Let’s face it, innuendo is used as a powerful and direct technique to deliver high impact and reinforced brand recognition via insinuations and overtones.  It’s done all the time.

Stay with me, you’ll see what I mean.

Insinuations and overtones. As an even further investigation into the definition nuances of innuendo, I looked up the word overtone.  Bingo, a bridge to support my postulation.

Overtone is defined, in part, as “a secondary effect, quality, or meaning; suggestion, connotation.” There is a silver lining—an alternative way to interpret innuendo only being effective and utilized in the context of “insult.”  It is not always a “disparaging allusion.”  It can be, and is, an overtone.  And overtones can and should be used tactically in brand expression.  And used intentionally.

So, now it’s time for action.  Ask yourself and your marketing team:

1. How can I tactically utilize innuendo intendo as a component of my brand development and maintenance strategies?
2. Is there a process we can use to define brand overtones and determine how they can be conveyed?

Yes, there are several strategic methods that can be engaged to define brand attributes and then convey those attributes via innuendo.

Is it time to brain storm and develop your brand personality?  In Part 3 I will discuss some activities that I’ve participated in to do this.  Group cognition is helpful, especially early in the development of identity and brand.  Your marketing, communications and sales “brain trust” must collectively agree that, indeed, words matter, color matters, design matters—and therefore agree to define and convey these “tools” with an intended overtone and message in mind.

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—A Hint of Innuendo Goes a Long Way

Part 1 of 4

I’ve set out to ponder the idea of innuendo in relation to brand development, expression and management.  Don’t ask me why.  Actually the idea came to me, as many do, as an association.  I was listening to Michael Feldman on NPR several Saturday’s ago.  I started pondering it and have come to see innuendo as a relevant overview idea.

I also see it as an extension of my previous discussions about the importance of words and color in the overall expression of brand dimensions across varied and/or integrated communications platforms.  Innuendo seems like a very savvy tactic in this regard.

Innuendo Intendo: selecting words and copy, color and image based on implication and overtones.

Little did I realize that innuendo has a rather “bad rap.”

Innuendo is loosely defined in Wikipedia as a remark or question, typically disparaging, which works obliquely by allusion and insinuation.  It goes on to say that the “disparaging allusion” is often an insult or accusation, veiled in such a way as to make the words seem innocent.  Do we really want to engage in innuendo?

Merriam Webster offers a more “kind” definition, albeit vague. Here innuendo is defined as “a hint, insinuation—especially a veiled reflection on character or reputation.”  Nothing necessarily “disparaging” about this—unless you “feel” emotionally the same way about the word insinuation as you do about innuendo.  If so, you probably are going to stop reading at this point.

Let’s step back a moment and look at the etymology of the word.  It’s from the Latin word meaning to hint, and then derived from the French innuere, to hint, and nuere, to nod.  It took just a little more probing to uncover the an extensive use of innuendo already at work in the background in our culture and public dialogue—especially as television “conversations” infiltrated the western psyche with various voices, advertising, and programming formats.

It’s true, it seems.  Innuendo is often used in a low brow, degrading fashion, especially with comedians and lyricists, offering sexual humor and suggestion in a manner that makes even the bawdy blush.  However, I remain strongly convicted in postulating
Why, from a creative director’s perspective, the idea of innuendo is a worthy one, even an enticing one!

And furthermore—the value of using intentional innuendo seems obvious.

I think the popular operative word may be “spin.”  “To give a hint.”  Isn’t this what the subtleties of branding are all about??

I postulate that—from large corporations, to smaller companies and organizations, to developing small businesses—branding effectiveness requires a series of hints, expressed in multiple ways, across integrated marketing platforms.

Voila!   Innuendo intendo!

(To be continued…)

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