[Cross-posted] I was over at Kevin Roberts’ blog today—no, not where you’d expect someone like me to be. I was interested to note his huge use of American spellings in, for example, his post about the Eurostar. He begins (note even the U.S.):

Traveling by air in Europe is not quite as bad as the domestic pain involved in U.S. air travel, but it’s up there. That’s why over recent years, the Eurostar has become a Lovemark to me. The last time I had meetings in London, I traveled from Paris and back on the Eurostar, returning the same day. It’s two-and-a-half hours each way and you get to leave from the center of Paris and arrive in the center of London.

   All well and good. I don’t have a problem with American English on American blogs, or even those who opt to use it over British English.
   Just that Kevin does make a big deal down here about his Kiwiness, and he is English by birth. He even talks about the All Blacks on his blog. In neither country do people like American English. We just think it’s a bit odd, just as an American would get puzzled by our weird-ass spellings for manœuvre and go, ‘Why do those idiots bother?’
   When it comes to a personal brand, even the way you spell needs to be consistent.
   Unless he gives a different image for the American market?
   In which case, I would advise against it, as citoyens du monde. We need to have one personal brand worldwide.
   The reality is, probably, that it is written by an American colleague, in which case it really isn’t a personal blog, is it?

PS.: The folks at Sweeney Vesty tell me the image I had of Kevin Roberts earlier was not of this particular Kevin Roberts. Man, white people all look the same.—JY Posted by Jack Yan, 12:05  permalink

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