Our Head of Marketing, touched by the romance of the day, got her creative juices flowing for today's blog article:
Imagine picturesque Siena, nestling in the heart of Tuscany, cradled by rolling hills covered by vines and the promise of new-found love. Imagine walking the cobbled streets of Piazza del Campo, sitting down at a cafe and ordering your cappuccino. You read the latest news in the online version of La Nazione on your iPad (I hope you speak Italian), and take your first sip.... when out of the corner of your eye, you catch a young lady sitting in her window frame opposite the piazza, writing – you have to rub your eyes – writing a letter. On a real piece of paper, with a real ink pen. The paper might even carry the scent of roses, and you can almost hear the crispness of the page when she folds it up and puts it into an envelope. Did she just hold it to her heart? Yes, you guess so. And kissed it close?
You look at your own Valentine’s message you were just about to send to your Romeo or Juliette across the ocean, but maybe also just sitting across you at the table. (Now that would be really bad, but I’ve seen it happen!). It is a text message you tried to cram into your 160-character limitations on your mobile phone, and it probably goes something like “My luv, 143. U R 2GTBT. I want 2 B with U 4EAE <333”. So much for keeping up the romance!
Your text message is not bad. After all, you did think about your loved one, your heart is pure and your intent too. And it happens instantly. You can tick it off your list once done. You were probably reminded of putting this message together through some Valentine’s ads you clicked on while browsing on your phone, or one of your “really close friends” posted a link on his Facebook profile that promoted virtual Valentine’s gifts in the form of a heart-studded pink rabbit that once clicked¸ blows a kiss.
Have another sip of your cappuccino. Mmmh, and take another nibble on that tasty Garibaldi biscuit. Where has the girl gone? She must be on her way down to the post office, to buy a stamp and send her love letter off. Now you might have gone way too far down the digital lane to still know how to do snail-mail, let alone know the postal address of your friends, and you clearly can’t post it to @juls-luv.
How about an email? Remember eons ago, when we started warming up to the idea of emailing each other, and most of us thought it was so inconsiderate, so impersonal, so un-thoughtful compared to a letter in ink. Especially when Cupid makes the delivery. Now email has almost become the traditional post office, and is challenged by short text messages and social pokes and updates. It is so much easier to send a quick, limited text or social message than tickling your inner poet and forcing yourself to string together coherent sentences, lyrically waxed or not, and email it off to your lover. But maybe, just maybe, all of these channels can co-exist, as what did you just catch out of the corner of your eye? Your Italian girl, texting wildly on her mobile!
PS: The text message above reads, in plain English:
My love, I love you. You are too good to be true. I want to be with you forever and ever. (Followed by a triple heart).
