Learn
Consumer brand terms, compared
9 pairs that get mixed up in brand meetings, each answered in one sentence and then properly. For single definitions, see the glossary.
CPG vs FMCGCPG and FMCG describe the same goods: everyday products bought often and used up fast. CPG is the American term, FMCG the British and global one.Reach vs ImpressionsReach counts the unique accounts that saw a post. Impressions count every time it was shown, repeats included, so impressions are never lower than reach.Social listening vs Social monitoringSocial monitoring catches single mentions so someone can reply. Social listening reads them all together to find a pattern. One is an inbox, one is research.Paid media vs Earned mediaPaid media is attention you buy, owned media is channels you control, and earned media is what other people say about you without being paid to.Share of voice vs Market shareMarket share is your slice of a category's sales. Share of voice is your slice of its conversation or advertising. One measures buying, the other attention.UGC vs Influencer marketingInfluencer marketing pays a creator to post to their audience. UGC is content made by customers or creators that the brand reposts to its own audience.Tag vs MentionOn Instagram, a tag sits on the photo or video and files the post on the tagged account's profile. A mention is an @handle in a caption, comment or story.NielsenIQ vs CircanaNielsenIQ and Circana both sell retail sales data and consumer panels to CPG brands. Circana is IRI and NPD merged; NielsenIQ is Nielsen's former retail arm.Sell-in vs Sell-throughSell-in is what a brand sells to retailers. Sell-through is what those retailers sell on to shoppers. A launch can sell in well and still fail to sell through.