As I was driving down a local highway, I noticed a local tire repair shop’s outdoor sign advertising “WIFI YL U W8.” It was interesting to note that while they were advertising the availability of WiFi to customers who are waiting on service, they also were using text-speak to do so. With the prevalence of text messaging, Twitter, social networking, instant messaging, and such, most passersby probably read the ad with no problem, but I wonder if any customers felt put off by the message.
What do you think? Should they have spelled out “WiFi while you wait” (which easily falls into the common billboard advertising guideline of keeping your message to seven words or less), or are they “keeping with the times” by using such abbreviations? Is this a good way to make their business memorable? It certainly got my attention. Let us know what you think – would you use “text speak” to garner attention in your more conventional marketing methods, e.g. print, billboards, outdoor marquees, etc.?
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