brand graveyard

Definition

The collection of discontinued products, abandoned campaigns, or failed rebrands that haunt a company's history. Where marketing dreams go to die and become cautionary tales.

Example Usage

Crystal Pepsi lives in the brand graveyard along with New Coke and our ill-fated TikTok cryptocurrency.

Origin

Industry colloquialism emerging in the 2000s

Source: Marketing and brand management community slang

Related Terms

Beginner

opt-out

The merciful button that lets you escape marketing emails, data collection, or programs you never wanted to join in the first place—usually hidden in 8-point font at the bottom of a page. This mechanism allows individuals to withdraw from services or agreements, though companies make it about as easy as canceling a gym membership. The corporate world's version of 'you can leave, but we're going to make you work for it.'

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Intermediate

programmatic advertising

The automated buying and selling of ad space using algorithms and real-time bidding, eliminating the need for human negotiation and replacing it with machines that work faster and complain less. It's like high-frequency trading, but for banner ads.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Beginner

publicist

A professional spin doctor whose job is making their clients look good in the media, managing reputations, and turning mundane announcements into newsworthy events. They're the buffer between celebrities, brands, or politicians and the press, crafting carefully worded statements and begging journalists to cover their client's latest project. Basically a professional hype person with a Rolodex and crisis management training.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Beginner

earned media

Publicity gained through promotional efforts other than paid advertising, like press coverage, social shares, or word-of-mouth. It's called 'earned' because you can't buy it—you have to trick journalists into caring about your product launch.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Intermediate

repositioning

The corporate art of pretending your product has always been something else when the original marketing plan fails spectacularly. It's like watching a failed actor reinvent themselves as a lifestyle guru, complete with new messaging and a suspiciously enthusiastic press release. Brands do this when they realize people actually hate what they thought they were selling.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

Advanced

share of wallet

The percentage of a customer's total spending in a category that goes to your brand, measuring loyalty in dollars rather than sentiment. The ultimate relationship status metric.

📣 Marketing / Advertising

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