"Let's Use Language That Fits the Times"... Companies Changing Marketing Terms

SKT Publishes New In-House Marketing Terminology Guidebook After 3 Years on the 4th
Guidelines Include Gender Sensitivity and Simplified Professional Terms

[Asia Economy Reporter Cha Min-young] 'For moms who love dramas, for dads who love sports'

In the past, this phrase was commonly seen around us, but in 2022, when gender sensitivity has become important, it has become hard to find. This is because the dichotomous way of thinking that connects specific genders and preferences is now considered outdated in modern times.

After the Me Too movement changed the standards of language, companies have increasingly pondered the "language that the times demand." This is why SK Telecom published "Writing That Kills People 2," an internal marketing terminology guidebook, on the 4th, three years after the first edition in 2019.

In this book, SKT reflected the awareness that stereotypes about gender must be broken and encouraged employees to revise related terms used in marketing. For example, the phrase "essential for working moms" was changed to "essential for dual-income parents" to improve the fixed gender role perception that childcare is "a woman's duty." The custom of using "skirt" and "pink" to depict images of girls was also changed. To change perceptions about disabilities, expressions like "sitting desk" replaced "short-legged desk," and "person with a disability" replaced "disabled friend." Conventional expressions such as "overcoming physical disabilities" are also discouraged because they view disability as something to be overcome.

Expressions that originated from problematic online communities and have penetrated real life, which demean specific genders, were explicitly banned. Examples include male-degrading terms like "Heobeoheobeo" (mocking men who eat hastily) and "Ojo Oeok" (male-degrading expression meaning excessively many), as well as female-degrading terms like "Ottoke Ottoke" (demeaning women who lack the ability or will to resolve crises or conflicts) and "Amollang" (demeaning women who try to avoid logical explanations).

Among neologisms, those that started as slang are discouraged from official use. Terms like "Jolgwi" and "Jonmattaeng (JMT)" originated from the slang "Jonna." Words such as "Ssapganeung," "Ssappaseobeul," and "Gaeideuk" are also discouraged because their prefixes "Ssap" and "Gae" are slang. Conversely, neologisms like "Gashimbi" (cost-effectiveness), "Donjjulnaenda" (money + punishment), and "Seongjisunrye" (pilgrimage to a sacred place) are considered acceptable for use.

There have been cases where companies’ ignorance of language habits led to actual image damage. In May last year, a large company operating a convenience store chain was criticized for including an image in a promotional poster that seemed to mock men with hand gestures. Regardless of intent, it caused discomfort to many people, leaving a negative marketing case. B2C (business-to-consumer) companies, where communication processes such as marketing, promotion, and customer service are essential, inevitably faced the same concerns. In the literary world, voices of self-reflection have emerged, and language is being changed first. The publisher Open Books has been revising derogatory and disparaging terms such as "virgin work," "female writer," and "girl" for over five years whenever they reprint.

According to the Oxford English Dictionary, "sensitivity" means "the ability to understand people's emotions." The guidebook pointed out, "Today, sensitivity goes beyond the dictionary meaning of understanding people's emotions and recognizing differences; it also includes the social meaning of raising issues and solving what is wrong." Ye Hee-gang, SKT’s brand strategy manager, said, "We plan to lead easy and correct communication with customers based on digital technologies including artificial intelligence (AI)."

Meanwhile, the guidebook also explained technical terms used in the telecommunications industry in a way that the general public can easily understand. For example, "IMEI" was replaced with "mobile phone identification number," mVoIP with "mobile internet phone," and "shadow area" with "areas where service is unavailable." When SKT applied customer-friendly terms in the "Frequently Asked Questions" section within T World, it was met with positive responses from customers.