Lost in translation

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Have you ever been part of a project where different terms for the same thing caused confusion, got lost in translation and somehow derailed your progress?

Words can be tricky at times and we all have learnt words for different meanings and processes. What makes sense to one person might be understood completely differently by someone else. I’ve seen it happen in marketing projects across the health and charity sectors. People say one thing, but others hear another meaning and projects slow down.

A couple of years ago, I took part in some useful community listening training with the Community Organisers. People were paired up and asked to describe a simple drawing to their partner, aiming for both drawings to match. What seemed clear in people's heads was often interpreted completely differently by the other person. This experience showed me how easily meaning can be lost in communication, especially when working with teams or relying on tick-box surveys. It underscored the value of truly listening and understanding.

This made me think more about the importance of taking the time to get key process words right, especially when working across teams on brand strategy work.

Clarification of terms early on can really help to:

Enhance team communication to prevent misunderstandings, ensuring everyone interprets messages in the same way.

Builds brand consistency to by using consistent terminology that helps maintain a unified brand voice and message, strengthening the brand's identity.

Speeds up decision-making by having a common language, teams can make quicker, more informed decisions because there’s less need to clarify or debate terms or it worst carry on regardless.

Build a stronger culture by using consistent terminology that reinforces team cohesion and helps embed your brand’s values and vision into your work environment.

With this in mind, I’m starting a simple series to break down some common terms used in the brand and marketing life-cycle that can get mixed up.

Brand Delivery

Brand Implementation vs. Brand Execution vs. Brand Activation

Brand Implementation – It’s the setup

This phase happens after a brand refresh or transformation. It’s about turning your brand’s strategy into practice and turning ideas and your brand promise into real-world assets such as logos, guidelines, packaging, and internal documents. Everything gets aligned to your brand’s vision and is ready to support your goals.

Brand Execution – It’s the maintenance

The ongoing application and consistency of your brand

This is the day-to-day work of keeping your brand consistent across all platforms. It’s about making sure that your team applies the brand correctly, so it stays cohesive and aligned with your strategy.

Brand Activation – It’s about engagement

Bringing your brand to life to engage your audience

This is where your marketing strategy kicks in. This is the time to release campaigns and initiatives that spark interest, build connections, and inspire engagement. It’s about getting people to want to engage with your brand, whether through reading content, making a donation, joining an event that you're running.

Why not create a project terminology guide and start making your projects run more smoothly? It will also support team members right from the start.

If you’d like to explore how to optimise any of these phases for your organisation, feel free to reach out at hello@ninaflowers.co.uk