Tuesday, November 23, 2021

IT’S THE AGE OF ACRONYMS AND ABBREVIATIONS!

 


One of our clients that we have been lucky to retain for many years uses acronyms and abbreviations for everything! 

 

It is a full-time job keeping up to date and understanding the meanings.  Just when we think we have everything under control along comes a new one. 

 

If we don’t understand the acronyms/Abbreviations, we can easily lose the thread of any conversation!  After every meeting we discuss what transpired and how to move forward from an agency perspective.  We also discuss the latest abbreviations that we need to include into our client dictionary.

 

There is one specific abbreviation that we loved and have adopted into our agency! 

 

About 10 years ago we were sitting in a meeting preparing for an upcoming sports tournament, and the client had brought in a number of internal staff members, and they kept referring to the CYA.  “Have you sent your CYA?” or “I followed up with a CYA”.

 

We were deeply confused and eventually had to ask what this meant, “Oh, that refers to the ‘Cover Your Arse’ email,” was the reply.   We had a good laugh and discussed how these emails had saved them on numerous occasions.  We have since adopted the CYA into the business and anyone who is in an agency will understand the value of a CYA!  

 

In comes the pandemic and welcome to the world of acronyms and abbreviations!

 

Marketing, including public relations and social media took on a completely new look when Covid took the world by storm.  Marketing activations stopped immediately, and we all furiously wrote stories about our brands and services and posted them on as many different platforms as we could. 

 

Storytelling became the buzz word.  The brand with the most interesting story won!  The brand that showed the most empathy and focused on helping their community, won!  Anyone jumping on the pandemic band wagon, lost!  The new normal had arrived!

 

We were all furiously writing blogs, articles, ebooks, white papers, reports, updating websites, changing social media strategies – it was the era of change! 

 

We learnt that we are not creatures of habit after all!  We can change, we accepted the fact that not everything works according to plan, and it is Okay to change a strategy midway through.  We became adaptable creatures!  We had to implemented change to perform in a world of chaos.

 

With all the writing that needed to be done to be heard above the clutter, we started using abbreviations and acronyms to cut down on time, and this trend continues.

 

Let’s now have a bit of fun with abbreviations and acronyms:

 

We were reading an article this morning and came across a new word – SKIMPFLATION – which has prompted this discussion!

 

To understand Skimpflation, we need to look at the background.  In the countries that have opened up, the UK being a primary example, mass staff resignations have been seen across most organisations. 

 

Staff members that had been hanging on to their jobs in fear of the pandemic and its implications have all resigned leaving companies struggling to find replacements and this has impacted on CX (abbreviation for customer experience) and the DTC (Direct to Consumer) shopping has been left wanting.  In a period where there is very little brand loyalty, this results in consumers looking for alternative sources.

 

-        Never before has DCO (Dynamic Creative optimisation) been so critical to brands.  Skimpflation does not help the DTC (direct to consumer) experience and drives a wedge between the company and consumers!

 

-        Companies such as Intune used the pandemic to look for a CMS (Customer management solution) and our decision was in invest in a CRM (customer relationship marketing) system.  To make this work we needed to ensure we understood the API’s (application programming interface) and how it works.  We further had to work on a DCO (dynamic creative optimisation) to ensure that we had a digital strategy for personalisation.

 

-        Intune further works with many macro and micro influencers and we needed to understand the NIL (name, image and likeness) to ensure any form of success

 

These are merely a couple of examples of how the new era of acronyms and abbreviations work. 

Here we are in the digital world

-        We now know that we CAN change …………. and quickly

-        You can teach an old dog new tricks

-        You are never too old to learn

-        You might be BBT (born before technology) but whether you are Gen X, even a Baby Boomers, you need to be in the mix and understand the tech world

-        Brand loyalty has gone out the window

-        Online shopping is on the increase

-        We live in a hybrid working world now

And finally

-        Storytelling is key to any brand’s success, and this require public relations!  Contact Intune Communications and we will help bring your brand, service and company up to speed with the new world.




Absa donates running shoes to township running club ahead of Absa Cape Town 12K CITYRUN


 



Ahead of the Absa sponsored RUN YOUR CITY Series, the Proudly Pan-African bank, Absa, partnered with the Langa Running Club as part of their role in society strategy to create a meaningful impact and develop communities it operates in. The purpose-led bank hosted a brief handover of much needed running apparel to athletes from the running club in the township of KwaLanga, outside of Cape Town.

Absa Managing Executive, Relationship Banking for Western Cape and Eastern Cape, John Tshabalala, says the bank wants to play a leading role in the upliftment of its customers and communities across the country through key partnerships and initiatives that unearth, foster and profile Africa's greatest talent.

"Absa prides itself in making possibilities come to life and as part of the Absa Cape Town 12K CITYRUN, we wanted to empower runners with assets they need to achieve their performance goals. The Langa Running club has 380 members and our ambition is to see every member of this club participate in the next Absa RUN YOUR CITY Series and hopefully represent the country in this sport in the future," says John

Langa Running Club Chairman, Aubrey Isaacs, is elated by the visit from the bank and mentioned that it augurs well for the development of running in the township.

"Many of our club members are juniors who still have a long way to go in the sport of running. This gesture by Absa will inspire not only them but their peers to take the sport seriously and use it to better their lives," he said.

"We would also like to thank Absa for donating running shoes to our four elite lady athletes who will be taking part in this weekend's Absa Cape Town 12K CITYRUN, the impact that such a donation has on a township club goes a long way in boosting their confidence and hopefully they will deliver some stellar results this weekend," he added.

The Absa Cape Town 12K CITYRUN will take place this coming Sunday 21 November from the Woodbridge Bus station until the Cape Town CBD. For more Information go to https://www.thecapetown12.com.

 

About Absa 

Absa Group is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange and is one of Africa’s largest diversified financial services groups. 

 

Absa Group offers an integrated set of products and services across personal and business banking, corporate and investment banking, wealth and investment management and insurance.

Absa operates in 14 countries. The Group owns majority stakes in banks in Botswana, Ghana, Kenya, Mauritius, Mozambique, Seychelles, South Africa, Tanzania (Absa Bank Tanzania and National Bank of Commerce), Uganda and Zambia and has insurance operations in Botswana, Kenya, Mozambique, South Africa, and Zambia. Absa also has representative offices in Namibia and Nigeria, and securities entities in the United Kingdom and the United States.

 

For further information about Absa Group Limited, please visit www.absa.africa



Absa hands over much needed shoes to Langa running club elite runners
Absa hands over much needed shoes

Elite runner Paige Mackenzie from Absa
Elite runner Paige Mackenzie

In attendance at the Absa handover - Steven Mokoka encouraging the Langa running club
In attendance at the Absa handover - Steven Mokoka encouraging the Langa running club

James Moloi thanks Absa for its contribution to assisting athletes
James Moloi thanks Absa for its contribution to assisting athletes

John Tshabalala announces donation to the Langa running club
John Tshabalala announces donation to the Langa running club

Yandiswa Shange receiving her running shoes fr
Yandiswa Shange receiving her running shoes