The Unveiling of the Verb4Concept Campaign Brought Over 100 Signatures and Eternal Damnation.

Yesterday marked the first day that the Verb4Concept campaign was opened to the ad community. Within just a few hours AdRant picked up the idea and featured it on their site. From there the Verb4Concept link collected a number of hits as well as a number of signatures to the online petition. While over 100 people signed the petition as a sign of their support, with their praise came some criticism. Most of the disagreeing comments received brought up relevant points, despite the blood curdling tone. There was one comment however, that I found to be better than any other. This was found on AdRant's site in regards to the Verb4Concept posting:

"And Ray, you can concept yourself to hell, as far as I'm concerned."

Forget the horrors of puppy kicking; you'd think I insulted this person's mother. You have to laugh/cry at the anger that can be manifested in a person who can wish a perfect stranger such a horrific demise.

With all that said, I do enjoy reading both positive and negative comments, whether for helpful feedback or comedic relief. Ultimately I welcomed people to the Verb4Concept site because I wanted to hear their thoughts, suggestions and reservations, so keep it coming.

Take Part in the Verb4Concept Movement

> Sign the online petition as a sign of your support.

> Post your own definition of the verb CONCEPT here at www.verb4concept.blogspot.com.

> Click here to view citations where CONCEPT "the verb" can be found in publication or submit your own citation.

> Use the verb form of CONCEPT in future interviews or articles you might come to write.

> Sport your Support with an original HL Thacker Verb4Concept
t-shirt.

Below is the Current Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary Definition of Concept:

con·cept P Pronunciation Key (knspt)
con·cept (knspt)
n. 1. Something conceived in the mind: THOUGHT, NOTION
2. An abstract or generic idea generalized from particular instances.
adj. 1. Organized around a main idea or theme.
2. Created to illustrate a concept.

ONE PROPOSED ADDITION:

to con·cept, con·cepted (knspt-ed) - con·cept-ing (knspt-ing)
v. 1. To generate ideas for the purpose of creatively solving a problem: "The team set aside some time for concepting in order to flesh out some plausible directions."

Concepting vs Leprosy

At the core of every advertising campaign lies a concepting session where shared thoughts manifest into brilliant ideas. As it reads now, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate® Dictionary defines ADVERTISING as, "The action of calling something to the attention of the public, especially by paid announcements." Though this definition was probably written sometime during the Fillmore administration, some components still hold true today. These "announcements," that once came in the form of posters hawking remedy elixirs, now represent a thirty-second spot, a print ad, a billboard, or a viral campaign. This current definition however only describes the final product of our creative process where the work is polished, shined, and unveiled to the public.

What remains to be defined is the method used to develop these campaigns. For a book that identifies a vast number of professions from fossil finders (paleontologist) to glorified tooth-brushers (dental hygienist), Merriam-Webster fails to properly record the full scope of advertising. In the end one could dismiss Verb4Concept, arguing that "concepting" is just brainstorming, but if that's the case then the argument can also be made that leprosy is merely a collection of boils.