Archive for May, 2008

I was web surfing recently and dropped by the Onion for a quick dose of satire when I felt compelled to click on a banner ad – something I rarely do, but I was intrigued.

http://www.theonion.com/content/atlas/

The ”Grand Moments” contest taps into the popularity of social networking sites – places like Facebook and MySpace that are all about friends and storytelling.

This clever campaign lets contestants upload a photo and write about a “grand moment” in life, featuring – of course – Grand Marnier.  These little posts compete for votes. The top prize? A trip for four to Paris – and your grand moment featured on an ad in Times Square. 

Meanwhile, the agency that devised this campaign gets to sit back and relax until the last vote is in. And even without the ad in place, they’ve done their job because after reading a dozen stories about Grand Marnier margaritas and spectacular sunsets, I’m a little thirsty and ready for the weekend.

This week, I had the opportunity to observe four focus groups in action… on American Idol finale nights. Perhaps not the best planning – as the client herself observed sadly - however once the groups started talking, we barely thought about the clash of the Davids. (Thank goodness for DVR.)

Now, there’s no way I could sit through 10 hours of American Idol over two evenings. (In fact, I watched the two hour finale in just 1/2 hour thanks to the Fast Forward button on my DVR.)  But those focus groups kept me glued to me seat! The hardest part was staying quiet behind that one-way, observation mirror.

We stifled quite a few laughs; there was a quick-witted person or even a comedic tag team that upped the fun factor in each group. And we quietly high-fived when our top choice for a brand name won nearly unanimous approval. Most importantly, we came away with some awesome insights into our target markets and how to fine tune our messages so they resonate with those markets.

That’s time well spent… especially since the wrong David won Idol.

The gold rush really started as a trickle. And the first big winner wasn’t James Marshall, who found the original pea-sized piece of gold. It was Sam Brannan, a savvy merchant, who bought up every piece of mining equipment in the region before running through the streets of San Francisco shouting about Marshall’s discovery and waving a bottle of gold dust. Isn’t that what marketing is about? Being visionary trumps being lucky, every time.

Recently, the merits of spell check have been bandied about our office. While everyone lauds the technological advances that have made carbon paper and white out obsolete, one of the greatest advantages of using a computer is routinely ignored. One click of the F7 key – for PC users, at least – can catch a bevy of transposed letters and missing spaces or even identify grammatical missteps.

English is notoriously illogical when it comes to spelling; I’m certain there are more rules on how to combine letters than actual letters in the alphabet. So, it makes sense to use a tool that catches common spelling errors and even suggests possible replacement words before copy goes to your client, your vendor – hey, even your mom. (She’ll be so proud!)

And in case you aren’t convinced, remember, you can’t always take spelling hints from word pronunciation… just ask the gnome.

Recently, the word “w00t” received top honors as Merriam-Webster’s Word of the Year. If you have used the word before, then you are definitely nu skul. Need a hint? Online gamers “w00t” every time they triumph over an opponent.

Maybe it’s because I used to read the dictionary when I was young. Maybe it’s because I proofread every day in the course of my job. But, I’d like to believe that those formative years spent preparing for spelling bees were not a total waste of time. In an age dominated by instant messaging, I am a relic – a champion of accurate spelling, punctuation and grammar.

I have tried to adapt. My first attempt to send a text message required nearly 20 minutes – for a single sentence – during which time the person called to see what was taking so long for my reply. My second attempt took slightly longer because I was struggling to cobble together a string of letters that would accurately convey my message. I gave up and returned the text message by phone. UG2BK! Okay, I admit I just went to netlingo.com to find out how to say “You’ve got to be kidding.” Otherwise, this blog entry might have taken another hour.

Is correct spelling passé? Are we destined to become a shorthand society? The next brochure we design may not be filled with text speak and emoticons, but imagine how much messaging could fit on a billboard when several sentences can be summed up in a few letters and numbers. So, are you old school or nu skul? Do you “w00t” or say “hooray”? Let us know; I promise not to proofread your reply.