Hopepunk Nonsense, CMO Nonsense, Letters

                                               

Hopepunk

Hope, 

George Frederick Watts (1817-1904) (and assistants)

Photo Credit: Tate [CC BY-NC-ND]

Anxious about the state of the world? Afraid of ecological apocalypse? Then “hopepunk” could be just the thing.

Young people feel so overwhelmed by the bleakness of their existence that they no longer crave dark dramas, according to a senior BBC executive. Instead, the corporation is embracing a new genre of storytelling that emphasises positivity and kindness and has set aside £150,000 for an audio series to reflect it.

Hopepunk…has been described as “weaponised optimism”, combining gentleness with the fight for social change.

(The Times, 2019)

Should I be anxious about not being anxious? As an American acquaintance once said to me gravely, many years ago: “If you ain’t got a problem you’ve got a serious problem.” He didn’t think it funny when I started laughing.

What top Chief Marketing Officers say

Amanda St L Jobbins, Oracle

The Charlatan, unknown artist

Photo Credit: City of London Corporation [CC BY-NC]

“CMOs have a critical role to play as thought leaders. Marketing now sits at the epicentre of business strategy for an organisation and the customer experience and engagement strategies a company deploys will be the difference between success and failure. Marketing is the only function truly targeted at understanding market dynamics, anticipating trends and thinking about how a company can and should respond. I personally share thought leadership content in the form of stories and insights via Linkedin where I can get instant feedback on how ideas and stories land, and also through speaking engagements and online communities.

The biggest challenge for CMOs is making the time to share, think, write, speak and engage in this way. However, I think we have to see that time as a key part of our role.”

(The Times, 2019)

 Back to school for you, I think. Poor communication skills due to too much gobbledygook. And what is this “customer experience” all about. If I want to buy a pair of socks, I don’t want an “experience”, I just want some socks.

                                    

Iris Meijer, Vodafone Business

“True thought leadership helps to cut through the jargon that’s often associated with the technology sector, and provide a clear and relatable vision for the audience. The CMO is pivotal in driving this, both as a thought leader themselves and by setting an example for the rest of the organisation. At Vodaphone Business, we’ve focused our thought leadership on outcomes and helping customers understand the end result of increasingly important technology decisions. By pushing this forward, I can help pitch thought leadership at the right level and avoid getting too technical too early.”

(The Times, 2019)

I think you’ve caught the “thought leadership” virus. Don’t worry it will eventually become dormant when you seize on some other business jargon buzzwords.

Letters

Sir I am reminded by Matthew Paris (My Week, June 12) that I once asked in a test what was wrong with the sentence: “Because he had trouble with his vision, he visited an optimist.” One smart boy answered: “This should be optometrist, unless he was looking for rose-tinted spectacles.”

(David Craig, Thatcham, Berks, The Times, 2019)


Sir, When testing out her new mobile phone, my mother announced that she was calling me from her “nubile”. This was topped when conducting the regular Sunday lunchtime family quiz, she asked: “How many testicles does an octopus have?”

(Julie Spillane, Stanton-on-the-Wold, Notts, The Times, 2019)