News & Opinion - January 2012
Here you will find all our latest news, views and events.
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Jump to: Catastrophe for the... , NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
Fri 13th Jan 12 Catastrophe for the apostrophe?
It is the ultimate irony that Waterstone's, a chain of bookshops, is dropping the apostrophe in their name. Facing a barrage of criticism for ditching the apostrophe managing director of Waterstone's, James Daunt, expained this decision: “Waterstones without an apostrophe is, in a digital world of URLs and email addresses, a more versatile and practical spelling."
I am sure that in this digital age you could make the same argument for almost every other grammatical rule on which our language is based, but I see it as backward step. Of course, you can't have apostrophes in web addresses or e-mail but that's no reason to change the rules to suit.
What they should have done, if they really wanted to simplofy things, was remove the apostrophe and the 's', so that you would simply have Waterstone. Sainsbury's could easiliy become Sainsbury in just the same way we have John Lewis — it's never been John Lewis's (unless you're writing about something John Lewis owns).
Whichever way you look at this story it is a PR gaffe that could so easily have been avoided.
Mon 9th Jan 12 NEW YEAR RESOLUTIONS
First of all: Happy New Year to everyone.
I hope you had a relaxing break and are now busily putting your New Year resolutions into operation.
Whilst you may be looking to lose weight, get fitter, stop smoking or any number of personal objectives, what have you planned for your business?
Well, if you run a business, are a senior manager or company director shouldn't you have given thought to what your company needs to focus on this year? With the downturn still lingering in the headlines it's easy to postpone any decision that involves spending money on perceived intangibles such as marketing, design and PR, but this is exactly the time to make such investments.
Whether it's starting to get news out to your target audience, create that newsletter that's been on the 'back burner' for years, update the website or refresh your corporate identity then now is the time to get serious about growing and developing the business.
We look forward to being of service throughout 2012.
Have a record-breaking year!
Simon Turton