What does "selective" actually mean?
Benno Maggi explains in his column "What does... actually mean?" terms from the field of marketing and communication. This time he shares his thoughts on the term "trennscharf".
Not everything in the industry has become completely clear-cut, just like that. Why is that? The term originated in broadcasting technology. But it would be presumptuous to hold Roger Schawinski responsible for the fact that this word is currently so popular. Even if, thanks to his efforts against the FM switch-off, the 60,000 signatures for a petition were obtained within a very short time, which reminds nostalgics in the industry of the good old 80s. At that time, unlimited budgets could be squandered without separating the results. Instead, the word is experiencing its hype because of the emerging importance of statistics and its language rules within marketing and communications.
In statistics, "selective" means "precisely distinguishable, distinct from other results". In our industry, where ideas for #MeToo campaigns, imagery and media strategies are part of everyday life, this in turn is very much justified.
Despondent instead of innovative
What the common consumers of the various channels are subjected to in the way of uniform advertising and communication mash borders on torture. Whether it's major distributors, banks, insurers, or consumer products - within the respective industries and between the elaborately produced campaigns of the individual competitors, the target groups can hardly tell the difference. Which brand was that again? Doesn't matter. Or not. Unfortunately, it's of little use when, in meetings between client and creator, people talk more and more about not being able to distinguish between what's there and what's not, and by that they actually mean that they're despondent instead of innovative. The word "wishy-washy" used for this purpose in the 1980s was already a clearer distinction between good and bad.
* Benno Maggi is co-founder and CEO of Partner & Partner. He has been eavesdropping on the industry for over 30 years, discovering words and terms for us that can either be used for small talk, pomposity, excitement, playing Scrabble, or just because.
