We have written many a time about the power of net language as a symbol of net culture and as a way to connect to netizens (see here for one example). The fact that there is a unique net language underscores the power of online community.

In this issue, we see examples of well intentioned marketers who use net language in their communications, but end up hurting themselves by misusing it. They end up looking like the kids in school who are trying too hard to be cool, but end up proving they are not really cool at all.

For example, this real estate ad uses the "very...very" phrasing of "很黄, 很暴力" made famous by the CCTV interview of Zhang Shufan condemning the Internet as violent and pornographic. The phrase used says "It’s very expensive and a very good value upstairs, while very big and very fun downstairs" (楼上很贵很超值，楼下很大很好玩). This phrasing just doesn't ring true for the netizens it is trying to impress.

As we have said before, it is important to really understand online culture so marketers can truly and meaningfully connect with netizens by creatively recognizing their culture (see here).
Moto working with the net cartoon Tuzki (see here) is just one example of brands who appropriately leveraged net culture.

Case Study

Netizens criticize the misuse of net language in brands advertisements
网民对于品牌活动滥用网络语言表示反感

Summary

Recently some brands have been integrating net language into their banner ads offline. Pictures of these ads have become a popular topic of conversation among netizens online. Though some netizens thought these ads were creative, most found the use of net language in offline ads strange, especially as some of the words were often used out of context. Additionally, some of the “net terms” used had negative connotations.

CIC View

Net language has become a core element of online culture and is widely spread and used by the majority of netizens.
Some brands have begun to get their feet wet by using net language as a marketing promotion tool in offline campaigns to connect with netizens. However, the misuse of key net language terms, especially those with negative connotations, has led many netizens to become confused about the brands’ intentions and has done little to raise brand awareness.
If brands want to integrate net language into offline campaigns, it would be better to use neutral/positive words which are familiar to their core fan base. Brands should fully understand the meaning and use of each net term, in order to avoid criticisms from netizens.

Below is a screen shot of the index for the full IWOM watch report:

See below for other related posts that may be of interest:

IWOM Watch half year review: January - June, 2008

3 pathways to net culture

Hey DX, hope you like this post on net language for auto industry

IWOM Watch Jan 16-31: A New Kind of Net Star