Glossary of Terms used in Advertising
and Marketing Communications
The following words are a small sampling of the many terms used in advertising and marketing communications. This Glossary of Terms has been compiled as a handy reference for those new to this aspect of business. The advertising terms and marketing communications terms shown, along with the definitions provided, should give you a good start. If, however, you find an important word or phrase missing from the list, Contact Me and I will try to include it in the next update.
-A-
Ad - same as advertisement; a paid commercial message in a magazine or newspaper. Typical formats are spreads, full page, 2/3 page, 1/2 page, Island 1/2 Page, 1/3Page, Square 1/3 Page, 1/4 Page and 1/6 Page.
Advertisement - a paid commercial message in a magazine or newspaper. Typical formats are spreads, full page, 2/3 page, 1/2 page, Island 1/2 Page, 1/3Page, Square 1/3 Page, 1/4 Page and 1/6 Page.
Advertising - paid commercial messages designed to inform, persuade or remind potential and existing customers about a company, its products or services.
Advertising Agency - an organization established for the purpose of providing creative and marketing communications services for its clients.
Agency of Record - an advertising agency, appointed by an advertiser, with full authority to negotiate, contract and provide insertion instructions to the media on the advertiser's behalf.
-B-
Bleed - an illustration or design that goes to the edge of the page without any borders or margins.
Blow-up - an enlargement of a photo or finished piece of artwork to the desired size.
Body - the text in an ad; the degree of stiffness in paper stock.
Branding - the process of building a favorable image for a product or company that differentiates it, in the minds of prospects and end users, from other competitors.
Brochure - a multi-page promotional piece that lends itself to a wide variety of sizes, shapes and colors.
BRC - business reply card; often tipped into magazines and direct mail to provide a quick response mechanism for the reader. Postage is paid by the advertiser.
B2B - business-to-business; products and services sold by a business to another business.
Bulk Mailing - sending a large number of identical pieces of Third Class Mail at a further reduced rate; requires special sorting and labeling.
-C-
Campaign - a coordinated program of advertising and promotion.
Caption - text describing a photo or illustration.
Catalog - a multi-page, illustrated descriptive listing of the products or services offered by a company.
CBC - Certified Business Communicator; a professional certification administered by the Business Marketing Association and reflecting the highest standards of professionalism and competence in the field of business marketing communications.
Circulation - the number of copies a publication sells or distributes.
Closing Date - the date when all ad materials are due at a publication for a specific issue.
Collateral Material - printed information on a product, service or company including brochures, flyers, sales literature and other image pieces.
Controlled Circulation - the distribution of a magazine to individuals for free who meet certain standards established by the publication.
Copy - the text in an ad, brochure or other promotional materials.
Copyright - exclusive rights granted to an author or artist, by the government, to protect original intellectual property for a limited time period; identified by the copyright symbol, year created and company with rightful ownership.
Copywriter - a person who writes the words in an ad, brochure and other promotional material; may also be responsible for the creative concept.
Creative - the collaborative results of copywriters, photographers, illustrators, artists and designers, including ads, brochures, direct mail and other promotional materials.
Creative Strategy - an outline setting forth the message, audience and tone to be used in an ad or other promotional endeavor.
Cropping - excluding part of a photo or illustration to show only the portion desired or to fit a given space requirement.
Customer - an individual or company that has exercised its buying authority and purchased your products or services; it could be a dealer, stocking distributor, re-seller, OEM or an end user depending on the channel of distribution.
-D-
DM - Direct mail; promotional material sent directly through the mail to a prospective purchaser.
Die-Cut - any regular or irregular shape cut from paper or cardboard as a design or functional element.
Direct Mail - promotional material sent directly through the mail to a prospective purchaser.
Direct Response - promotion that solicits quick action on the part of the reader.
Display - a trade show booth; an in-store product rack, dispenser or attention-getter.
Dummy - blank sheets of paper cut and folded to size to represent a brochure, flyer, leaflet; helpful for indicating weight, shape, size, feel and general appearance.
-E-
Editorial - that portion of a magazine or newspaper produced by the publication's editors and writers.
Exposure - the number of times an individual sees an advertising message.
-F-
Flyer - a promotional piece, typically one-page printed on 2-sides.
Font - all type characters in a specific style at one size, including all essential letters, numerals and punctuation.
Format - the order, layout and style of an ad or a promotional piece; preparing a disk or CD to receive electronic files; a type of file, such as jpg, tif, gif or pdf.
Four-Color Process - a method of printing using yellow, blue, red and black dots in close proximity to each other to reproduce photographs and achieve most any desired visual effect.
Four-Color Separations - film used to print ads, brochures, direct mail, etc.; consists of four separate pieces of film, one each for yellow, blue, red and black.
Four P's of Marketing - product, place, price and promotion
Fractional Ad - an ad that takes less than a full page in a magazine or newspaper, such as 1/6 page. 1/4 page, column 1/3 page, square 1/3 page, 1/2 page, Island 1/2 page and 2/3 page.
Freelancer - a self-employed copywriter, artist, photographer, media buyer or other advertising professional.
Frequency - the number of times an advertiser contracts to run in any given publication.
Frequency Discount - a rate discount earned by an advertiser for contracting to run a specific number of times in any given publication; often expressed as 3x, 6x, 12x, 18x, 24x.
FTC - Federal Trade Commission; responsible for regulating advertising in the U.S.
-G-
Gatefold - an ad that is folded down to match a publication's size; it must be unfolded or "opened" to be read.
Gutter - the space between two facing pages in a magazine, newspaper or brochure consisting of the two inside margins.
-H-
Halftone - a photograph used for printing that has been screened to break up the image into dots.
Headline - the primary display line of type in an ad that serves as an attention getting device.
-I-
Image - a photograph used in advertising or collateral materials to illustrate the product or service being promoted; the managed perception of a company and its products in the marketplace.
Impressions - the total number of times an individual is exposed to an advertising message.
Insertion Order - instructions to a publication authorizing a publisher to print an advertisement of a specific size in a specific issue at an agreed price; usually accompanies the film or files used to produce the ad.
Insert - a page or more printed in advance by the advertiser and sent to a publication for inclusion in a specific issue.
Island 1/2 Page - a print ad surrounded by editorial on 2-sides.
Integrated Campaign - using a variety of promotional vehicles to convey the same message, such as ads, direct mail, pr, trades shows, etc., all working together.
Integrated Marketing Communications (IMC) - where all aspects of a company's promotional efforts work together with a unified purpose to deliver a consistent and positive message; recognizes that all contact points with customers and prospects are important, from the truck making a delivery to the CEO in the news.
-L-
Line Art - black artwork on a white background suitable for reproduction.
Layout - the initial idea of how a finished ad, brochure or other promotional piece will look.
Logo - a graphical design associated with a specific company, product or service.
Logotype - stylized lettering used in conjunction with a logo.
Lower Case - the small letters of any font, as opposed to the capital letters.
-M-
Mailer - a promotional piece sent through the mail.
Make-Good - an ad run at no cost to the advertiser as compensation for an error the publication made in content, reproduction, placement or scheduling.
Marcomm - an abbreviated form of the phrase "marketing communications".
Marketing - all the activities involved in moving products and services from the source to the end user, including advertising, sales, packaging, promotion and printing.
Merchandising - activities designed to promote in-store sales, including shelf layout, counter cards, mobiles, point of purchase displays, events, etc.
-P-
Photo Release - signed permission granted by a person in a photograph permitting use of their image for promotional purposes.
Point of Purchase (POP) - a type of product display used in stores to attract end users and promote impulse purchases.
Positioning - how a company, product or service is differentiated from its competitors.
Preferred Position - an especially desirable location in a magazine or newspaper that demands a premium price from advertisers wanting to have their ads run there.
Premium - a special gift offered to potential customers as motivation to buy a product; items given out free promoting a company's name, phone number, website or similar important information.
Promotion - any method used to inform, persuade and remind customers and prospects about a company and its products or services, including advertising, public relations, special events, newsletters, direct mail, signage, trade shows, etc.
Proof - an impression of an ad or other printed piece pulled for purposes of checking accuracy and quality of reproduction.
Prospect - an individual or company that meets all criteria for being a customer except has not purchased yet.
Public Relations (PR) - any activities or events that help promote a favorable relationship between a company and its customers and prospects; activities used to influence the press to print stories that promote a favorable image of a company and its products or services.
Publicity - a news item or story which conveys information of interest to the readers of a publication.
-R-
Rate Card - a listing of a publications prices for running ads of various sizes and at various frequencies; generally also includes some mechanical specifications such as ad sizes, preferred source materials and closing dates.
Response - the action desired; the % of returns from a mailing ; the number of inquiries from an ad.
Retouching - process of correcting or improving photographs before using them in ads, brochures, direct mail, trade show graphics, etc.
-S-
Sales Promotion - marketing efforts designed to generate immediate interest in purchasing a product or service, including coupons, sales, discounts, premiums, sweepstakes and contests.
Self-Mailer - direct mail that needs no envelop or wrapper to reach the intended reader.
Short Rate - the additional cost an advertiser must pay a publication when the contracted number of ads are not run; usually the difference between the contracted rate and the actual earned rate.
Space Schedule - a listing showing the publications an ad will appear in, the dates it will run, the exact size and costs.
Space - one or more pages, or a fraction of a page, bought in a magazine or newspaper to promote a company, its products or services.
Spread - a two-page ad in a print publication, where the two pages run opposite each other; also known as a double truck.
STET - a proofreading term used to indicate that the original word or phrase, not the revised word or phrase that was added, should be used; means "let it stand".
-T-
Tabloid - a magazine format that is larger than the size of a standard magazine; a newspaper format that is smaller than the size of a standard newspaper.
Tear Sheet - an advertiser's ad clipped from a magazine or newspaper and sent as proof of performance by the publication; usually sent with the invoice.
Teaser - a promotional ad or mailer designed to arouse interest and curiosity in anticipation of additional information that will follow.
Trademark - any word or symbol that is used on a product to identify its origin.
Trade Name - any word or group of words used to identify a business as a whole and not an individual product.
Trade Show - a gathering of companies with similar products or companies with different products serving the same markets, to showcase their latest offerings, meet customers, learn new trends and identify new prospects.
Transparency - a positive color image on clear film.
Type Face - all type of a single design and style.
-W-
Website - the location of a company's promotional message, product offering and other important marketing information made accessible from anywhere in the world via the Internet.
