Nick Suckley of Agenda21, one of the agencies doing a panel at the MMF this week, made an interesting observation about the type of language we use in advertising and marketing, that had never occurred to me before. He described it as “war-like” citing terms like “campaigns”, “hits” and “targeting”. I suppose even “banner” harks back to knights of old and the things they fluttered from their lances.

Most intelligent observers of marketing would agree that the way of the future is to enter into conversations with consumers, as opposed to closing with them as if they’re the enemy. But if you think about it, the term most often used for this is to “engage” the consumer or “engagement marketing”. However, even this harks back to engaging the enemy and perhaps sends out the wrong signals.

Maybe we need a new and less adversarial language of marketing. This time to reflect that the consumer is firmly in charge from now on. And that it’s time that the language changed to emphahise authenticity, honesty and transparency - perhaps even courtship. Respect marketing?

Anyone have any ideas?