I broke it down for you all on page 1.

And yes, you are trained to "speak corporate" if you plan to be a CEO. Plain-speak doesn't get you very far in the corporate world unless your goal is to manage a small office. Shareholder buzz-words like "monetize our assets" or "calenderize with our retailers" are expected and encouraged because it distinguishes you from the pack.

 

But they all do it. And if they're literally taught to do it, it's not a sign of them being good at anything... OR is it less about your abilities and more "You're willing to play the games we like to play. Have a position of power." It's BEEN hard to regard business people having the best morals, but sometimes it's hard to regard them having rational thought.

 

I’m waiting too.

 

Didn’t say I didn’t understand it. I speak Bullshit. And as a proper reply, and to make my point:

Hi sweetie I hope you’re doing ok I hope you have an amazing week and I’ll see if I wanna was a time I got a couple more things I got done I wanna talk about a couple more hours of sleep I wanna talk about a couple of hours and then I gotta was the night you got me a little worried I wanna talk to him later I didn’t know he didn’t get it out of me but he was going on the way home I wanna was the night he got a little worried he didn’t get a chance.......

 

It's more of a "you're one of us if you can talk this way - if you don't, we're not impressed with you and are not one of us".

All those movies where an executive goes into a shareholder meeting with corporate speak and the investors look at him dumbfounded - and then the protagonist swings in with "Farmer Joe" speak to save the day is fantasy land. Investors and shareholders expect this language or they think you're an idiot.

 

As someone that does something that uses a lot of what is generally designated "terms of art", special language, jargon, and/or terminology serves a few purposes.

First, once you get to understand the lingo, it absolutely conveys more information than standard everyday English. It's really no more or less opaque than the average person attempting to deciper a hip hop song or teenage slang. I still don't know what "yeet" means, yet to someone that does get it, it means something and probably conveys more information than a direct, simple translation. Similarly, if I say something alone the lines to: "The primary issue of contention in this matter is not actual cause, but proximate cause pursuant to the facts established in evidence disclosed as well as sworn testimony." Another lawyer's going to know what I said and know what it means, and that it means more than: "I got some questions 'bout how this accident happened."

Second, it immediately signals to others in your profession that you're not a greenhorn and know what you're doing. If you're a wine snob, you know the actual differences between pinot grigio an pinot noir. If you stomp around going: "GIMME SOME WHITE WINE AN' SUMMA THAT RED WINE." People are going to at least assume you don't know much about wine, and this is precisely what someone sounds like when they grumble and kick rocks going: "What does monetize even MEAN?" to an executive. That's not meant as a pejorative or an insult to anyone's actual intelligence. It's how it works.

Finally, yes, in some cases it can absolutely be used as a barricade to communications to those that you don't really want to talk to or those you wish to bamboozle. Corporate doublespeak and legal terms of art can be used in an offensive capacity, either to get someone's brain to simply shut off or to convince someone of your point and/or to go along with what you need them to go along with.

In other words, this isn't any different than the hyper-dense, often confusing language developed by teens, extended social groups and/or regional areas. "Reaching a global consensus to monetize our assets" is just as difficult to understand to the average person as the phrase "Do you have McDonald's money?" or "Shitting in high cotton."

The primary reason corporate speak is vilified is because it's associated to a thing Western cultures vilify. There's an automatic assumption they're up to no good because Big Business Is Bad, so we hate what they say and how they say it.

Not to say there may not be some kernel of truth to the assumption - after all, large companies exist purely to separate you from your money one way or another. That said, it's just another way of communicating - not really any different than people saying "Bang a u-ey, I wanna stop at the packie" in New England.

 

Translating this for people:


<So first of all, with Transformers, the movies are the focus. Making (and licensing) toys for a movie needs a lot of coordination: The toys need to be done for the movie despite tight schedules. As well, the Transformers products should have a wide appeal. Stores want toys paired with good media that can be sold anywhere.

With Bumblebee, the movie and toys came out close together. The licensed products were also very diverse (note: and targeted girls too). Overall, that movie performed very well for Hasbro.

Right now the plan is to increase the range of Transformers products. Having movies and shows helps the toys get designed and make money. Transformers fans are now being marketed to directly, which benefits the brand.>

In summary, the way the Bumblebee line was done worked really well. There will be more of that in the future


I know I left something out so someone help but this is just based on mostly what I looked up.

 

Well said. As a layman, it's hard to fight conditioning and acknowledge that it does serve functional and practical reasons within their culture and isn't there to be exclusionary and insult people outside the club.

Also we need to cut him some slack since this was a Goldman Sachs Conference, where you might be asked to leave if you don't lay it on thick.

 

Yeah. I mean, me and my colleagues make jokes about how ridiculous we sound. A lot of in-jokes we make are entirely wrapped around how deranged and weird legal analysis applies to real life (it doesn't translate well in some cases). A few years ago, I dealt with a very congenial marketer who effectively admitted that all the buzzwords are crap, but that they're necessary. In short, professionals know how odd they sound - but it's a tool of the trade.

 

I'm awaiting the scorponok Titan and then I'm out after this WFC trilogy ends, personally...done with current prices and hollowness of current tf toys.

 

Something about all of this makes me want to stop spending money on Hasbro products...