Here’s a quote, lifted directly from an article about digital marketing:
‘As the consumer shift to mobile continues, the ability to measure and understand the cross-device consumer journey becomes a critical factor for advertisers and will increasingly influence digital media investment’
Did you – in an instant – understand what’s being said?
Here’s my translation:
‘More people view adverts on their phones than on a desktop computer or laptop. If we can work out how many are doing this, how often, and at which times of day, more companies will be certain of putting their money into digital marketing’
I see this happening more and more often: a CEO or Digital Marketing Director will be interviewed for a magazine article or blog post, invited to speak at a seminar, or will provide content for their own company’s website… and they’ll proceed to talk in riddles.
It’s as if, rather than trying to communicate clearly, they’re looking to impress other CEOs and Marketing Directors with how convoluted they can make the most simple things sound. It seems to have become a coveted skill to talk in a way that’s almost incomprehensible, so that – bizarrely – you come across like you know what you’re talking about.
When did this happen?
Why did it happen?
Surely, the more people you’re understood by (particularly as you work your way into senior positions), the better – more people can stand/sit there, in awe, saying; ‘this person really knows their stuff’.
But it seems that the higher people go within a company, the harder it is for them to communicate in simple terms, or …. the complete opposite happens: industry leaders start passing off the most basic, obvious advice as expert opinion.
If I had a pound for every time I’d seen a ‘profound’ comment (often placed on a pretty background) from a CEO/Director/’guru’, such as ‘keep moving forward’ …
It would appear that there’s no happy medium between convoluted nonsense, and the bleedin’ obvious.
Is there any hope of this changing?