When did all of the US suddenly fall in love with the word “disingenuous?” Politicians are the worst, of course (aren’t they always?), but this unusual word seems to be making its way into our daily parlance.

More importantly, perhaps, is when did people start thinking that everybody knows what it means?

For the record, dictionary.com tells us that disingenuous means “insincere and often seems to be a synonym of cynical or calculating. Not surprisingly, the word is often used in political context.”

So, why don’t we just say “insincere?”

Be honest. How many of you knew what the word meant the first time you heard a politico stand up and emphatically state “I think it’s disingenuous of my opponent to say …?” And yet, you hear it every day … especially during election times.

We in marketing and public relations need to be constantly on guard and constantly ready to help our clients speak to the issues in clear, concise, easily understood terms. Just as we advise our clients to avoid business jargon when talking to the public, so should we use our professional expertise to counsel them away from impressive sounding but often misunderstood language.

To do anything else would be, well, disingenuous of us!

Johnson Direct, LLC

800-710-2750

The comments expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of Johnson Direct, LLC.

The other day my cubicle neighbor, Jody Smith, leaned across the three-foot “corridor” that separates our work stations with an astute observation: “What the heck are we emailing each other for?” Good point. What is that space between us, anyway? A moat filled with alligators?

For all the technological advantages we have available to us today, none can replace good old personal interaction. Email leaves much to the interpretation of the reader, which can be deadly when communicating among colleagues. And, sadly, some people tend to hide behind emails, rather than dealing with another human being directly.

What do we have against communicating with each other? If you really want to see an example of human mis-interaction, get on an elevator. Look at how people stare at the little lightboard that visually counts off each passing floor. Goodness knows, we wouldn’t want to have to actually talk to or look at one another!

Having had my first (and hopefully only) heart attack recently, I’m now a religious walker (too bad I didn’t listen to my doctor about that same topic ten years ago). And now I’m going to do it to communicate with my office-mates, as well. Gone will be the days of sending off what I consider to be important emails, and then wondering why my colleague doesn’t respond. Did I do something to irritate him? Was my message stupid? Did I inadvertently write a double entendre and offend him? Oops, no – turns out he’s out of the office.

Get up. Get some exercise. Communicate!

Johnson Direct LLC
800.710.2750

The comments expressed are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official opinions of Johnson Direct, LLC.

Measurement. It’s often lost when it comes to adverting/marketing/communications. Why? Because it takes work and many advertising pros can’t deal with failure very well.

Like most things in life, failure is not a bad thing as long as you can learn from it. If you are not failing once in awhile, then you are not pushing the envelope and you are likely settling for status quo.

Today, my real question is how do you measure your marketing communications? It’s imperative to do so today. Ask the guy/gal in the corner office with the best view. They know that marketing today is a profit/loss function. They need to understand what’s working and what is not in this uber-competitive, over-communicated world.

The web has made measurement of your advertising/communications very real.

I hope to hear from you soon

Grant A. Johnson
Johnson Direct LLC
800.710.2750 toll-free

If you were to spend $2.6 million for a 30-second advertisement … and it didn’t sell any product, would you be happy?

We’re guessing “No.”

Once again, the Super Bowl ads were cute and funny (sort of) … but I’ll bet not one of them made anybody say “Wow, I’ve got to go out and buy that product!” or change their buying habits (although some might be less inclined to buy a Snicker bar now).

The reason? As I frequently say: “Killer Creative Rarely Works!”  Remember the “wonderful” Mean Joe Greene Coca-Cola commercial? A classic! We all remember it because it made us all tear up! And sales went down! When are companies and their agencies going to wake up?

Sometimes you just have to “ugly” down your creative and concentrate on remembering what works … the basics!

Grant A. Johnson
Johnson Direct LLC
800.710.2750 toll-free