Lexicon

Astroturfing: A form of deliberate manipulation of public opinion, astroturfing refers to a massive number of people posing as advocates for a specific cause or product, usually prompted by those responsible for marketing or political campaigns.
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Avatar: The persona a Web user creates to participate in a virtual world, such as Second Life. In most cases an avatar's appearance can be created and then changed as desired. Avatars communicate with one another within virtual spaces via simultaneous text and/or speech.
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Banner ad: An online promotional advertisement, typically rectangular in size, analogous to a print advertisement. Clicking on a banner ad generally takes the viewer to the sponsor company's Web site. The two primary types of banner ads are display, which is static in nature, and rich media, which allows user interaction.
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Blog: Originating from the phrase “Web log,” much like a captain's log, most blogs are akin to personal journals or diaries. Other blogs may be more like magazine columns, editorial in nature and focus on a particular area of interest such as politics, sports technology, culture or business. The term also refers to Web sites that feature personal thoughts or musings on various subjects. A blog can contain the ideas or opinions of any person (or organization) who wants to share these ideas or opinions with others. Terms like “vlog” (video Web log), “moblog” (mobile web log) and “flog” (fake blog, in which the writer masks his or her true identity), tend to crop up in media analysis of online trends.
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Branded content: This refers to the integration of a branded message product with entertainment or informational content. This content can be in the form of words, music, short films or animation, or even games. To be valuable, the key attributes of the brand must fit unobtrusively into the story line or content.
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Content management: This refers to the management of information on a Web site. A content management strategy is the plan by which an organization determines which information is required for its site, how often the information should be updated, how it should be edited, how long it should remain on the site and how or whether users can contribute to the site. A content management system is the system software that is developed to manage the process of creating, updating, approving and posting information on the site.
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Flash: This is a set of multimedia technologies developed by Adobe Systems which is used to add animation and interactivity to Web sites or advertisements. Flash is one of the techniques for creating “rich media,” media that is interactive or more compelling than static content in some engaging way.
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Forum: This refers to an online venue in which participants can offer input or opinions on a particular topic. Brand organizations often monitor online forums to listen to what is being said about the brand.
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Gaming: Much as it sounds, this is the use of interactive games as a branding tactic. Many games utilize Flash applications to make them more compelling. Most games require multiple user involvement as this increases pass-along potential and raises awareness of a product or service more quickly.
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Information architecture: This is the navigational structure of a Web site: the layout and flow of information. It's the discipline of determining the best and most brand-appropriate way to present information so that it meets user needs and expectations. Information architecture is a template that portrays how a user will move through the site, how many pages the site will have and how users will link from one page to the next. It shows how many elements appear on each page of the site and prioritizes the importance of the information and, thus, its placement on an individual page and within each section of the site.
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Long tail: This is a phrase coined by Chris Anderson in an article in the October 2004 issue of Wired magazine. The “long tail” refers to the way online commerce and culture has changed the distribution curve of products and services. As a result of Internet dynamics, products or services with low demand or sales volume can now collectively comprise a market that exceeds the best sellers at the “head” of the market. The Internet provides enormous opportunities for smart niche organizations to capitalize on buying behavior of fragmented market groups.
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Mash-up: This term originally referred to the combination of two audio or video entities to create a new entity. For example, when the disc jockey, Danger Mouse, combined Jay-Z's Black Album with the Beatles' White Album to create the Grey Album he created a mash-up. The term now covers a broader array of “mashing” two elements together (often copyrighted material) to create a newly configured idea, generally in the form of advertising communications. A consumer who takes an existing television advertisement and changes the music or images in some way has created a mash-up. However, the term is also used to describe a Web page or application that integrates elements from difference sources such as Flash Earth (a zoom-able mash-up of Google Maps and Microsoft's Virtual Earth, Yahoo! Maps, Ask.com or NASA Terra).
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On-demand: This is the ability for consumers to download content from the television or any other media when they want it.
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Podcast: This refers to an audio file downloaded from a Web site. This file can be played on demand using an iPod or any other MP3 player.
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QR Codes: The “QR” in this term refers to quick response. Much like the one pictured here, it is similar to the UPC code found on grocery and other retail items which are scanned at the cash register. QR codes found on products can be read by cell phones and will directed to branded Web pages to give the user more information. While not widespread in the United States, almost every cell phone produced in Japan has the ability to read and recognize QR codes and, as such, plays an integral part in marketing and branding strategies. Consumers can scan these codes with their cell phones and get information on events and promotions, reviews, and detailed product information.
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RSS: This is a cold acronym for the friendly term “really simple syndication.” It refers to the immediate digital delivery of information from a syndicated source, like a news, magazine, or industry site, to another site.
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Search engine marketing: This refers to all of the activities designed and implemented to improve the user experience relative to online search referrals and results.
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Search engine optimization (SEO): This refers to the strategies and techniques used to optimize a user's online search referrals and results. It is the assessment of a Web site's design, content and information to ensure that search engines such as Google, Yahoo! or Ask.com can pull up the most relevant information possible for those searching for something online. There are two subsets to SEO: “paid” search, which refers to service and product advertising which is paid for by the advertiser and appears in search results as a result of “key words” being bought by the advertiser, and “natural” search, which refers to the free results which come about as a search engine picks up words naturally in its perusal of the Web.
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Second Life®: Second Life is a 3D virtual world developed by Linden Lab inhabited by online avatars or “Residents” – personas created by users of the site. Since opening to the public in 2003, its popularity has grown exponentially and it is inhabited by millions of Residents from around the globe. Many companies have created marketing initiatives within Second Life, including Adidas, MTV, Reuters, CBS, Harvard University, Coca-Cola and Colgate. The site can be found at www.secondlife.com.
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Sniffer: This refers to computer hardware or software that has the ability to intercept and log traffic passing over a digital network. It is typically used to monitor network performance or troubleshoot problems with network communications.
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Social media optimization: This refers to the generation of publicity by involving social networks. Methods of social media optimization include RSS feeds, blogs, incorporating third-party entities such as Flickr, a photography site and YouTube. Social media optimization is a form of viral marketing where word of mouth is generated through virtual networking.
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Social networks: Online sites such as MySpace, Facebook, and LinkedIn, on which like-minded people gather virtually to share their cultural and educational interests, their resumes, their political views, and their opinions of products and services, along with information about their lives, in general.
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Twitter: This is a free online service that allows friends, family and co-workers to stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. It has been incorporated as a widget on Facebook, the iPhone and other interactive media devices.
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User-generated content or video (UGC,UGV): Any information created by consumers rather than marketers in response to a product or service. It includes product reviews, advertising and videos. A number of marketers have used UGC as a branding tactic with mixed success.
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Viral marketing: This refers to the quick distribution of branded messages online, either as part of a planned marketing campaign or as something that occurs spontaneously as a result of content's inherent pass-along value (viewers find it worth sharing with others for a variety of reasons). Viral marketing may take the form of video, emails, interactive Flash games, ebooks or text messages. Many companies take advantage of the dynamics of social networks to launch viral marketing campaigns as a way of increasing product awareness or to achieve marketing objectives by engaging social network participants as promoters.
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Web analytics: This refers to the measurement of data collected from a Web site to determine which aspects of the site are helping to achieve business objectives; for example, which pages or content are responsible for increasing sales. Among other things, the data collected includes traffic to the site; email response rates; direct mail campaign metrics; and conversion, sales and lead information. The data is used to improve the site's performance relative to business objectives. Because the digital arena is constantly evolving, metrics for online success are also constantly evolving.
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Web 2.0: This term began as a reference to software releases. The first release of a software product is generally referred to as 1.0. Improvements are then released as 1.1, 1.2, 1.3 and so on. A major software overhaul is referred to as 2.0. The term now refers to the ubiquitous use of the Internet as an integral part of life by a majority of the world's population, as opposed to its relatively low level of adoption just a few years ago.
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Widget/Gadget: This is a simple online application that allows people to add or edit information or graphic elements to Web pages, or to link or upload this information to other sites on the Internet.
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Wiki: From the Hawaiian word, wiki-wiki, which means fast, a wiki is a type of software that allows immediate viewing and editing of online documents. It enables multiple people to edit the same document while viewing changes.
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Wikipedia: This is an online user-generated encyclopedia. It is the most well-known Internet site to use a wiki, although the software can be found on many other sites.
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Word of mouth: This refers to information that is spread spontaneously from one person to another. In marketing it refers to information about a product or service that is spread from one consumer to another. In the interactive arena, digital tools have increased the potential for information to be spread from person to person more quickly than ever before. Word of mouth is also referred to as “buzz marketing”; that is, consumers create a buzz about a product or service. In this case, viewers find some online content so amusing, titillating or inspiring that they pass it along to their friends and colleagues. It's consumer-propelled public relations.
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