Buzzwords...NOT!  Bursting a Hot Air Balloon

By Jon Boroshok

I am a long-time rider on the “no buzz word” bandwagon.  I’d like to share a few useful thoughts from recent PR industry articles:

Using jargon and buzzwords in press releases has always been taboo, but tech companies (especially dot-coms back in days of the Web gold rush) have stooped to new lows as they scramble to create a "buzz" and attract investors or venture capitalists (notice I’m not calling them “VCs”). While such buzzwords and opinionated superlatives are appropriate for advertising, sales, and marketing materials, they are inappropriate for press releases and media pitches.

The media has grown skeptical, cynical, and tired of jargon-crammed releases. Some have installed filters to screen and trash buzzword filled e-mailed press releases.

What triggers media filters and eliminates your press release before it even reaches the media? How about these familiar flagrant fouls (to name a few):

• Leading
• Best
• Solutions
• Robust
• Seamless
• End-to-end
• B2B
• B2C
• Turnkey
• Best-of-breed
• Scalable
• Customer-centric
• Cutting edge
• State-of-the-art
• Mission critical
• First mover
• Best in class
• Customer driven

Even without buzzwords, most press releases contain useless, gratuitous quotes from a ranking company executive. Most are just one company saying something nice about the company they’ve decided to do business with. Gartner Group refers to them as “lame ass quotes” and posts examples from actual releases on their Web site. Consider Exhibit A - can an overworked reporter really be expected to take the time to decipher this quote and determine its newsworthiness? "Our new UltraSeamless Whizbang Software combines ABC's with XYZ's industry-leading policy management solutions, enabling enterprises to seamlessly manage complex customer and partner relationships in an open and scalable manner."

The sheer volume of releases can be as big a problem as the wording. Some companies put out news releases whether they have real news or not. They announce minor partnerships, low-level hires and other trivia. They do it to populate the databases of the world, so their names show up when financial analysts go searching. A marketing executive writing/controlling press releases is a dangerous thing.

Company messages aren't getting through, in part because they’re so cryptic. The media doesn’t have time or patience to sort through empty words in search of news. This is damaging to clients racing to build brand identity and market share. Too many PR agencies and new companies are fast but lazy, resorting to clichés and jargon instead of being intelligent and developing real positioning and a personality.

With over 15 years of experience, Jon Boroshok is a marketing communications and public relations veteran. He is the founder of TechMarcom, Inc. of Westford, MA  (www.TechMarcom.com), an agency/outsource specializing in value-based marketing communications for technology companies. An accomplished strategist and writer, his articles and columns have appeared in The Boston Globe, Crain Communications, Primedia Business Magazines, ZDNet, CMP Publications, East Bay Business Times, Mass High Tech, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, DM News, PRWeek, and more. He has "ghost-written" many articles and white papers on behalf of company executives, and is also an instructor of graduate and undergraduate marketing communications and public relations at Emerson College in Boston. Boroshok has a B.S. in communications from Emerson College and an M.B.A. in marketing from Northeastern University.