Aberdeen Group Break World “Leverage” Record!

3 October, 2007

This morning I received in my inbox an Aberdeen Group report entitled Demand Generation Automation – Kick-Start your Business. Whilst the report was most useful from a marketing point of view, the author was clearly on a bet to use “leverage” as often as possible.

Here are some examples:

Best-in-class companies heavily leverage technology to manage leads

Best-in-class are two times more likely than Laggards to leverage a centralised repository for performance metrics

38% of Best-in-class currently leverage or plan to leverage an agency solution for demand generation

Based on other capabilities, these resources are clearly leveraging performance metrics

Industry average organisations may be more likely to leverage mass email through a CRM system

Laggards, on the other hand, are also more likely to leverage the low-cost email channel

Leverage technology to improve customer intelligence

Best-in-class use of CRM is an excellent example of how organisations should leverage demand generation technology

AAAAGGHH!!! PLEASE MAKE IT STOP!!! And have you spotted a common thread in all those examples? That’s right – in each case, the ‘L’ word could quite easily be replaced  by “use”. Madness. Utter, utter madness.

2 Responses to “Aberdeen Group Break World “Leverage” Record!”

  1. Ann Podolske Says:

    Top this: A recent memo in my place of employ urged us all to “leverage our synergies.”

    Sorry.

    Appreciate the “AAAAGGHH” sentiment very much. This item will bring great comfort to my colleagues in communications who have been trying to resist the need “leverage” things that can simply be “used.”

    Reminds me of the need in the mid-’80s to “interface” with people when one could oh-so-simply “meet.”

    Sigh.

    Wonderful blog, btw–much obliged, AP

  2. Swami Says:

    i am a graphic designer… my client just sent me edits yesterday telling me to make new graphics by “leveraging” another graphic… which means absolutely nothing to me. On the next round of edits they did it AGAIN. Thanks for being ambiguous on SPECIFIC changes you want made.

    then i typed “leverage is not a verb” into google and that’s how i found your blog =)


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