6 ms·

calling the actual ads 'creative' is common parlance in the display ad space. ( former Doubleclick employee )

logicallee 10y ago
Thanks for the clarification! I suppose I can see why they would call it something other than "ads" (which obviously has negative connotations.) When reading the link I quoted from, I actually didn't realize it was talking about ads. I thought it was talking about any kind of content. I do wonder about something. I thought that Mobile platforms have a distinct advantage in displaying ads, in that most people (for example me) do not run any form of ad blocking on their mobile devices. If this is true - and if the page a bit upthread that I'm talking about and quoted from is talking about ads - then when doesn't that page mention this advantage at all? (From the advertiser's perspective.)
- otabdeveloper1 10y ago
  > I can see why they would call it something other than "ads" (which obviously has negative connotations.) No, that's wrong. "Creative" is professional jargon, it refers to the content of the ad when divorced from the medium or the delivery channel.
  - Chris2048 10y ago
    Would 'stuff' be an appropriate synonym?
    - munchbunny 10y ago
      To the extent that you can assign arbitrarily specific meaning to any word as long as others know to decode it, you could in theory find and replace "creative" with "stuff" in our language and records. But otherwise "stuff" is an ambiguous term and "creative" is industry jargon.
    - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
      Perhaps if you're a 19th Century tailor!?
  - hueving 10y ago
    When I refer to an 'ad', I'm usually referring to the content. Whether I see it in a newspaper, on TV, or on a website, I call it an 'ad'. What are marketers referring to when they say 'ad'?
- shortformblog 10y ago
  I work in marketing, "creative" is used for pretty much any kind of ad/marketing product while in the production process. No negative about it. It's like "hed" or "lede" in the journalism world.
  - logicallee 10y ago
    can you use it in a few very typical sentences, that aren't odd at all in your world?
    - shortformblog 10y ago
      "We have to work on the creatives to show to the client next week."
      - logicallee 10y ago
        would you be equally likely to utter, "We have to work on the creatives to show to the client next week." and "We have to work on the ads to show to the client next week." (in the way that a programmer could just as easily write, "I have to make some changes to the code" and "I have to make some changes to the program.") ? If, however, you're not equally likely, is it because the second one has some different meaning? What is that different meaning?
        shortformblog 10y ago
        Every industry has its own jargon. This is the marketing industry's. Instead of trying to find meaning in it, just accept that this is how it's explained in the industry. This is way less awful than KPIs, by the way.
        logicallee 10y ago
        Oh, I'm just asking whether you never say "ads" at all? (Just like a programmer wouldn't use the term, say, "Electronic computer program." Like a programmer wouldn't say to another programmer, "I just have to write a quick electronic computer program".) You guys didn't use "ads" at all? Or did you use them interchangeably?
exergy 10y ago
Am I allowed to jump in and say I find it hugely annoying? It's almost worse than people calling it "Social" instead of "Social Media". It smacks of desperately wanting to be hip and cool.
- munchbunny 10y ago
  You're misattributing motive. It's just industry jargon that evolved over time. It's used because it compresses a key industry concept. There's about as much motive to use the term "creative" to sound cool in advertising as there is to make "dongle" sound sexual in consumer electronics.

Thanks for the clarification! I suppose I can see why they would call it something other than "ads" (which obviously has negative connotations.) When reading the link I quoted from, I actually didn't realize it was talking about ads. I thought it was talking about any kind of content. I do wonder about something. I thought that Mobile platforms have a distinct advantage in displaying ads, in that most people (for example me) do not run any form of ad blocking on their mobile devices. If this is true - and if the page a bit upthread that I'm talking about and quoted from is talking about ads - then when doesn't that page mention this advantage at all? (From the advertiser's perspective.)

otabdeveloper1 10y ago
> I can see why they would call it something other than "ads" (which obviously has negative connotations.) No, that's wrong. "Creative" is professional jargon, it refers to the content of the ad when divorced from the medium or the delivery channel.
- Chris2048 10y ago
  Would 'stuff' be an appropriate synonym?
  - munchbunny 10y ago
    To the extent that you can assign arbitrarily specific meaning to any word as long as others know to decode it, you could in theory find and replace "creative" with "stuff" in our language and records. But otherwise "stuff" is an ambiguous term and "creative" is industry jargon.
  - pbhjpbhj 10y ago
    Perhaps if you're a 19th Century tailor!?
- hueving 10y ago
  When I refer to an 'ad', I'm usually referring to the content. Whether I see it in a newspaper, on TV, or on a website, I call it an 'ad'. What are marketers referring to when they say 'ad'?
shortformblog 10y ago
I work in marketing, "creative" is used for pretty much any kind of ad/marketing product while in the production process. No negative about it. It's like "hed" or "lede" in the journalism world.
- logicallee 10y ago
  can you use it in a few very typical sentences, that aren't odd at all in your world?
  - shortformblog 10y ago
    "We have to work on the creatives to show to the client next week."
    - logicallee 10y ago
      would you be equally likely to utter, "We have to work on the creatives to show to the client next week." and "We have to work on the ads to show to the client next week." (in the way that a programmer could just as easily write, "I have to make some changes to the code" and "I have to make some changes to the program.") ? If, however, you're not equally likely, is it because the second one has some different meaning? What is that different meaning?
      - shortformblog 10y ago
        Every industry has its own jargon. This is the marketing industry's. Instead of trying to find meaning in it, just accept that this is how it's explained in the industry. This is way less awful than KPIs, by the way.
        logicallee 10y ago
        Oh, I'm just asking whether you never say "ads" at all? (Just like a programmer wouldn't use the term, say, "Electronic computer program." Like a programmer wouldn't say to another programmer, "I just have to write a quick electronic computer program".) You guys didn't use "ads" at all? Or did you use them interchangeably?

exergy 10y ago

Am I allowed to jump in and say I find it hugely annoying? It's almost worse than people calling it "Social" instead of "Social Media". It smacks of desperately wanting to be hip and cool.

munchbunny 10y ago
You're misattributing motive. It's just industry jargon that evolved over time. It's used because it compresses a key industry concept. There's about as much motive to use the term "creative" to sound cool in advertising as there is to make "dongle" sound sexual in consumer electronics.