Thursday, September 18, 2008
Bad Writing, Obtuse Business Jargon and The Super-Fantastic Corporation Confusion Game
When I was a business reporter, a mind-boggling frustration of mine--and every journalist for that matter--was that I had to spend countless hours deciphering the most obtuse corporate speak imaginable. Here these companies were pitching why they should be written about and I couldn't even understand what they did in the most basic sense.
Just take a look on PR Newswire and you'll be inundated with bad messaging. We're "the leading on-demand revenue performance management solutions company..." Actually, they make software that helps companies make financial forecasts. Or try this one, taken from an "About Us" section: ____ "enables unprecedented performance and design benefits with efficient, flexible, easy-to-use digital power IC solutions based on the patented Digital-DC..." I'm not even going to venture a guess; I left my acronym dictionary at home.
Which is why we've developed The Super-Fantastic Corporation Confusion Game. It challenges you to figure out what companies really do based on their own messaging. The companies in the quiz span the spectrum from technology to professional services. Some of them you'll know quite well. Just a word of caution, though: You may want to have an aspirin handy.
Just say what you do already. There's no reason for jargon, ambiguity or corporate speak. And there's certainly no reason for bad writing.
We hope you enjoy the game!
Labels: bad marketing, confusing corporate writing
