Not "Shock and Awe"
December 25, 2010 10:57 AM Subscribe
What's the term - I think it's military - for overwhelming an opposing force through sheer quantity of techniques used/people deployed? "Shock and awe" is not the term I'm looking for.
Mass something or saturation or something along those lines. It's the opposite of pinpoint targeting. I'm trying to apply the term to the way advertising firms now operate: television ads, magazine ads, and billboards, but also guerilla marketing techniques, viral marketing, brand loyalty, the employment of "experts" and spokespeople, political lobbying, spamming chatboards, "fixing" wikipedia entries, etc.
Mass something or saturation or something along those lines. It's the opposite of pinpoint targeting. I'm trying to apply the term to the way advertising firms now operate: television ads, magazine ads, and billboards, but also guerilla marketing techniques, viral marketing, brand loyalty, the employment of "experts" and spokespeople, political lobbying, spamming chatboards, "fixing" wikipedia entries, etc.
saturation bombing? Blitzkrieg?
posted by cosmicbandito at 11:02 AM on December 25, 2010
posted by cosmicbandito at 11:02 AM on December 25, 2010
Response by poster: Blitz isn't the term I'm looking for, either. I think they also use the term in encryption, when someone uses massive processing power to run through possible passwords rather than more subtle methods.
posted by outlandishmarxist at 11:03 AM on December 25, 2010
posted by outlandishmarxist at 11:03 AM on December 25, 2010
Spray & pray?
rhyme is key
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 11:03 AM on December 25, 2010
rhyme is key
posted by The Bridge on the River Kai Ryssdal at 11:03 AM on December 25, 2010
Response by poster: DoS attacks would be another example.
posted by outlandishmarxist at 11:04 AM on December 25, 2010
posted by outlandishmarxist at 11:04 AM on December 25, 2010
Response by poster: It might be "brute force," but I'm going to leave this open for a bit longer, because I feel like there was a better term.
posted by outlandishmarxist at 11:04 AM on December 25, 2010
posted by outlandishmarxist at 11:04 AM on December 25, 2010
I like "brute force" but how about "full frontal assault?'
posted by Max Power at 11:06 AM on December 25, 2010
posted by Max Power at 11:06 AM on December 25, 2010
I think they also use the term in encryption, when someone uses massive processing power to run through possible passwords rather than more subtle methods.
In that case, it most certainly is "brute force", but I don't know that I've every heard that phrase used to refer to military action.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 11:13 AM on December 25, 2010
In that case, it most certainly is "brute force", but I don't know that I've every heard that phrase used to refer to military action.
posted by Nonsteroidal Anti-Inflammatory Drug at 11:13 AM on December 25, 2010
Brute force and sheer numbers is how I have commonly read this.
Overrun by sheer numbers, etc...
posted by zephyr_words at 11:14 AM on December 25, 2010
Overrun by sheer numbers, etc...
posted by zephyr_words at 11:14 AM on December 25, 2010
Mongolian Hordes (aka Chinese Army) technique?
Has kind of a low-tech "brute force and ignorance" connotation, though.
posted by ctmf at 11:19 AM on December 25, 2010
Has kind of a low-tech "brute force and ignorance" connotation, though.
posted by ctmf at 11:19 AM on December 25, 2010
In cryptology, that is definitely known as a brute force attack or dictionary attack.
posted by ctmf at 11:20 AM on December 25, 2010
posted by ctmf at 11:20 AM on December 25, 2010
Overwhelming force.
posted by Paris Hilton at 11:23 AM on December 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by Paris Hilton at 11:23 AM on December 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
It's the Powell doctrine in military planning.
Brute force for passwords.
"flooding the zone?"
posted by CunningLinguist at 11:29 AM on December 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
Brute force for passwords.
"flooding the zone?"
posted by CunningLinguist at 11:29 AM on December 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
Overwhelming force, human wave attack?
The encryption one is definitely brute force.
posted by ArkhanJG at 11:29 AM on December 25, 2010
The encryption one is definitely brute force.
posted by ArkhanJG at 11:29 AM on December 25, 2010
Best answer: "Force concentration is the practice of concentrating a military force, so as to bring to bear such overwhelming force against a portion of an enemy force that the disparity between the two forces alone acts as a force multiplier, in favour of the concentrated forces."
"Saturation attack is a military tactic in which the attacking side hopes to gain an advantage by overwhelming the defending sides technological, physical and mental ability to respond effectively."
posted by gemmy at 11:32 AM on December 25, 2010
"Saturation attack is a military tactic in which the attacking side hopes to gain an advantage by overwhelming the defending sides technological, physical and mental ability to respond effectively."
posted by gemmy at 11:32 AM on December 25, 2010
I thought you called that the shotgun effect or shotgun approach.
posted by cda at 11:32 AM on December 25, 2010
posted by cda at 11:32 AM on December 25, 2010
Strafing? Admittedly idk if I have ever heard this in regards to anything computery related.
posted by elizardbits at 11:33 AM on December 25, 2010
posted by elizardbits at 11:33 AM on December 25, 2010
Asymmetric warfare/assault and war of attrition also spring to mind. Blitzkrieg is more about speed of assault and manouvers, resulting in local superiority and not giving your opponent time to react rather than overall superiority.
posted by ArkhanJG at 11:36 AM on December 25, 2010
posted by ArkhanJG at 11:36 AM on December 25, 2010
Carpet bombing ?
I've heard it used to describe advertising but never anything computer related.
posted by colophon at 11:46 AM on December 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
I've heard it used to describe advertising but never anything computer related.
posted by colophon at 11:46 AM on December 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
There's a name for when you concentrate all your firepower at one point, annihilate it, then switch to a new point, as opposed to averaging your firepower continuously across the entire theater of battle.
posted by zeek321 at 12:27 PM on December 25, 2010
posted by zeek321 at 12:27 PM on December 25, 2010
Attacking on all fronts.
posted by astrochimp at 1:18 PM on December 25, 2010
posted by astrochimp at 1:18 PM on December 25, 2010
In marketing, "stuffing the channel" refers to a means of inflating sales figures to its advantage by releasing an overwhelming amount of product.
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:40 PM on December 25, 2010
posted by Cool Papa Bell at 1:40 PM on December 25, 2010
"scorched earth" is denying the enemy resources by destroying them as you advance or retreat. Literally, to burn crops, houses, etc. as you get out of (or go through) Dodge.
posted by randomkeystrike at 3:07 PM on December 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
posted by randomkeystrike at 3:07 PM on December 25, 2010 [1 favorite]
I can't read the OP's mind, but "overwhelming force" is the common term I would associate with military or law enforcement applications.
posted by randomkeystrike at 3:08 PM on December 25, 2010
posted by randomkeystrike at 3:08 PM on December 25, 2010
As mjb mentions, what comes to mind for me is Full Spectrum Dominance of the battlespace - "the ability to control any situation or defeat any adversary across the range of military operations."
posted by XMLicious at 3:29 PM on December 25, 2010
posted by XMLicious at 3:29 PM on December 25, 2010
Overwhelming force. But maybe the OP is thinking of force multiplier?
posted by muirne81 at 7:34 PM on December 25, 2010
posted by muirne81 at 7:34 PM on December 25, 2010
Yes, I think mjb has got it nailed: 'full spectrum dominance".
posted by Mister Bijou at 10:48 PM on December 25, 2010
posted by Mister Bijou at 10:48 PM on December 25, 2010
This thread is closed to new comments.
posted by Chocolate Pickle at 11:01 AM on December 25, 2010