The Next Generation of Online Shorthand
By DAVID POGUE of the New York Times.
By now, everybody, I hope, knows what LOL stands for. Most people probably recognize IMHO, BRB, and AFK. (If you don't know these, you can always Google* them.)
Online shorthand like this arose, of course, because it's so hard to type full English words on a cellphone's number keypad. And it's tedious to type the same common phrases over and over again in chat rooms or instant messages.
The problem with these online abbreviations, however, is that they're absolutely ancient; entire generations of teenagers have learned and outgrown LOL and OMG. The world desperately needs a new set of acronyms more relevant to today's online chat participants.
So here, with my compliments, are a few proposals: an updated list of online acronyms.
(In hopes to keep the list relevant to the youthful target audience, I invited my more recent summer interns, Zach Brass and Bart Stein, to write a few. Their suggestions, along with some from my occasional research assistant Emma Story, appear here along with mine. Thanks, dudes!)
* GI -- Google it
* MOP -- Mac or PC?
* FCAO -- five conversations at once
* IIOYT -- is it on YouTube?
* DYFH -- did you Facebook him/her?
* BIOI -- buy it on iTunes
* CMOS -- call me on Skype
* GGNUDP -- gotta go, no unlimited data plan
* WLF -- with the lady friend
* JUOC -- jacked up on caffeine
* 12OF -- twelve-o'clock flasher (refers to someone less than competent with technology, to the extent that every appliance in the house flashes "12:00")
* SML -- send me the link
* RHB -- read his/her blog
* MBLO -- much better-looking online
* KYST -- knew you'd say that
* NBL -- no battery left
* CTTC -- can't talk, teacher's coming
* TWD -- typing while driving
* CMT (CMF, CMM, CMB) -- check my Twitter (Facebook, Myspace, blog)
* CYE (CYF, CYM, CYB)--check your email (Facebook, Myspace, blog)
And a few just for iPhone owners:
* SPLETS -- send pics later; Edge too slow
* CSVUI -- can't send video, using iPhone
* BPWMI -- boss playing with my iPhone
* SIK -- sorry, iPhone keyboard
* OOM -- out of messages (for iPhone users who haven't upgraded their AT&T "200 messages a month" plan)
Finally, it occurred to me: Why should the convenience of online shorthand be the province of teenagers and twentysomethings? There ought to be a list that we, their parents and employers, can use, too. And now there is:
* WIWYA -- when I was your age
* YKT – you kids today
* CRRE -- conversation required; remove earbuds
* WDO? -- what are you doing online?
* NIWYM -- no idea what you mean
* NCK -- not a chance, kid
* B2W -- back to work
* AYD? -- are you drunk?
* LODH -- log off, do homework
* DYMK? -- does your mother know?
* IGAT -- I've got abbreviations, too
* IMHO = In My Humble Opinion; BRB = Be Right Back; AFK = Away From Keyboard
Do ads have to show the product?
A Gorilla sparks controversy
A Gorilla sparks controversy
The ad below has caused a lot of controversy in the 'ad world'.
Why?
A number of reasons, the most obvious being it lacks the 'oh so common' approach of the product in use.
Where's the bite and smile? Is it necessary?
Or is 'borrowed interest' enough to sell this product?
Below is one man's opinion.
The answer is that there isn't one - at least on the surface. Cadbury's latest advert for Dairy Milk will take quite a big risk by ignoring the product. Alex Benady goes behind the scenes
Published: 14 May 2007
Advertising has a surprising number of unwritten rules and conventions for an industry that prides itself on its left-field, out-of-the-box, blue-sky thinking. Cars must be shown speeding round hairpin bends. Haircare commercials are apparently obliged to feature a dodgy science sequence and there seems to be some law which says that banks have to be youthful, honest and in touch.
But chocolate advertising has long been blessed with a choice of clichés. It can either make us drool in anticipation of its ineffable deliciousness or inspire us with the sight of happy people using the product to enhance their happy lives.
Soon on ITV1, Cadbury, the world's largest confectioner, will unveil a new advertising campaign for its milk chocolate that the company says is critical to both the Cadbury Dairy Milk brand and even the future of the company itself. "Everything we do with CDM is vital to the business because it's such an important part of our brand portfolio," says head of communications Tony Bilsborough. A mark of just how important is that the campaign is worth £9m, making it the biggest spend on chocolate for many years.
Yet the new commercial does not show chocolate; it doesn't show people eating chocolate; throughout its full 90 seconds, it doesn't mention the C word once. The film opens with a title, "A Glass And A Half Full Productions presents". Then we hear the opening bars of the Phil Collins hit "In the Air Tonight". The camera pulls back slowly to reveal that the new face of Cadbury Dairy Milk is in fact a gorilla. The effect is spooky and primal. As the big drum break starts, the camera pulls further back to reveal that the gorilla is hammering an enormous drum kit in a karaoke-style bangalong.
The film comes with impeccable creative credentials. Fallon is currently Campaign magazine's agency of the year. The client is Cadbury marketing supremo Phil Rumbol who was previously responsible for the hugely successful Stella Artois campaign at his last job as marketing director of InBev. And it was written and directed by Juan Cabral, whose Sony Balls and Paint ads made him the most awarded creative in the world last year.
It's such a pompous piece of music and the thrashing of the gorilla is so self-absorbed that the effect is hilarious. It's short-form comedy just like one of those funny clips you see on YouTube. But it seems to have precious little to do with chocolate.
And that is the whole point says Laurence Green, planning director of Fallon, the advertising agency behind the ad. People don't want advertisers droning on and on about their products any more; they want to be entertained. "Cadbury traditionally did well-built ads for the interruption age when consumers had an implicit media deal with advertisers. In exchange for free TV they would allow us to interrupt their programmes with commercials," says Green. "The nation has a massive soft spot for CDM and it is deeply embedded in the national psyche. For a brand that is so well known, it's arguable whether the old style interruption advertising model is the best model for the future. So we are trying to engage more genuinely with our audience."
But there is a product message in there too. In fact, the entire commercial is a product metaphor. "Chocolate is about joy and pleasure. For years Cadbury has told us that it was generous, through the glass and a half strap line. We thought, don't tell us how generous you are; show us. Don't tell us about joy; show us joy."
That's just what the campaign tries to do. "We've created a branded space in which Cadbury's can be generous in bringing joy," says Green. That may sound like adman's blather, but it a sign of an important philosophical shift in the way that advertising agencies are beginning to approach their work.
The traditional commercial was a scientifically modulated piece of communication in which consumer behaviour was scrutinised, product use closely studied and desired responses deliberated upon at length. In the new approach, almost anything can be inserted into the branded space as long as it is entertaining and brings joy. It's as if the agency has said "Sod it, forget the science. Let's just have a laugh."
It's a bit more thought out than that, says Green. "Advertising can be effective without a traditional 'message', 'proposition' or 'benefits'. Indeed, some of the latest advertising thinking suggests that attempts to impose them can actually reduce effectiveness. We are trading our traditional focus on proposition and persuasion in favour of deepening a relationship."
But it's still a gamble of heroic proportions, and given the importance of CDM and Cadbury's gaffe-strewn recent history, the stakes couldn't be higher.
We spend £1m a day on CDM in the UK, where it alone accounts for a seventh of the entire UK chocolate market. The new campaign aims to build long-term brand values, but it is also key to short-term sales. Due to the peculiarities of the chocolate market you get only one go at that a year, says Green. "You can't advertise chocolate in the summer. Easter and Christmas are separate markets, so the only chance to build the brand comes in late spring. This campaign will drive sales for the year."
Cadbury is ending its sponsorship of Coronation Street later this year, which will place an even greater burden on the campaign. So it simply must work. But CDM is Cadbury's flagship product. The company is part of the £7bn a year Cadbury Schweppes conglomerate which is being split into drinks and confectionery components.
What it cannot afford is any more of the blunders that have dogged it of late. Birmingham city council announced that it intends to prosecute Cadbury over last year's salmonella outbreak. Last month humiliatingly it had to withdraw a £5m launch campaign for Trident chewing gum because so many people found it offensive. In February the company had to recall thousands of Easter eggs which were distributed without nut allergy warnings. And in the same month Cadbury Schweppes' US operation was pilloried for a promotional treasure hunt which led consumers to a graveyard in Boston containing the remains of historic American figures.
An obvious question in regard to this latest campaign is whether any real gorillas were used. "No, it was a man in a gorilla suit," explains Green patiently. Despite its recent troubles the company says it has not been on banana skin alert. "We simply followed our normal due diligence," said Tony Bilsborough.
He doesn't explain how he will apologise to the nation if the new commercial sparks a Phil Collins revival. But the bigger risk is that the campaign is too far removed from conventional chocolate advertising to be effective. As one veteran Cadbury hand put it, "They get it right when the ads make you drool. Without chocolate, Cadbury ads lose their sensual appeal and along with that go sales."
It would be a shame if he is right, because our future ad breaks will be all the duller as a result.
http://www.aglassandahalffullproductions.com/
Why?
A number of reasons, the most obvious being it lacks the 'oh so common' approach of the product in use.
Where's the bite and smile? Is it necessary?
Or is 'borrowed interest' enough to sell this product?
Below is one man's opinion.
Advertising: Spot the link between a gorilla and chocolate
The answer is that there isn't one - at least on the surface. Cadbury's latest advert for Dairy Milk will take quite a big risk by ignoring the product. Alex Benady goes behind the scenes
Published: 14 May 2007
Advertising has a surprising number of unwritten rules and conventions for an industry that prides itself on its left-field, out-of-the-box, blue-sky thinking. Cars must be shown speeding round hairpin bends. Haircare commercials are apparently obliged to feature a dodgy science sequence and there seems to be some law which says that banks have to be youthful, honest and in touch.
But chocolate advertising has long been blessed with a choice of clichés. It can either make us drool in anticipation of its ineffable deliciousness or inspire us with the sight of happy people using the product to enhance their happy lives.
Soon on ITV1, Cadbury, the world's largest confectioner, will unveil a new advertising campaign for its milk chocolate that the company says is critical to both the Cadbury Dairy Milk brand and even the future of the company itself. "Everything we do with CDM is vital to the business because it's such an important part of our brand portfolio," says head of communications Tony Bilsborough. A mark of just how important is that the campaign is worth £9m, making it the biggest spend on chocolate for many years.
Yet the new commercial does not show chocolate; it doesn't show people eating chocolate; throughout its full 90 seconds, it doesn't mention the C word once. The film opens with a title, "A Glass And A Half Full Productions presents". Then we hear the opening bars of the Phil Collins hit "In the Air Tonight". The camera pulls back slowly to reveal that the new face of Cadbury Dairy Milk is in fact a gorilla. The effect is spooky and primal. As the big drum break starts, the camera pulls further back to reveal that the gorilla is hammering an enormous drum kit in a karaoke-style bangalong.
The film comes with impeccable creative credentials. Fallon is currently Campaign magazine's agency of the year. The client is Cadbury marketing supremo Phil Rumbol who was previously responsible for the hugely successful Stella Artois campaign at his last job as marketing director of InBev. And it was written and directed by Juan Cabral, whose Sony Balls and Paint ads made him the most awarded creative in the world last year.
It's such a pompous piece of music and the thrashing of the gorilla is so self-absorbed that the effect is hilarious. It's short-form comedy just like one of those funny clips you see on YouTube. But it seems to have precious little to do with chocolate.
And that is the whole point says Laurence Green, planning director of Fallon, the advertising agency behind the ad. People don't want advertisers droning on and on about their products any more; they want to be entertained. "Cadbury traditionally did well-built ads for the interruption age when consumers had an implicit media deal with advertisers. In exchange for free TV they would allow us to interrupt their programmes with commercials," says Green. "The nation has a massive soft spot for CDM and it is deeply embedded in the national psyche. For a brand that is so well known, it's arguable whether the old style interruption advertising model is the best model for the future. So we are trying to engage more genuinely with our audience."
But there is a product message in there too. In fact, the entire commercial is a product metaphor. "Chocolate is about joy and pleasure. For years Cadbury has told us that it was generous, through the glass and a half strap line. We thought, don't tell us how generous you are; show us. Don't tell us about joy; show us joy."
That's just what the campaign tries to do. "We've created a branded space in which Cadbury's can be generous in bringing joy," says Green. That may sound like adman's blather, but it a sign of an important philosophical shift in the way that advertising agencies are beginning to approach their work.
The traditional commercial was a scientifically modulated piece of communication in which consumer behaviour was scrutinised, product use closely studied and desired responses deliberated upon at length. In the new approach, almost anything can be inserted into the branded space as long as it is entertaining and brings joy. It's as if the agency has said "Sod it, forget the science. Let's just have a laugh."
It's a bit more thought out than that, says Green. "Advertising can be effective without a traditional 'message', 'proposition' or 'benefits'. Indeed, some of the latest advertising thinking suggests that attempts to impose them can actually reduce effectiveness. We are trading our traditional focus on proposition and persuasion in favour of deepening a relationship."
But it's still a gamble of heroic proportions, and given the importance of CDM and Cadbury's gaffe-strewn recent history, the stakes couldn't be higher.
We spend £1m a day on CDM in the UK, where it alone accounts for a seventh of the entire UK chocolate market. The new campaign aims to build long-term brand values, but it is also key to short-term sales. Due to the peculiarities of the chocolate market you get only one go at that a year, says Green. "You can't advertise chocolate in the summer. Easter and Christmas are separate markets, so the only chance to build the brand comes in late spring. This campaign will drive sales for the year."
Cadbury is ending its sponsorship of Coronation Street later this year, which will place an even greater burden on the campaign. So it simply must work. But CDM is Cadbury's flagship product. The company is part of the £7bn a year Cadbury Schweppes conglomerate which is being split into drinks and confectionery components.
What it cannot afford is any more of the blunders that have dogged it of late. Birmingham city council announced that it intends to prosecute Cadbury over last year's salmonella outbreak. Last month humiliatingly it had to withdraw a £5m launch campaign for Trident chewing gum because so many people found it offensive. In February the company had to recall thousands of Easter eggs which were distributed without nut allergy warnings. And in the same month Cadbury Schweppes' US operation was pilloried for a promotional treasure hunt which led consumers to a graveyard in Boston containing the remains of historic American figures.
An obvious question in regard to this latest campaign is whether any real gorillas were used. "No, it was a man in a gorilla suit," explains Green patiently. Despite its recent troubles the company says it has not been on banana skin alert. "We simply followed our normal due diligence," said Tony Bilsborough.
He doesn't explain how he will apologise to the nation if the new commercial sparks a Phil Collins revival. But the bigger risk is that the campaign is too far removed from conventional chocolate advertising to be effective. As one veteran Cadbury hand put it, "They get it right when the ads make you drool. Without chocolate, Cadbury ads lose their sensual appeal and along with that go sales."
It would be a shame if he is right, because our future ad breaks will be all the duller as a result.
http://www.aglassandahalffullproductions.com/
Shedding New Light On Chandeliers, Geometrix by Schonbek
Schonbek has revolutionized high-tech lighting with Geometrix®.
With this collection Schonbek put forth the unorthodox idea that spare and simple could also be bold and brilliant. They brought together the purity of halogen or xenon light, and the fire of crystal, to change the way light interacts with designed space.
The New 2009 Jaguar XF: A Very Sexy Kitty
I think this new Jaguar is absolutely stunning despite what long-term Jag lovers are saying about it's losing the classic Jag lines and becoming a more conventional (i.e. bland) car.
Yes, it has hints of the Lexus GS and a rear end that reminds one of the Aston (and that's a good thing).
It is true, it doesn't scream 'jag' and maybe that's why I think it's so beautiful.
Take a look and decide for yourself:
-usa.jpg)
-usa.jpg)
Reprinted from Autoblog:
Last December, the Jaguar C-XF Concept received an early debut ahead of the Detroit Auto Show thanks to some memorable embargo breaks by established media outlets. The 2009 Jaguar XF, the production car inspired by the concept, was supposed to be unveiled tonight at midnight, but again things did not go as planned. We colluded with our friends over at Jalopnik to wait and see how things played out, as well as remained in communication with Jaguar to help identify embargo breakers, but the cat (hahaha) is out of the bag. You can read more about the meta circumstances surrounding the leakage over at Jalopnik.
-usa.jpg)
Meet the 2009 Jaguar XF, the car that could save the automaker from Coventry. The new saloon's styling is polarizing, as evident by the split Autoblog crew that's either deriding or drooling over it. The CX-F Concept's influence is clear, but it's wrapped around a more conventional shape that meets pesky things like safety standards. Those cat eyes remain, as well as more aggressive details in the front bumper, and Jaguar's now signature air vents are present, as well. The rear end from Aston has remained virtually untouched, which is a bit of a distraction, but overall the 2009 Jaguar XF is a looker to the Nth degree.
See the full press release and technical specs from Jaguar, as well as our complete gallery of high-res pics by clicking here.
The debut of the Jaguar C-XF concept at the Detroit Auto Show, inspired/paved way for the production of another Jaguar, the XF. This car might be jaguar’s last chance to prove it’s existence as a luxury brand. The XF has the same detailed bumper and cat eyes present in Jaguar’s line up, the back some will argue it looks like a BMW. New features include signature air vents, and the Drive selector (it raises when you want to select the drive, and disappears when not in use). The XF will be released in four models: a 2.7 liter V6 240hp at the entry level, (Europe only) all the way to a 4.2 liter V8 420hp, which jumps from 0-60 in 5.5 seconds.
-usa.jpg)
-usa.jpg)
Yes, it has hints of the Lexus GS and a rear end that reminds one of the Aston (and that's a good thing).
It is true, it doesn't scream 'jag' and maybe that's why I think it's so beautiful.
Take a look and decide for yourself:
-usa.jpg)
-usa.jpg)
Reprinted from Autoblog:
Last December, the Jaguar C-XF Concept received an early debut ahead of the Detroit Auto Show thanks to some memorable embargo breaks by established media outlets. The 2009 Jaguar XF, the production car inspired by the concept, was supposed to be unveiled tonight at midnight, but again things did not go as planned. We colluded with our friends over at Jalopnik to wait and see how things played out, as well as remained in communication with Jaguar to help identify embargo breakers, but the cat (hahaha) is out of the bag. You can read more about the meta circumstances surrounding the leakage over at Jalopnik.
-usa.jpg)
Meet the 2009 Jaguar XF, the car that could save the automaker from Coventry. The new saloon's styling is polarizing, as evident by the split Autoblog crew that's either deriding or drooling over it. The CX-F Concept's influence is clear, but it's wrapped around a more conventional shape that meets pesky things like safety standards. Those cat eyes remain, as well as more aggressive details in the front bumper, and Jaguar's now signature air vents are present, as well. The rear end from Aston has remained virtually untouched, which is a bit of a distraction, but overall the 2009 Jaguar XF is a looker to the Nth degree.
See the full press release and technical specs from Jaguar, as well as our complete gallery of high-res pics by clicking here.
The debut of the Jaguar C-XF concept at the Detroit Auto Show, inspired/paved way for the production of another Jaguar, the XF. This car might be jaguar’s last chance to prove it’s existence as a luxury brand. The XF has the same detailed bumper and cat eyes present in Jaguar’s line up, the back some will argue it looks like a BMW. New features include signature air vents, and the Drive selector (it raises when you want to select the drive, and disappears when not in use). The XF will be released in four models: a 2.7 liter V6 240hp at the entry level, (Europe only) all the way to a 4.2 liter V8 420hp, which jumps from 0-60 in 5.5 seconds.
-usa.jpg)
-usa.jpg)
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