US advertising compared to the German market
Having come from a more privileged family, my brother, sister and I are fortunate enough to actually go on vacation to different countries during our summer break. We have visited many countries in Asia, in South America, and in Europe.
As a college student, I love that I get to be exposed to many different cultures and ways of life. I believe that this exposure is very important as it helps me become a more well rounded person. These travels are also like educational trips as I learn so many things that I will never ever learn from textbooks or from lectures. To cite an old adage, experience is the best teacher!
We recently went on a trip to Germany as it was one country that we really wanted to see. We were quite curious as to how much Germany has progressed as a unified nation while also looking at the famous sites and landmarks in the country. Besides, my dad, my older brother and I have always wanted to know how good German beer really is because from the many German beer commercials that we have seen before when were in the US, the German beers looked so appetizing. From the faces of the models, you would actually think that German beer is as sweet as fruit juice.
So there we were in Oldenburg to meet up with a good friend we visited. We just finished a tour and we decided to go to a supermarket to buy some snacks and to check out what beers they have on stock. The radio was blaring music and an incessant barrage of radio spots. My German friend was not really mindful of the radio spots but being an advertising student, I just had to know what the ads were talking about. My friend translated the ads for me while we were shopping and it was quite an enlightening experience. From the TV ads I have seen and the translated radio spots It was quite apparent that the German people have a very different approach to enticing the purchasing decision of its consumers. Whereas American ads tend to be humorous and always play with sexual innuendos, the German’s are more serious and hardly ever go into sexually charged territory in their ads.
One particularly telling quality of German commercials (simply called "Werbung") is that there is an emphasis on the tradition and the qualities of the product that makes it stand out from the rest of the competition. This is a stark difference from American spots where the focus is mostly on conformity with what is considered as cool and being flashy and loud. This is actually quite refreshing as the commercials tend to be more functional in nature. The best thing about these kinds of commercials though is that it makes consumers more informed when they actually go to the store to buy products.
We were in the store when this ad for a particular brand of beer came in and having heard the very competent translation of my friend, I decided to buy a few bottles myself. The ad made we want to try the time honored “traditions” in making this particular brand of beer!
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