Transfer of Meaning
Germans aim for laid-back new image
Ben Aris in Berlin, Saturday August 16, 2003, (The Guardian)
Germans, fed up with their image as humourless workaholics, are trying to re-brand their country, emphasising the hedonism of the young and their laid-back life style. A European advertising campaign focused on celebrities such as the model Claudia Schiffer, the tennis star Boris Becker and the racing driver Michael Schumacher is being planned.
It has been prompted by a study carried out last month by the
London branch of the Goethe Institute which found that the Germans'
dour image was particularly strong in Britain While most young
German can name dozens of British celebrities and two-thirds have
visited Britain, two-thirds of Britons aged between 16 and 25
could not name one German celebrity and only a third had visited
the country.
Germany's image on the continent is better, because of its strong
economic ties. "The continental Europeans have a better idea
of how Germany has developed and it has a good image," Bert
Ehrhardt, a marketing executive at Saatchi and Saatchi's Frankfurt
office, said. "The French see the Germans as more cultured
and the Mediterranean countries are impressed with our stable
and efficient administration. "Young Europeans have a lot
more interaction with Germany and are not caught up on Germany's
past." But the Goethe Institute admits that it still has
an uphill battle. In Britain less than 1% of pupils took German
at A-level last year. "Many of the images associated with
the country are too deep set," said Ulrich Sacker, who chaired
a brainstorming session at the institute, along with leading corporate
and cultural representatives, in July. "But we decided that
we've got to start emphasising current aspects of German life
which are ignored - the hedonism for example: the fact that we
have short working days, that we take the longest holidays in
Europe."
The campaign will run under the slogan "Made in Germany",
an allusion to German cars, but with pictures of the hundreds
of thousands of scantily-clad ravers who dance through central
Berlin every July in the Love Parade. Next year similar campaigns
are going to be conducted in Eastern Europe. "Poland is going
to be a difficult one," a German cultural official said.
"We've going to have to work out whether the funny and sexy
attitude of these other campaigns is appropriate there."
1 Was für ein Image von den Deutschen haben Briten?
2 Warum sehen Europäer auf dem Kontinent die Deutschen anders?
3 Welches Ziel hat die neue Werbekampagne?
4 Beschreiben Sie die Werbekampagne!
5 Warum wird die Werbekampagne in Polen wohl anders sein?
6 Denken Sie, dass eine derartige Werbekampagne sich lohnen wird?
Stimmt es, dass die Deutschen ein schlechtes Image bei uns haben?