Contextual Marketing: The Language/Vocabulary of Marketing in SMEs

This paper is part of ongoing descriptions of Contextual Marketing in SMEs. To date two previous papers have addressed a variety of key factors that contribute to Contextual Marketing. Our first paper, (Carson et al 2002*), addressed the overriding theme of Contextual Marketing and considered issues such as commonalities, triggers, variances, situation specific and language/vocabulary. Our second paper, (Copley et al 2002**) examined commonalities in more depth and linked this to the personality of the entrepreneur/owner/manager. This paper focuses on another of the identified key factors, that of Language/Vocabulary, the recognition that marketing practitioners have their own language/vocabulary depending upon which ‘tribe’(Enright 2001), they belong. The discussion draws on each authors personal experiential and empirical knowledge gleaned from many years of working with small firm entrepreneurs/owners/managers. Each author is acutely aware that small firm entrepreneurs/owners/managers do not always use, (if at all), the language of conventional marketing theory when performing business of a marketing nature. Often they will use language which is founded in their own local vocabulary range or which has been learned from simply doing business in their own unique industry environment. This paper seeks to demonstrate this intimate language/vocabulary.