Vorsprung durch Werbung?*

Can see the idea but executionally bit lame and far too rational. Anyway that's my verdict on the effort by the German tourist board trying to capitalise on the small wave of post World Cup goodwill towards us Huns. One of the tougher Briefs in tourism advertising must have seemed a tiny bit easier after the Teutonic charm offensive over the summer. However, I just don’t think these poster ads really hit home … Making consumers reassess your brand is notoriously difficult and frankly, following a trite persuasion model when your brand's biggest problem is lack of likeablity won't quite do… The (presumed - of course I haven't seen it) Brief for these ads seems to have had a respectable, if somewhat unoriginal starting point - tackle famiiliar Brit conceptions about Germany head on and contrast them with other, unexpected sides of the country. Thing is, neither the images used here to convey the old nor the new Germany really take a British perspective and quite understand the strange emotional ambivalence towards Germany in the UK. Prejudice against Germany sees the country as technocratic and efficient, not particularly attractive, its people as overly rational, humourless, ugly and lacking in style. I'd argue that by taking an overly rational approach these ads do more to confirm than to change some of these perceptions. Given that Brits love to laugh at Germans, the visuals of well known Germany simply lack the humour they would need to cause an emotional recognition effect. Instead they're dull and are unlikely to attract attention. At the same time the 'surprising' visuals are (except at a stretch the fashion/sports brands) simply not aspirational or, er, suprising enough. Art direction and execution has something to do with this obviously - one can imagine more glamorous manifestations of Adidas etc than are shown here. But there's also something wrong with some of the examples chosen - That the mp3 player was invented in Germany isn't well known but I don’t think Brits would find it out of kilter with their perceptions of a nation known for its technology (for which there is actually some admiration)... As far as the Cologne carnival is concerned, you need to have been there to appreciate it and even then it's a bit of a Marmite amongst festivals (either love it or hate it). 0 What would I have recommended if I'd researched this campaign? Focus less on education and persuasion and aim more at engaging imagination and emotion. Amongst other assets Germany has beautiful scenery, interesting cities with great (youth) culture and yes, some quite stylish brands - they could have been shown off with a bit of visual impact. Some of them may already be seeded in British minds - and in ads it's always easier to build on existing perceptions than try to educate from scratch. One could have contrasted them with some amusing known stereotypes. Instead, it's all rational and dry and, if not quite a waste, not as effective as it could have been. Ich bin ein bißchen enttäuscht.** * advertising **I'm a little disappointed