Advertising Lingo
15, 30, 60: Different-length TV spots. As in: “The client wants two 30s and a 60.”

Book: A portfolio of a creative’s ad samples. For aspiring copywriters and art directors, a book will consist of mock ads. For someone already in the business, it will consist of actual ads that person helped create.

Brief: The creative brief; a formal memo written by account management or account planning, detailing the agency’s creative strategy for an account.

Broadcast advertising: Television and radio advertising.

CPM: Cost per thousand; a measure of a media plan’s cost versus its reach.

Campaign: An advertising effort on behalf of a brand. Some campaigns consist of just one advertisement; while others consist of a series of ads linked by the way they address a single strategy for the brand.

Comp: A near-final quality representation of a print ad.

Concerns: The client always seems to have some of these, and they always seem to add up to more work for the agency.

Creative: Artists, writers, musicians, and designers responsible for developing advertising concepts.

Cut: An edited version of a commercial. As in “The client didn’t like the latest cut.”

Flighting: A media plan’s scheduling of TV ads.

Frequency: A measure of how frequently an ad reaches its target audience. Along with reach, frequency gives advertisers a feel for the effectiveness of a media plan.

GRP: Gross rating points; a measure of an ad’s reach among TV viewers.

Mechanical: Completed production department version of a print ad, ready to be sent out for printing.

Network: A collection of advertising agencies all sharing resources under the same corporate umbrella.

Outdoor advertising: This has nothing to do with the spate of SUV ads depicting smiling yuppies on their way to the great outdoors. It refers to outdoor locations for advertisement placement, such as billboards, kiosks, and buses.

PSA: Public service announcement. These are ads for good causes (“This is your brain. This is your brain on drugs.”) Ad agencies usually do them for little compensation. PSAs give agencies a chance to enhance their public image and do good creative work.

Pitch: An attempt to win new business or sell the agency to the client.

Pre-pro: Pre-production meeting, a meeting that takes place before a shoot.

Reach: A measure of how much of its targeted audience an ad reaches. Along with frequency, reach gives advertisers a feel for how effective a media plan is.

Reel: A collection of a creative’s TV ad samples, or a collection of a commercial director’s ads that the agency and the client will use to select a director to shoot their ad.

Reprint: Reproduction of a print ad, usually used as an entry in awards shows or in a creative’s book.

Ride the boards: Go out into the field to check out outdoor ad locations.

Shoot: The filming of a TV ad.

The Shows: The advertising awards shows.

Spot: TV or radio commercial.

Spot market: Local media market.

Suits: The creatives’ moniker for people who work on the business side of the agency.

TRP: Targeted rating points; a measure of an ad’s reach among TV viewers.

Talent: Actor or voiceover professional.

Target: The people the advertiser is trying to sell to.

Tissue: Very rough expression of a creative idea, often in magic marker on tissue paper.