TRADE shows such as next week’s 
Light + Building in Frankfurt can confusing with so much marketing hype flying around. With the advent of LEDs and the Internet of Things, lighting executives have learned a baffling new language of three-letter acronyms and buzzwords. So we’ve updated our handy ‘jargon buster’ to help you understand what people really mean:
IoT
Instead of Turnover
This solution enables symbiotic buildings
Please don’t ask me what this means
This is a breakthrough year for OLED
Which is what I said in 2016, 2014, 2012, 2010, 2008…
This is our Bluetooth Mesh enabled product
I only heard the phrase Bluetooth Mesh from our sales director at breakfast
We collaborated with a leading architect to design this
We paid a bonkers fee for an intern
This is scalable technology
We haven’t finished the software and version 3.2 will be out soon.
The lighting market is very dynamic
We’ve just been bought by a Chinese company
We are demerging the lamp business
The Chinese are killing us
We are now a pure-play lighting business
We are for sale because we don’t make any money
Connectivity
Dimming
Beyond illumination
We can’t make any money selling lights
We are part of a multibrand strategy
We compete with ourselves
Personalisation
You can dim this light
Smart lamp
You can dim this lamp over the internet
Smart cities
You can dim this street light over the internet
Ecosystem
Expensive dimming
The product is driverless
It’s got annoying flicker
This is humancentric lighting
It’s witchcraft
We are targeting the horticultural market
We are making loads of money supplying lamps to cannabis growers
This is a circadian rhythm lighting system
We can dim between warm and cool white
We’re developing a Power over Ethernet offer
We’ve partnered with Cisco because we are scared of Google
We’ve integrated the light within architecture
We’ve used LED tape
We offer lighting as a service
Our lights are so expensive the only way we can sell them is to bundle them up in a confusing contract
We’re always happy to see a developing market
Who let the Chinese companies into this hall?
Golden tail
We still sell the old shit
This is our new brand
Prices have gone to the dogs, so we’ve ripped the guts out and cut the spec to the bone
This is our new design concept
None of these products is ready
Light on your terms
Use our LED module and end up with a fixture just like everyone else
Dali
A great idea 20 years ago
Dali 2
A great idea 10 years ago
We’ve reinvented the pendant
It looks like that design classic from 20 years ago
It’s IoT ready
We don’t have a clue what it means, but we put it in the data sheet because everyone else does
Lightcentricity
We’ve made this up, but if we all say it enough times, I’m sure it will make it into someone’s marketing hype
We are committed to sustainability
We want to sell you more stuff
We are committed to the circular economy
We pay our WEEE dues
Disruptive technology
One huge multi-national pushing aside another huge multi-national
Iconic
We’ve run out of adjectives to describe an ordinary office block
Intuitive interface
Similar to what you’re used to
A seamless interface
Which only connects with our own system
Fully automatic
No one knows if it’s working
Available next quarter
It doesn’t exist
Updated design
The last one didn’t work
Extensive testing
We’ve been worried that it leaks
Challenging few months
The company that has taken us over are idiots
I’ll get back to you on that
I’m not interested in you
I’ll just get the technical manager
Your breath smells
Please leave your business card to be entered into a draw
We’re selling all of these to the Chinese
Ergonomic design
We’ve copied someone else’s
Missed any? Add yours in the comments box at the bottom of the page…
• Meet the Lux team at Light + Building. 
Our video crew will be filming in our special interview studio in the Messe and our journalists will be scouring the halls for innovation. Get updates on Twitter from @LuxReview. Meet the crew at O’Reilly’s Irish Bar, opposite the hauptbahnhof in Frankfurt city centre, at 9pm on Thursday 22 March. The Lux team will wearing their distinctive red rugby jerseys. The Light + Building exhibition starts on Sunday 25 March and runs through to Friday 23 March. Around 2,600 exhibitors will showcase their lighting products to over 210,000 visitors, almost half of whom come from outside Germany.
