negotiation of contractual arrangements to protect a
buyer or seller against changes in price, supply or economic
conditions, which may be to their disadvantage.
• Iceberg Principle
– It is a psychological concept suggesting human personality is
similar to an iceberg, with innate desires hidden deep down
under the surface. Advertisers, feel that influencing people
frequently depends an appealing to less apparent desires.

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• Learning Curve
– Over time, there is a drop in the average per unit production
cost. This is a result of accumulated production experience,
learning and use of the cost-saving methods of production, and
increased skill and competence at carrying out the task.
• Perceived Pricing
– A consumer perceives a price as high, low or fair, in relation to
the perceived or experienced value of the product.
• Stereotype
– A stereotype is a simplified mental picture of an individual or
group of people who share certain characteristic or stereotypical
qualities. The term has a negative connotation and is seen as
undesirable beliefs which need change.

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• White Goods
– This refers to domestic appliances that accomplish some routine
housekeeping task. For e.g. refrigerator, washing machine, air
conditioner, etc.
• Brown Goods
– The term refers to products that include TVs, VCRs,
camcorders, CD players and all other audio products. `Brown
goods' is a reference to early TVs and radios that came
packaged in wooden, wood-coloured plastic or Bakelite cases.
• Retail Therapy
– The term refers to shopping with the primary purpose of improving the
buyer's mood or disposition. Often seen in people during periods of
depression, which is normally a short-lived habit. Items purchased
during this period are sometimes referred to as ‘comfort buys’.

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• Push & Pull Strategy
– Push is a promotional strategy used to increase the sales
through sales promotion that pushes the product through the
distribution channel. The chain is: Producers> Wholesalers>
Retailers> Consumers. Pull is a strategy used to intensify the
sales by building awareness which leads to consumer demand,
in turn the retailers give order to the wholesalers.
• Viral Marketing
– (word-of-mouth) It is the personal communication about a
product between target buyers and their friends, relatives, and
associates. Viral marketing technique passes along the
company’s marketing message to create an exponential growth.

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• ROI
– The Return on Investment or returns is a calculation used to
determine whether a proposed investment is wise and how well
it will repay the investor. (ROE, ROC)
• SEC
– Socio-Economic Classification is the division of a total market
into smaller groups based on sociological, economical or cultural
variables, such as social class, income, religion, nationality,
beliefs, values or customs.
• DINK, YUPPIE, NINJA
– SEC demographic acronyms to indicate “Young Urban
Professional”, “Dual Income, No Kids”, "No Income, No Job and
no Assets"

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• SEO
– Search Engine Optimization is a set of methodologies aimed at
improving the visibility of a website in search engine listings. The
term also refers to an industry of consultants that carry out
optimization projects on behalf of client sites.
• SWOT
– A Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats analysis is
a tool for gathering, analysing, and evaluating information and
identifying strategic options facing an organisation at a given
time.
• USP
– Unique Selling Proposition is an advertising strategy that
focuses on a product or service attribute that is distinctive to a
particular brand and offers an important benefit to the customer.

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Media Basics

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• Advertorial
– It is an Editorial Advertisement which is designed in the form of a
piece of editorial matter. Such advertisements must however, be
clearly labelled ‘advertisement’.
• Beat
– A reporter's topic area. Politics, Law, Education, Health, Sports
are some typical beats. Think of reporters covering their areas
as a cop might walk a beat.
• Broadsheet
– The standard size of most dailies, including the TOI, The Hindu,
Indian Express, DNA etc. Folded in half, it's a Tabloid.

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• Byline
– The name of the writer, appearing at the top of an article. Artists
and photographers typically get credits. When the reporter's
name appears at the end, it often is preceded by a dash and is
called a signer.
• Dateline
– The city or place designation at the beginning of a story. Some
newspapers strictly enforce a rule that the dateline must say
where the reporter was when the story was gathered. A foreign
story gathered by phone at home, then, could run without a
dateline.
• Tagline
– The writer's contact information, typically provided after the story

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• Circulation
– It indicates the number of copies sold for a publication at a given time,
such as one day of a daily newspaper. It is not the same as the number
of readers, as more than one reader generally reads a single copy,
particularly with magazines that have a high pass-along readership.
• ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation)
– Audit Bureau of Circulation is a non-profit circulation-auditing
organization set up by the Press Council of India. The Bureau issues
ABC certificates every six months by computing the net paid sales to
those publishers whose circulation figures are certified by a firm of
approved chartered accountants.
• National Readership Survey (NRS)
– It is one of the largest surveys in the world, with a sample size of over
2,60,000 house-to-house interviews to track the media exposure, the
estimated readership of publications and the changing consumer trends.

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• Embargo
– The time until when some news cannot be released. Sometimes
there may be a restriction on when news can be released to the
public. Breaking an embargo -- reporting information early -- may
cause sources to be less willing to release news the next time.
• Inverted pyramid
– This term describes the structure of a news story which has the
essential and most interesting elements of the story loaded on
the top, with supporting information following in order of
diminishing importance.
• Pagination
– The act of creating a page on a computer screen.

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• Media Planning
– It outlines how advertising time and space in various media will
be booked in advance to achieve the marketing objectives of the
company.
• Masthead
– An area of a publication with its name, details of ownership, and
other information. It usually appears on the editorial or contents
pages, not atop page one. The title's name atop page one is
called the flag, logo, or nameplate.
• Op-Ed
– Some think it to be 'Opinionated Editorial', but is just 'Opposite of
the editorial page'. Usually contain columns and guest
viewpoints.

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• Quote
– The words of an important person in a reporter's story. It
indicates that the reporter has taken the facts from a relevant
source and has not cooked up a story.
• Paraphrase
– To summarize or rewrite a quote in your own words.
Paraphrasing should not have quote marks.
• Post-mortem
– A review of a TV production or the previous day print edition. It’s
a critique; usually focusing on what worked, what didn’t, lessons
learned and practices to be instituted for the next edition.

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• Reliable source
– The most loved word among journos that indicates anyone right
from their rumour monger friend in the stock market to a highly
placed govt official.
• Scoop
– As a noun, 'a story no one else has'; as a verb, 'to do it to the
competition'.
• Slug
– An internal name for a story, usually a one or two-word name
used to refer to a report. ‘Elex’ might be the slug word for a story
on the upcoming elections.

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• Teaser
– Usually found in print publications. Typically a graphical element
that hypes up a story somewhere else in the publication.
• TRP (Television Rating Points)
– These monthly reports give data of frequency of viewing and
overlapping of viewership amongst TV programmes. One TRP is
equal to 1% of TV audience which has now become the
currency for buying and selling air time.
• Technical Writing
– It is a style of formal writing that is used in technical fields where
the writers try to explain complex ideas to technical as well as
non-technical audiences.

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• Widow
– A short line or a single word of text left at the top of a column.
Computerized typesetting makes them far more common than a
fussy page makeup person would have tolerated.
• White Paper
– A document written in essay style that provides an in-depth
analysis of a technology, trend, product or process. White
papers are predominantly informational rather than promotional
material.
• Yellow journalism
– It is a type of journalism that downplays legitimate news in favour
of eye-catching headlines that sell more newspapers. It may
feature exaggerations of news events, scandal-mongering,
sensationalism, or unprofessional practices.

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• Ad lib
– Usually spontaneous, unscripted talking by the TV host about a subject when the producer
needs to fill extra time
• Cross-scripting
– It is writing or talking about one thing while showing another. Talking about a criminal while
showing a picture of the victim is bad cross-scripting.
• Dead air
– Just meaning silence which is a crime in TV or radio. Doordarshan exempted!
• Factoid
– Slang for a graphic with a kernel of information written on it. Remember the ‘Extra Shots’
during a Sony SETMAX movie show…
• Idiot cards
– Simply cue cards…You see them on talk shows, but not on news shows anymore. News
uses autocue.
• Rough cut
– Means a first-draft edit. Editorial types screen a rough cut and suggest changes. You rarely
get a chance to do rough cuts in daily news.