Promo

Part of speech: noun

Pronunciation: /ˈpɹəʊməʊ/

Definitions

1. Material used to promote a product, service, or event to attract attention and encourage interest
2. A message or item designed to advertise or market something to increase public awareness or sales
3. An advertisement or marketing tool intended to publicize and generate interest in an offering

Etymology: "Promo" is a clipping, a shortened form made by dropping the end of a longer word. The longer word is "promotional," built on "promotion," and the whole family traces back to Latin "promovere," meaning "move forward," from "pro-" (forward) and "movere" (to move). The original sense was one of advancement: to promote someone was to raise them in rank. The idea of pushing a product came later, as commerce grew more competitive and the older sense of advancing was extended to goods and services. The shortening follows a common English habit of trimming words for speed, as with "ad" from "advertisement" and "info" from "information." The result sounds more casual than the longer words it came from, though it covers the same business of getting people to notice something.

Synonyms: promotion, advertisement, marketing, campaign, publicity