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Comment by logicallee | Hacker News Reader

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.)

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> 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.

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'?

Would 'stuff' be an appropriate synonym?

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.

Perhaps if you're a 19th Century tailor!?

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.

can you use it in a few very typical sentences, that aren't odd at all in your world?

"That creative hasn't been performing well, regardless of channel."

"Our creative review process is taking too long."

"Can you pull all the ads for that creative?"

"How good the creative is matters a lot more than how you deliver it."

(I haven't worked in ads since 2012, though, so my memory of the jargon may be off.)

Thanks. So what is the meaning of your third example? It's distinct from "Can you pull that creative"? In other words what is an "ad for a creative", as that is your third sentence?

The others are clear.

"Can you pull that creative?" would mean basically the same thing, and is probably what someone would say. I included "ads for" to try and clarify that the actual things you're taking down are the ads.

thanks

"We have to work on the creatives to show to the client next week."

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?

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.

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?

The thing is, though, "creatives" don't always mean "ads" in this sector. "Creatives" can mean articles, or infographics, or illustrations. It basically draws attention to the fact that an "idea person" created the item. Limiting it to "ads" is a very narrow definition.

You're overthinking it. It's not akin to saying "electronic computer program"; it's akin to a programmer saying "code" as opposed to "software" or "an app." It's a building block, just as a piece of software often requires front-end and back-end development, the "ad" is in reference to both the creative element on its own and the mechanism that puts it there.

Oh, I thought where you wrote,

>I work in marketing, "creative" is used for pretty much any kind of ad/marketing product while in the production process.

that it was limited to ads. I didn't realize it would also be used for other things.

> the "ad" is in reference to both the creative element on its own and the mechanism that puts it there.

This is interesting, thanks. But what I was trying to get at, is to make sure you guys aren't confusing each other, are you careful to use 'creative' instead of 'ad' (since the latter can include the mechanism)? Or is this not a distinction you're careful about?

I'll give you an example - programmers are careful to say "binary" or "executable" if they want to talk about the program as compiled as opposed to as written (source code).

so is "creative" also something that you would use to be careful to distinguish the "creative element on its own" as opposed to the mechanism?

It sounds like your answer is yes, that's correct - I'd just like to get a confirmation.

Not OP but yes, the creative refers to something like a jpg or a video. The creative could be used in an ad, or a blog post, or an email, etc.

Yeah, that's what I'm saying. Thanks.

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