Norway exposes buzzwords that should buzz off

The Norwegian Association of Advertisers (ANFO) closed 2019 by surveying its members to find out which industry buzzwords were starting to grate on them, were felt to be overrated, or overused to the point of diluting their meaning. Participants were asked to select five terms from a list of 44.

‘Influencer marketing’ and ‘sustainability’ tied first place, with 26% of participants choosing them. ‘GDPR’ and ‘big data’ were not far behind, however, securing 25% of voters’ ire each.

The ANFO survey seems to convey more of a love-hate relationship with these terms than outright hatred. Although 44% of advertisers believe that the use of influencers has little marketing effect, 28% of advertisers said that they will soon increase the use of influencers in their media mix. In addition, when the same voters were asked which words would be most important going into 2020, 34% chose ‘sustainability’, acknowledging its importance despite its perceived overuse in current discourse.

Other buzzwords considered important included ‘ROI’ (33%), ‘relevant’ (28%), and ‘brand identity’ (20%).  

For more information, please contact ANFO.