I used to dislike buzz words, believing that they were tools used to support weak/sparse arguements.

While reading the Globe this weekend I came across an article on the London 2012 Olympic logo.

Agreeing with the author’s take on the logo (eww) I found myself taking issue with his assault on a buzz word used by all parties involved, “brand”, simply because he identified it as a buzz word.

I have something to admit: I like buzz words. In fact, I not only like them, I fully support them and believe them to have an important place.

The more I dig into how to best disseminate ideas the more I realize the importance of wielding certain tools, at certain times, to certain audiences.

In a discipline where brevity generally always counts, the use of buzz words can prove a powerful tool. When everyone present shares a common understanding of all that the buzz word encapsulates, you can slash the level of effort needed to communicate elements of the idea.

That’s a wonderful thing.

Of course, like any tool, when misused, the results can be absolutely brutal. I’m increasingly content walking the line as I feel the return justifies the risk. Disagree? Let me know…


COMMENTS / 4 COMMENTS

Well Fraser I think this post was brilliant for your brand. You have managed to synergize so many great thoughts. I mean at the end of the day it’s all about thinking about side the box. If you want to get a win-win in today’s markets that expect value add then it’s important to get on the same page as your readers or else you won’t be customer centric. We can talk about this offline at another point in time.

Leigh added these pithy words on Jun 19 07 at 9:09 am

Leigh, I appreciate that you were able to digest my value proposition. Going forward, however, I’d appreciate if you leveraged the wisdom of the crowd in your comments to benefit from user generated content. [I kid… but when I wrote this post I believed what I wrote. I still do.]

Fraser added these pithy words on Jun 19 07 at 9:32 am

Well Fraser I think this post was brilliant for your brand. You have managed to synergize so many great thoughts. I mean at the end of the day it’s all about thinking about side the box. If you want to get a win-win in today’s markets that expect value add then it’s important to get on the same page as your readers or else you won’t be customer centric.

We can talk about this offline at another point in time.

Leigh added these pithy words on Jun 19 07 at 12:09 pm

Leigh, I appreciate that you were able to digest my value proposition. Going forward, however, I’d appreciate if you leveraged the wisdom of the crowd in your comments to benefit from user generated content.

[I kid… but when I wrote this post I believed what I wrote. I still do.]

Fraser added these pithy words on Jun 19 07 at 12:32 pm

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The Importance Of Buzz Words

Welcome to the conversation.

Hi, I'm Fraser and this is my personal site where I write about the things I'm interested in: start-up strategy, the web, music, and life.

My days are spent commercializing emerging technologies. Currently I'm helping to deliver the promise of semantic web to the consumer market at AdaptiveBlue. Previously I was at Trivaris, a Canadian seed stage investment firm.

I am a co-founder of Innovation Night, a community driven event supporting entrepreneurship in Canadian and US cities.

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