Distinguish your PPMs from your PCAs with this visual advertising dictionary.
(Image credit: FCB London)
Don't know your double mid-page unit from your digital out of home? Confused by CPCs and CTAs? Perplexed by PPMs and PCAs? Fear not because an adorable new visual A to Z of advertising jargon is here to help.
Ad vocab is a funny and really quite beautiful attempt to help make sense of some of the cryptic jargon and abbreviations that are most often thrown around in the advertising sector, or at least to make them less intimidating. Each piece of terminology has a cute illustration, and you can click through for a full definition, complete with audio (see our pick of the best adverts for more inspiration).
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(Image credit: FCB London)
(Image credit: FCB London)
(Image credit: FCB London)
(Image credit: FCB London)
The Ad Vocab site was conceived by Amy Bland and Sacha Burke of FCB London. They worked with FCB designer and illustrator Dante Attuoni to create a distinct and humourous visual language that makes the jargon more approachable.
The team began the project in January 2020 just before the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. They found that getting to grips with a new job from behind a laptop screen was a challenge and that there "always seemed to be bigger questions to ask and more important things to learn about, so things like 'what is a creative tissue?” seemed too silly to ask'."
Like many online dictionaries, the site has a has a highlighted phrase of the day. The team is continuing to add new terms, and you can also submit requests for terms you would like to see added. While some of the illustrations might not immediately clarify the meaning of some of the most arcane expressions, the full definitions clear things up, and the amusing and memorable designs could serve as a handy mnemonic device.
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Joe is a regular freelance journalist and editor at Creative Bloq. He writes news, features and buying guides and keeps track of the best equipment and software for creatives, from video editing programs to monitors and accessories. A veteran news writer and photographer, he now works as a project manager at the London and Buenos Aires-based design, production and branding agency Hermana Creatives. There he manages a team of designers, photographers and video editors who specialise in producing visual content and design assets for the hospitality sector. He also dances Argentine tango.
