Posts Tagged ‘Germany’
Rattenfänger. Germany and the Birth of Digital Populism.
März 5th, 2011 • 12 comments Allgemein, Media, People, Politics
Tags: bild, Germany, Guttenberg, Media, People, Politics, World
One thing in advance – this article has no reason whatsoever to fuel a stereotype towards Germans. But it aims to highlight a couple of recent developments that I find alarming in Germany and abroad (think Berlusconi). So to begin with I have to make a confession: I was always and I am still interested in Propaganda. I think there is no way to think about marketing in general and earned media in particular and to forget about basic principles of mass mobilisation. Sounds terrible but it is the truth.
Wikipedia agrees: ‘Propaganda is generally an appeal to emotion, not intellect. It shares techniques with advertising and public relations, each of can be thought of as propaganda that promotes a commercial product or shapes the perception of an organization, person, or brand.’ No doubt, as I am a left-liberal German and as I am more than aware of my country’s history this still is a problematic approach. Using the word Propaganda means to willfully manipulate people to follow you – something that was perfected by the lunatics around Josef Goebbels in the vicious and finally successful attempt to turn the German people into a nation of murderers. Being interested in the mechanisms behind it implies that you silently agree with the political implications of Mass Propaganda. Especially in Germany.
To pass this point quickly – no, I don’t. And I would also like to pass Godwin’s Law quickly which states that the probabilty of a comparison involving Hitler and Nazis is 1 the longer a political discussion takes place. No, I won’t compare anyone with Goebbels, with procedures of Nazi Propaganda, Stalin’s propaganda (with, in parts much more elaborated manipulation tactics) or the totalitarian mass communication in North Korea. Let’s just accept for a second that Propaganda is out there and as all of us are part of broader groups with a certain habit to elect leaders, buy products, or go to war…there will also always be mechanisms of mass manipulation involved.
The Herd
Being social is a key evolutionary strategy. We are, as Mark Earls called it, ‘the super social ape’. The normal Homo Sapiens is neither willing nor is he fit to act alone – we normally love to interact with others. A thesis that is supported by hundreds of sociological, political, psychological, biological, game theoretical and anthropological tests. But, as Mister Earls in his highly recommended book ‘Herd’ writes…
“We use other people’s brains to navigate the world: to acquire skills and practices, and to access knowledge systems of long-dead strangers. We call this ‘culture’.”
This is indeed interesting. The theory of a collaborative super social ape describes a very constructive being. A higher organism that wants to become better and improve. An ape that learns new techniques and maybe the use of tools to be fitter for a challenging environment. But what Mark Earls highlights is a very insecure organism. An organism that constantly looks left and right to act in accordance with the rules of his broader group.
Just check out the following video about how a Mexican Wave starts…
Yes, this is fun. But any mass group behaviour contains an element of peer pressure, of violence if you like. Be part of the Mexican Wave or be the outsider. In group or out group? There is no place for much individualism simply because nobody wants to be excluded from his peers. We perceive that as capital punishment.
Awesome. Germany now has its own google Street View Postcards.
November 17th, 2010 • Allgemein
Tags: Funny, Germany, google, google Street View, World
After much controversy, setbacks and negotiations, Google Street View is going live in Germany. Well…kind of. In fact Germany’s government has done a terrific job in spreading fear about the privacy eating data octopus google while strangely enough federal institutions take photos of every inch of surface in Germany. To celebrate the final roll out of google Street View in Germany Sascha has staged a couple of Street View postcards from Germany. I kind of like them…
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Hello. And Fuck you Nissan.
August 24th, 2010 • 3 comments Ads
Tags: Ads, Campaign, Fail, Germany, Nissan, Underway
I just stumbled upon this pic of the current Nissan campaign by TBWA London. It is not only a boring headline, it also shows a lot of disrespect and lack of any kind of cultural sensitivity no taste at all. The headline alters the first stanza of Germany’s national anthem – ‘Deutschland, Deutschland ueber alles’ (‘Germany, Germany above all’).
I am not so sure if Nissan and TBWA know that this part of Germany’s anthem is (not prohibited but) officially banned in Germany due to its function in the Third Reich. We sing the third strophe now for about 65 years…apart from a couple of skinheads. And yes, coming up with this headline in 2010 is highly offensive for a German. But what I feel sorry about most, TBWA – your lack of knowledge in combination with bad copywriting.
Does Nissan actually sell cars in Germany too? I think so.
Awesome. I am about to become European.
Juni 12th, 2010 • 6 comments Allgemein
Tags: Europe, Experimental, Germany, Underway, World
Over the last couple of weeks I once again found out why it is cool to be European.
As you might know I have moved from Frankfurt, Germany, to Amsterdam, the Netherlands to start my new job at Blast Radius. One week before my move I travelled to Madrid to hold a lecture at IED – Istituto Europeo di Design about the social revolution that is still in progress.
Yes, I am both, pretty excited and exhausted. But no matter what is going to happen, it is a privilege to get to know so many new people and find out about different cultural perspectives that I did not have by now. Becoming an expat in a city such as Amsterdam is a great thing. And my new agency offers a lot to ease the repatriation pain. But unfortunately too few Dutch colleagues. I will have to practice Dutch on the streets of Amsterdam. Since pretty much everyone around me comes from a different part of the world.
So why am I happy to be European?
Simply because right at the moment my own knowledge is challenged culturally as a European. Living in a more culturally open environment such as Amsterdam made me realize that the rest of Europe really is more into that web-thing than Germany (sorry, that is the truth). A trip to Spain made me understand that young Spaniards are some of the most social savvy people I have met so far. Nevertheless their generation struggles with the state’s high debts, unemployment and a painful depression. Something my country of origin, Germany, did not have to suffer from in that intensity.
Europe is a continent with many similar countries. But they are far from being identical. And that indeed is something which is nothing but a strength. I am now learning a similar language to Dutch and interact continuously with Europeans and non-Europeans who part of the new worldwide nation that is Expatria.
Zombie Campaigns. The old Award Show Problem revisited.
Mai 16th, 2010 • 1 comment Allgemein
Tags: ADC, Agencies, Awards, Business, Creativity, Experimental, Germany, Ideas, Strategy, Truth, visual
Once upon a time there was a man named David Ogilvy who said something very true about advertising – ‘We sell or else’. We all think that this is the mission of advertising agencies (however you define them). No matter whether we talk about selling in a sense of branding, customer services, hard sales – we need to help solving our client’s business problem. Form follows function. Advertising does not end in itself.
We all know pretty often this is not the case. Not always but often advertising ends in itself. Especially when it comes to ad awards. Many of you know the rules of the game – the more awards you collect as an agency the more creative you are allowed to call yourself. That’s the currency of the advertising industry. But this currency follows a bizarre distribution logic – the most important awards worldwide do not reward effective campaigns and ideas. They reward funny concepts designed for awards shows without an effect on clients, markets and brands. Most often nobody has seen these ‘campaigns’ at all simply because they do not exist except on award shows. Zombie campaigns.
No, not every piece of marketing communication which has won a gold, silver or bronze nail at last weekend’s ADC (Art Director’s Club Germany) congress in Frankfurt and other award shows falls into this category. But some do. Zombie campaigns can easily be identified by doing a campaign reality check. Just ask yourself these questions.
The Zombie Creation Checklist
- Does the awarded campaign look like a fancy idea as trigger for a good marketing effect? Or just like a good idea?
- Does it look like something driven by an agency or by the client?
- Is the client an unusual small brand in comparison to the remaining client list of the agency?
- Is it technically feasible (if interactive) at all?
- Was there any real audience? Or were the only platforms to stage the concept ‘blogs’?
Awesome. The new ‘Iron Sky’ Trailer is Online.
Mai 13th, 2010 • 1 comment Experimental
Tags: Cool, Creativity, Experimental, Germany, Iron Sky, Movie, trailer, We like, World
How cool is that. A couple of days ago I have posted an article about a very interesting collaborative Finnish film project called ‘Iron Sky’ (Read the article here). And now the guys have just launched a new teaser with first live footage. If you live in Frankfurt, support the guys when they do their shooting here. If you don’t live in Germany enjoy the trailer, become part of the community to support the film and send the guys your money. 
Storytelling. A Day in New York and an Insight about Marketing.
März 16th, 2010 • 3 comments Ideas
Tags: Creativity, Funny, Germany, Ideas, NYC, Underway, USA, World
If you are a regular reader of my blog or if you follow me on twitter you might know that I spend this week in New York City. I am not working or attending a conference. I am just here on vacations, meeting friends and having a good time. While I spent the day exploring Manhattan (once again) I was run over by the same impressions that most foreigners are faced with when they return to the Big Apple for the first time in a while – it’s an inspirational overkill.
Of course, you cannot compare NYC to, let’s say, my hometown Frankfurt. But on the other hand – why not? Let’s just focus on something you can compare, even though both cities vary in size, culture and history drastically. Let’s just compare products and how they are presented. And when I thought about how NYC markets its goods I instantly found out what’s missing in Germany – heart and soul in selling products. That’s the result of 5 hours of just walking south from Greenwich to Chinatown.
Kiosk – 95 Spring Street, Soho
Kiosk is a highly unusual but very, very cool mixture of a folk museum and a cross-cultural retail-venture of everyday-items. Encounter helpful stuff in use in Portugese kitchens, Chinese kindergardens or German Scout Camps. Every item is presented with a short heritage about its sense, function and why it’s so special. 
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Audi’s Green Police. Didn’t They say Hitler?
Januar 30th, 2010 • 3 comments Ads, Brands
Tags: Ads, Audi, Brands, Fail, Germany, Ideas, Philosophy, PR, Social Influence Marketing, Strategy
Let’s start an intellectual experiment.
Think about e.g. an ex-spouse in your life and now think about any object in your appartment. Can you associate it with him or her somehow? You probably can. Take the old vase in your living room and you will probably find a connection to your ex who loved flowers so much. Most likely you will be able to link the TV set to her preferences for ‘Grey’s Anatomy’ and so on…But why should you do that? Especially since you will be able to link pretty much anything to pretty much anything after thinking about it for a while. Plus, simply put, while you actually might not want to think about your ex-spouse anymore at all?
Well, that’s what self-proclaimed guardians of Political Correctness do on the web 24/7. They love to think about all kinds of connections because there is not one thing which makes them as happy as making up a good old PR disaster.
One information in advance: I am German and I work for a digital agency with Audi International on the client list (not PR, not Audi USA). This is just accidental and not the rationale behind this article. I am professionally not at all engaged in any Audi project even though I like the cars. I simply react on this article by Danny Brown, entitled “Audi and the Super Bowl Social Media Shit Storm“. This is the story: In an attempt to spearhead a social media intiative, Audi USA (keep that in mind, it is important) had invented the so-called ‘Green Police’. It comes with a Super-Bowl ad, a Youtube channel and the inevitable twitter account. This is the more or less entertaining ad:
Did you realize it? No? Audi has just committed a major act of Political Incorrectness, according to Danny.
Foursquare. Seven days in Frankfurt.
November 27th, 2009 • 15 comments Allgemein
Tags: Android, Apps, Cool, Foursquare, Germany, Gowalla, GPS, Ideas, iPhone, Local, Location, Mobile, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Tool
Today’s topic may not be completely new for my American readers but probably for some of those from Germany. On November 19th the third wave of cities for Foursquare has launched. Among them now my hometown Frankfurt in Germany as well as about 50 new cities worldwide. It’s been around in a lot of bigger cities for quite some time. In Germany it’s now live in Berlin, Hamburg, Cologne and Frankfurt. Zurich and Vienna are Foursquare cities in Switzerland and Austria.
So what is Foursquare? Basically it’s a local location based social network (I will use this word in the presence of my granny in the next couple of days). That means: You download a client to your iPhone or Android phone, connect with some friends and start your day in the city.
The big difference to…let’s say Facebook…is, it only works in specific cities (well…yet) and it’s all about exploring and recommending locations and events. Let’s say for example, you know this fantastic little bar around the corner and you think the White Russian there deserves a little more attention – then you simply locate your favourite nightly hangout via GPS (or start a new venue) and leave a shout to all other Foursquare users in the area to make them try the White Russian here.
Private Social Networks. A brief overview of the German situation.
November 24th, 2009 • 1 comment Social, Trends
Tags: Business, Future, Germany, Media, Predicitions, Social Influence Marketing, Social Networks, Strategy, Trends, World
This little overview about the status of Germany’s private social networks is a Point of View which me and Johannes Kleske were working on for our employer Neue Digitale / Razorfish. It is not an empirical study. It describes a rough status quo in a highly dynamic environment with just few reliable figures. Please understand it as a brief paper which tries to picture the current situation in the extremly unique and difficult market Germany. But it is also a paper which enables us to give a clear recommendation on which platforms are hot or not in our home country.
Germany was always tough terrain for social networks. According to a recent Forrester report on social network use in Europe, “Online Germans remain the hardest to engage with social media“. In terms of total membership, choice of service, international connectivity, etc Germany always lagged behind. There are several possible reasons for this effect: One of them may be a deep traditional concern about privacy issues. Germans tend to believe their personal data might be misused and are skeptical about institutions securing their data properly. Language barriers (in comparison to UK, US) and a slight skepticism towards new, individualized technology may contribute to the current situation.
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