…but it won’t. Or maybe it will. Who can say?

Here goes a little copywriter’s rant. The phrase design to is one of the most badly used in the marketing and advertising worlds. Think about this: Our product is designed to save you money. Fine, but does it? Why not say: Our product saves you money? If it does something, say that it does it. Simple.

So how should you use the phrase design to? When you are talking about something that it not used for it’s original purpose. Something like this: Originally, perfume was designed to cover up body odour, now it’s become an essential accessory for many women (and men).

Everytime you are tempted to write designed to, remember: The Sinclair C5 was designed to revolutionise driving.

Check out this article about advertisers’ creative attempts to keep print ads alive. And a bit on how the web has changed the way the industry thinks about print ads.

Just earlier today, I saw an online ad for anti-wrinkle cream. I got to drag a bottle over a woman’s face and watch every imperfection disappear. With online ads engaging viewers in a whole new way, I can see why it’s hard for print ads to keep up.

Have you seen any great ads in your magazines lately?

I know I’m looking forward to hearing some new tunes when I open my next issue of Eurowoman.

I just got my Danish driver’s license. It came in the mail, pretty and pink, and I was so proud. I wasn’t nearly as thrilled about the American license I got 10 years ago.

Why? Because getting a driver’s license in Denmark is like getting a pilot’s license in North America. Apparently, young Danes used to fly to the US to get their licenses, because ”all they had to do was drive around the block.” That wasn’t good enough for Denmark, so the authorities make Americans work for it. And pay for it – everything combined, my Danish license cost me a whopping DKK 8,000, or $1,600!

What does this have to do with communication, you ask? Well, it turns out that I now have to learn a whole new language: that of Danish parking signs. I passed the test with flying colors, but am still baffled whenever I have to park in the city. And there seems to be no learning curve as I almost never see the same one twice!

This morning, for example, I saw a ”no parking” circle and arrows pointing up and down. But then why were there so many cars parked along the curb? When I stood under the sign and jumped to get a closer look, I saw the reason. It was in 10-point Arial and looked something like this:

<--- 6m | 6m --->

So 6 meters before and after the sign, parking was just fine.

The examples are endless and I won’t bore you with them here. What I do want to talk about is why I never had problems with parking signs in the US. And I’m beginning to think that the US was simply treating me like a fool. They assumed I wouldn’t be able to figure out complex signs (the same way they can’t figure out that you shouldn’t microwave your wet cat to dry it or drive with coffee in your lap). So they made the signs so simple, 8-year-olds could get them.

But you know what? I think I prefer the more intellectually stimulating Danish approach. Because when I come back to my car and there’s no ticket, I feel like a genius. The same way I felt when I passed my Danish test.

A few days ago, I saw an ad for the billionnaire & bimbo (pardon my language but it’s the best description I can come up with) reality show Erik og Anni goes to Hollywood show no less than seven times in just a couple hours. And with every new ad, I became more and more intrigued and irritated. Intrigued because I keep thinking there’s a good reason for this blatant grammatical disregard that hurts my ears. Irritated because, well, it hurts my ears.

Watching the show confirmed that Erik and Anni are, in fact, two people.

So why do they GOES and not GO to Hollywood together? I’ve written to Kanal 4 to find out and will keep you posted…

A blog is only interesting if you’ve got something to say – something you think is important enough to share with your audience. So when it comes to corporate blogging, the goal must be to blog about topics of interest to the customers – and preferably to get them to comment get into a dialogue.

We know that many of our customers read our blog, but very few actually comment. This goes particularly for the Danish part of our audience. Why is that?

- Because we write in English?
- Because it’s hard to find the time?
- Because the topics aren’t relevant?
- Because the idea of blogging and displaying one’s opinion to the public still takes some getting used to for many people?

Some people are natural bloggers and quickly latch onto a debate. Others are simply not. Even our staff of international copywriters is split into two groups – the bloggers and “the others”. I’m one of “the others”, and the above reasons have kept me from blogging and from commenting on others’ blogs, even though I’ve found the topics really interesting.

However, having written two blog entries now, I’ve come to realize that blogging isn’t as scary as it seems. I might even comment on a blog entry sometime soon!

What are your reasons?
So – to all of you out there who read our blog, but don’t comment: what are your reasons? I’d love to hear them – I know now that mine weren’t half as good as I thought…