Intentional Misspelling

[KristineS]

I was doing some research and came across a company with the name "Your Putting Me On". Now, anyone who speaks grammatically knows that the name should be "You're Putting Me On". My question is this, do those sorts of misspellings make the name more memorable, or do they turn you off the business?

Also, do you think the misspelling was intentional, or do you think the person just didn't know any better? I have to think it was intentional, since you'd have to assume that someone would have told the business owner pretty early on about the misspelling. If it hasn't been changed, then I have to assume it was meant to be that way.

Just wondering how the rest of you feel about this kind of stuff. Personally, it annoys me.

[Harold Mansfield]

Sometimes you can see the intention, especially when people use "K" instead of "C", and puns.
I don't see where that one is going, or the pun in the misspelling at all but I would have to assume it's intentional, especially if they have been around for a while.

I searched for that name and if it's the site that I came across that sells apparel, I would have to take it all in context, especially since the site screams "We did it ourselves" , and the unprofessional copy and assume they didn't consult anyone at all and don't know it's bad grammar.

[Spider]

"Your Putting Me On" is not grammatically incorrect. It depends on the context.

If they were trying to say "you are putting me on," then yes it is incorrect.

If they were saying someone has been putting me on and are now referring to their putting me on, "your putting me on" is grammatically correct.

Besides, you describe this as the company name, and as such any combination of words or letters can constitute a name. How about "Zippety Doo-Doo" for a trash company name?! And what is a Nike?

"Oh My Gosh!" could be a really catchy name, as could "Oh My Gash!"

Mispelling? I don't think so.

[vangogh]

Depends on the site and the topic of the site. For example take icanhascheezeburger. Not exactly grammatically correct, but it is catchy (assuming you can remember how they spell it, which I may have gotten wrong).

It became a very web 2.0 thing to pick domains that are based on a misspelling in part because of the shortage of short domain names and then because it was simply trendy.

As long as people will remember the name and be able to spell I don't think it matters, but if you purposely introduce grammatical mistakes you probably make both hard. Then again what's easier to remember and spell, flickr.com or acoolnewplacetoaddyourphotosonline.com?

[Patrysha]

OT but Nike is the greek goddess of Victory (for both sports and battle)

[Spider]

OT but Nike is the greek goddess of Victory (for both sports and battle)Isn't the internet wonderful - you can learn something new every day!

I knew a Nickie once who was quite a goddess!!!

[lav]

I purposely mispelled (misspelled however you spell it lol) our Name XL Grafix. I wanted it to appear more "racey" when advertising on the side of our vehicles and I think the x at the end is kinda cool and appeals to a younger group (there is a reason for that in my future plans). The other reason is so i could get the .com as well as the .com.au domains as any domain with the word "graphics" in it is almost impossible to get. Im not having too many problems with people searching for us on the web, we are getting a lot of visitors who are searching for the keywords "xl graphics" but i am having some issues with people getting the email address wrong.

I would not have even noticed the "Your" grammar error at first. Your and you're gets misused by so many people these days it has made a lot of us immune to the error

[Patrysha]

I'm not immune to it, it bugs me every time! It being the Your/You're error. I don't mind intentional alternative spellings like Grafix...after all I altered the spelling of my given name and it has served me well over the years.

I can spot errors in the writing of others so easily. I can't spot my own errors in a thousand passes. I tend to be forgiving if it's an error or two, and get frustrated only if there are tons of errors that affect my reading continuity.

Just the other day I was frustrated with the poor translation of subtitles on a movie. They were silly mistakes, and being frustrated was petty and unproductive, but it bugged me like fingers on a chalkboard. Just leaves a person with an icky feeling all over.

[vangogh]

I wanted it to appear more "racey" when advertising on the side of our vehicles and I think the x at the end is kinda cool and appeals to a younger group

Good example of how a misspelling might work. I think it really depends on your business, your market, etc. I know I visit plenty of sites daily that use a misspelled domain. And I know plenty of sites I avoid because they misspell every word.

[Remipub]

"Your Putting Me On" is not grammatically incorrect. It depends on the context.

If they were trying to say "you are putting me on," then yes it is incorrect.

If they were saying someone has been putting me on and are now referring to their putting me on, "your putting me on" is grammatically correct.


Huh?! I'm sorry, and I mean no disrespect but what the heck are you talking about?? I don't see how "your putting me on" could be correct in any circumstance.

And I agree - that kind of mispelling drives me nuts. Plays on words are fine, but that clearly was a case of not knowing how to spell. Doesn't leave me with a good impression. Disclaimer: I am a bit of a grammar Nazi.

[Spider]

Huh?! I'm sorry, and I mean no disrespect but what the heck are you talking about?? I don't see how "your putting me on" could be correct in any circumstance.
And I agree - that kind of mispelling drives me nuts. Plays on words are fine, but that clearly was a case of not knowing how to spell. Doesn't leave me with a good impression. Disclaimer: I am a bit of a grammar Nazi.Okay.... let us say you and I have been putting each other on. "Putting someone on" is a term I know as teasing. Let us suppose one of us gets a little too personal and we stop putting each other on to discuss it, perhaps to apologize or explain.

How would you say, "My putting you on was friendly banter but your putting me on was a little too personal."

You could say, "My teasing you was friendly but your teasing me was a little too personal," but how would you say it using the terms "putting you on" and "putting me on"?

[dynocat]

Okay.... let us say you and I have been putting each other on. "Putting someone on" is a term I know as teasing. Let us suppose one of us gets a little too personal and we stop putting each other on to discuss it, perhaps to apologize or explain.

How would you say, "My putting you on was friendly banter but your putting me on was a little too personal."

You could say, "My teasing you was friendly but your teasing me was a little too personal," but how would you say it using the terms "putting you on" and "putting me on"?

I'm with Spider in this debate. :) He just beat me to responding similarly. Especially since it's apparenly a clothing site, I could seen them treating "your putting me on" as a noun phrase.

[vangogh]

Is "putting me on" a common phrase that's used as a noun? Since it's the name of a business I would think it should be before using that phrase as part of the company name.

I agree it's plausible that it could be, but it seems somewhat awkward and I think it's more likely that this business made a grammatical error. I'm not questioning the possibility of "Your" being intentional, just suggesting that "You're" was the likely intention and it turned into "Your" due to poor spelling. The amateur nature of the site itself also leads me to think grammatical error.

If it were "Your Put Me On" I might be more inclined to think it was intentional.

This brings up another questions. Let's assume "Your" is the intended word. Is it a good choice? Look at the confusion it's causing here. I would say the majority so far see it as a misspelling, whether it was or not. It's an awkward phrase at best.

[handprop]

I have a quick minute so i'll offer this:

Studies have indicated names like this appear hokey to the consumer. Ask yourself this "Will the name be a factor in how much product or service I sell?" The answer is no. People waste time spending hours on topics like this but in the end it doesn't matter to the consumer. Just keep things simple! I tell people to get past it quickly so you can move forward to building a strong marketing foundation.

Logos are no different, people spend thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours all concerned with something that doesn't matter. Does the name IBM ring a bell, or how about Microsoft? Just pick something simple and move on.

A customer will never say "I bought this because they have a cool name". That doesn't mean thought should be absent in the process but a name and logo can be developed in ten minutes.

Remember when GOOGLE first started? We all use Google but do we use it because it's a funny or goofy name? Of course not, we use it because it's the best. Consumers use it because it's the best, and when consumers jump ship to another search engine so will I. How much value do the founders of google attribute to the name? Would they say "Our name is why were number one" of course not.

If I had two names in front of me and one was normal and simple and the other was silly and all multi colored you would have to convince me that the second one would increase the value to the consumer before I would pick it. In the end value will trump the name of a business every time! This isn't my opinion, my opinion doesn't matter! All I care about is the opinion of the consumer and they don't care for silly names so I don't either.

Just my 2 pennies worth
Mike

[KristineS]

I'm a bit of a grammar Nazi, so things like this bug me a lot. I threw the question out here because I wondered if it bothered other people as much as it bothers me. I'm not sure that I would avoid doing business with a company that has a name misspelling or uses poor grammar in their business name, but it would annoy me.

I also do want to clarify, spelling your company name differently, graphix instead of graphics for instance, isn't really the same thing, at least in my opinion. That sort of thing is just an option spelling choice which, while it technically might not be considered correct, doesn't really alter the meaning of the word. A misspelling like Your instead of You're does alter the meaning and is just poor grammar.

Did I mention I'm a grammar Nazi?

[vangogh]

Mike I'm going to disagree with you about a company name. I think it's much more important than you're saying. In fact you even agree since you started your post saying people don't respond to hokey names. So you have to at least think about a name long enough not to make it hokey.

Your company name goes to branding and branding is very important for any business. Sure Google spread because they had the best search engine, but they also spread because they had a name that was easy to say and spell and pass on to others. You're right a customer isn't going to buy something because a business has a cool name, but the right name makes it more likely the customer will remember the name and be able to recall it when they're looking to buy.

If search is going to be an important part of your traffic then your name and domain name are also important. If you can get a keyword into your domain you have a much better chance pulling search traffic on that keyword than if you don't have it in your name.

I think I may be arguing a bit of semantics with you here and that you'll probably agree with most of the above. It was your comment about a logo and name taking no more than 10 minutes to come up with that I strongly disagree with. Both do take longer to do right. In the case of a logo a small business certainly doesn't need to spend thousands of dollars and months to create, but paying a logo designer a few hundred to have a logo in a week or two is a good investment.

[Vivid Color Zack]

^ Having a logo you're (not your) proud of does a lot for the business owner mentally too. I think it's a big part of feeling like a real company. Plus it's one more thing you can mark off on your (not You're) "finished" list. So you can move on to more important things like actually running the business.

Nobody has mentioned the potential frustrations that come up with oddly spelled names. Try to go to a web site that one of my designers has just by me referring you by mouth. "Go check out xmediagroup.com" but it's spelled "eckxmediagroup.com" He's going to have to spell that out to every person he ever tells to email him. That gets old. That kind of miscommunication can cost you business, cause you to miss important emails, prevent a customer from seeing your site, etc.

I just like to spell things how they're supposed to be spelled and maybe stand out in other ways.

[handprop]

I mean this in a good way but experience and vast quantities of data prove me right. I do not agree with you. Please don’t take that the wrong way I mean no disrespect. People don’t respond to hokey names so I say don’t be hokey, that alone saves time.

Branding is the most abused and misused word in the realm of marketing. Branding is not a function of marketing it’s a result of marketing. It’s not branding that’s important it’s marketing foundation and marketing infrastructure that’s reigns king. Good marketing creates branding. Branding by itself plays an important role in companies like Coca-Cola because the goal of branding is to maintain market share in a billion dollar company.

The small business on the other hand is more interested in the process of marketing which in effect creates branding. I realize I’ll get flamed for saying all that but experience is the best teacher. The problem is most companies think branding is a substitute for core marketing principles but all it ends up doing for most companies is creating a fantasy marketing facade with poor results, an empty shell. You probably all know about the three groups of people that are marketed to so I won’t go into detail with any of that but what I always discover is the three groups are neglected and no infrastructure is in place to manage and market within each group. As long as the three groups are neglected no amount of branding or picking the right names will help develop growth. Names are always a fun project but I recommend sticking to the simplest solutions you can. It’s a rare occasion when a business attributes any failure to a name. As long as that’s true pick something that everyone can remember and write. I always tell people to pick a word that gets used every day because then at least you have a chance of consumers remembering it, especially when they use a search engine. Beyond that it doesn’t matter.


What if the founders of google used the name “GARBAGE” instead of google, would that of made a difference? NO! What about if they called it FOOGLE would sales be cut by even 1 dollar? NO! I hold my ground because the reality is I have personally researched and studied companies that have failed and branding will never be the cause, nor will the name. Don’t look for answers with successful companies, study the ones that fail! Google is a good name because of two reasons only: Value + Marketing. These two items alone made the name google a powerful word! The name didn’t create it by itself. A good marketer can make any name famous!

Was the name Osama Bin Laden a bad name before the attack on 9-11???? Of course not, in fact is was the name of wealth!!! But what about now? No amount of marketing can fix that name. The only reason the name is bad now is because of an action, which is my point.

As far as logos are concerned I certainly don’t want to down play the role of a graphic designer because what they contribute to the marketing puzzle is important. But we do have to understand exactly what role a logo plays.

My answer will once again be solved by the customer. I tell everybody to pick one color only and if they want to feel good about themselves then maybe pick two colors. The customer doesn’t care, in fact the current trend is going in reverse. For a few years the trend in vehicles was to graphic the entire object like a clown exploded. All that was is amateur marketers convinced that would increase branding and now could charge more. Business owners learned something quite different. They learned that sales had nothing to do with graphics that consumers can’t read.

Now the new trend is going back to the old ways and just keeping it simple and readable. That doesn’t mean you can’t have fun but I promise you sales growth is better suited to solid marketing principles. Once again I refer to the three groups! Find a company that experiences exponential growth and you will find the three groups are marketed to like a well oiled machine. When I visit a great company I always look at the marketing process and it’s never broken.

Here is my slogan “Understand the big three and you’re home free”

Just my thoughts, don’t hold it against me

Mike

[vangogh]

People don’t respond to hokey names so I say don’t be hokey, that alone saves time.

I agree. But that alone does say that a name means something. I won't disagree that if Google has called themselves Froogle instead things would be vastly different. However had they named themselves "The Latest and Greatest Search Engine You've Ever Seen or Ever Will See" it would have. There is something to a name.

Branding is definitely far more than a name. It's about the associations people have with you and your company. A name does go into though. Would you choose a beverage called "Dirty Brown Drink" over Coca-Cola. Maybe. Probably not. It doesn't sound appealing. Now having had "Brown Dirty Drink" and enjoyed it you wouldn't care, but you certainly would the first time when all you have to go by is the name.

The issue isn't about whether or not you should have a hokey name or not. I agree with you that hokey doesn't work. But I do think a name in general is important. You want people to remember your name and now that people are typing it into search engines you want them to be able to spell it too.


I tell everybody to pick one color only and if they want to feel good about themselves then maybe pick two colors. The customer doesn’t care

If you ask people they'll tell you they don't care, but their actions suggest they do. Blue makes us calmer and conveys feelings of trust. Red makes us more impulsive. People do react to color. I'm not suggesting the average site owner needs to do months of research to choose a color, but a poor choice can hurt your business.

Here's a link to a study on first impressions in web design (http://www.websiteoptimization.com/speed/tweak/blink/) and the conclusion of the study


This research shows that reliable decisions about your site can be made in as little as 1/20th of a second. This emotional judgment can color subsequent judgments made after further reflection. Even though your site may have superior products, services, or usability, an initial negative impression from a poor or slow design can steer customers towards your competition. You only get one chance to create a good first impression, make it count. A clean, professional, and fast-loading site can ensure that your first impression will be a good one.

I realize color isn't specifically mentioned in that conclusion, but color is certainly a part of design.

You can also read Malcom Gladwell's book Blink (http://www.gladwell.com/blink/), about the thinking we do and the conclusions we draw in the first second or two.

Like it or not initial impressions do affect further impressions. You can certainly overcome a first impression and change people's minds. First impression and logo design is part of that first impression has a bearing on what comes after.

[Steve B]

I would definitely avoid doing business with a company that has a blatant spelling error in its name or logo. It's in the same category as someone that has a business card with the perf marks on it that was obviously printed on their home computer and has a magnetic sign on the door of their truck with their mispelled company logo on it. I doubt I'm alone on this - but ... I could be wrong.

[Harold Mansfield]

I would definitely avoid doing business with a company that has a blatant spelling error in its name or logo. It's in the same category as someone that has a business card with the perf marks on it that was obviously printed on their home computer and has a magnetic sign on the door of their truck with their mispelled company logo on it. I doubt I'm alone on this - but ... I could be wrong.

Ha, that's funny that you brought up those exact things....when I was in college, I had a job going door to door selling tropical and exotic plants in the Miami area and we had all those things....magnetic signs on the trucks, and home printed business cards.
We weren't ripping anyone off, but it was definitely fly by night. Once we saturated an area, you never saw us again.

[handprop]

I'm gonna start a new thread.

[KristineS]

This is very interesting. I know I tend to be sensitive to these sorts of things, so I wanted to see what other people thought. Personally, I would be mortified if I misused and misspelled a word or phrase and a customer came and told me. I guess that's just me, because I see that sort of thing on the Internet and on signs for businesses all the time.

To me, it speaks of carelessness and as Harold pointed out, a sort of fly by night quality. If you don't care enough to get the big details, like your company name right, are you going to care enough to get the details of my order right?

[handprop]

Yes, that's why big long names with funky spellings is just foolish. Consumers also agree, why would you go that route if simple works great. Color is the same way, what's wrong with the basic primary colors???

Mike

[aussieroo1]

Personally, wrong spellings and incorrect grammar turn me off especially for formal documents. It loses product credibility and makes me think twice about hiring that service/ buying a product.