Givethatback.com Challenges Urban Dictionary to a "War Over Words"

Philadelphia, PA, July 09, 2011 --(PR.com)-- Just When You Thought You Knew The Right Thing To Say, The Urban Dictionary Helps Your Consumer Misinterpret Your Great Idea. You Ask Yourself, “How Do I Stay Informed On What Means What, To Who, When, Why And Where.”

New startup company, Popintell unveiled GiveThatBack.com Tuesday, June 28, 2011, an innovative pop culture website, designed for connecting language enthusiasts with the urban language phenomenon, to vote on the right to use specific definitions of different words.

Every day average people can attest first hand to the mind boggling evolution that has taken shape in the English dictionary over the years. Word definitions shift from hot to cool, and good to bad so many times, that people lose track of the correct context in which words can be used in appropriate situations. The shifts of habits and trends in language has quickly increased since the emergence of technological communication platforms such as social search, blog marketing and mobile media. These platforms have provided diversely creative opportunities for businesses and artists to interact with potential customers in the global community. However, the evolution of word meanings can also wreak havoc on a business strategy or marketing plan which has not considered the consequences of examining demographic variables such as language or culture.

These are exciting times for pop and urban culture, but it will also present challenges for interpersonal social network connections in communities across different cultures, lifestyles, race, gender and income demographics. Many businesses are experiencing the limiting effect that language gap phenomena can have on their marketing efforts.

The challenges of interacting on a global social platform is paying attention to the understanding of what a word or phrase means to a certain audience, without saying it in a way that destructs the message or turns off the prospective consumer. Businesses only have about 5 – 10 seconds to put the right message in front of the right potential customer. Saying the wrong thing can, to the wrong people can have devastating effects on brand loyalty and brand visibility. A marketing director has to consider the dictionary vs the urban definition. Chris Navilio, owner of Popintell, a Marketing Firm reported, “Understanding our use of urban language on social networks in a global community is critical to dealing with customers and fan bases across different cultures and lifestyles. GiveThatBack.com is a fun and interactive platform to bring this idea to major corporations, businesses and artists who use social platforms to disseminate their message. They can use this idea to reach out to people in different ways, according to their culture and lifestyles. The days of throwing a message at all of the people, hoping it sticks, then sitting back and watching the money roll in are over and done for. Businesses need different engagements for different platforms, for different people. Assessing the needs of people who utilize urban definitions, is one way to look at a marketing strategy.”

He added, "The idea is to invoke language enthusiasts to consider the consequences of our quickly evolving shifts in pop and urban culture for business. Language usage is changing rapidly and we want to bring it back to a place where it is easy for everyone to understand."

At GiveThatBack.com participants are encouraged to vote on word challenges, dictionary vs. urban interpretations of definitions, in a democratic model of language usage. People can also submit their own words, to be put to the urban social language test. All the while, people can have fun with the cartoon images created and chosen by the GiveThatBack team.

GiveThatBack.com provides an important social experience, while allowing people to enjoy themselves by voting on their favorite use of different urban words. This opens a dialogue for people to understand the evolution of language.

Jeremy Harrison, Marketing Director at PopIntell pointed out that, “This is an important social language tool, but it is also important to understand that GiveThatBack.com was created with entertainment value in mind. We want to invoke dialogue, conversation and a synthesis of word usage. Obviously, we are not trying to offend anyone. Some people view semantic change over time with strong feelings and others feel out of the loop to what is cool, hot or bad. This is a forum for people to ask questions and see who votes on their ideas.”

Navilio also sees the importance for creating information and data, which will help businesses understand the buying culture of their customers. “The focal point of our business, PopIntell, is to gain clarity of our clients and customers values. PopIntell is a marketing and intellectual property dissemination business and we want to show our clients that we are paying attention to the urban vs. dictionary language phenomenon, which has a critical effect on marketing messages.”

“People are engaging, talking and sharing,” said Navilio, “and that is the goal of any business or artist; to get people engaged.”

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