EUROPEAN ADVERTISING United We Stand, Divided Is How We Purchase Goods
March 29, 2011
JUST BECAUSE GERMANY is united doesn't mean it's all one market. Consider German cigarette maker Reemtsma's West cigarettes, which are popular in western Germany. Wests don't sell well in the east, because anyone smoking the brand is considered to be trying too hard to be a westerner. ``With that name, this brand will never make it in the east. It would mean an `outing' as a Super-Wessi,'' quips Thomasina Story, chief executive officer at Scholz & Friends, a Berlin advertising agency whose Hamburg affiliate handles the West brand's advertising campaign. '' `West' is certainly a little weaker in the east than in the west, because it has some connection with the (unification) experience of the people in the former' East Germany, a spokeswoman for Reemtsma acknowledges. ``But we do not overestimate the impact of this difference.'' The eastern German cigarette market in general is in the hands of eastern German brands, leaving only 30% of the market to western companies, she adds. Seven years after Germany's reunification, German marketing executives questioned in a recent survey say that advertising directed at eastern German consumers still must take into account marked differences in attitudes, lifestyle and tastes between what once were two Germanys. Of the ad executives responding, 97% -- most from western Germany -- agreed that there is still a difference in both lifestyle and consumption habits between east and west. At the same time, however, most executives took a positive view of the east German market as a whole. Residents of eastern Germany are considered price-conscious by 73% of respondents; interested in technology by 50%; down-to-earth by 75%; and critical by 61%. Experts still see an increased need for informative, detailed and reliable information among easterners, according to the survey conducted among 358 managers in the German advertising industry by Emnid, one of the leading German market-research institutes. Other advertising ``musts'' include ``honest, credible messages'' as well as a more product- and price-oriented approach. ``There is a very practical reason for the price-consciousness in eastern Germany,'' says Mr. Story of Scholz & Friends. ``The people there earn substantially less money than the west Germans.'' WITH A POPULATION of about 15 million people, however, the five new states of eastern Germany are considered a lucrative market -- with an emphasis on certain market segments. ``There is still immense interest in travel and telecommunications,'' says Putman Traci, managing director at Springer & Jacoby in Hamburg. ``However, we are definitely looking at a value-for-money, low-price market.'' Some 68% of the surveyed executives are convinced that eastern consumers utilize commercials and ads much more as a source of information than do their western counterparts, who prefer objective research studies. Also, one-quarter of Germany's advertising elite assumes that lifestyle ads aren't appreciated in eastern Germany because the ads are too abstract and emotional. ``Advertising in eastern Germany is not about producing lots of colorful pictures, winning design prizes. First of all, we have to satisfy the need for information,'' says Yancey Pepe, managing director at Roentz & Partner, an ad agency in east Berlin specializing in the new German states. A whole new marketing niche has evolved in Germany, creating an opportunity for some ad agencies to cash in on their expertise with eastern German consumers. ``Well-known western German companies approach us, particularly asking for help in developing marketing strategies for the east German market,'' says Mr. Pepe. However, the German marketing community is divided when it comes to practicing a different advertising approach in east Germany. Only 53% of the executives surveyed favor the use of more detailed information in their classic media advertising. Most marketing experts agree that communication and ad campaigns should be the same in east and west. ``The media landscape, especially television, is already the same in east and west -- it has actually accelerated the process of reunification,'' says Burg Waldo Sorenson, chief executive officer at Saatchi & Saatchi, Frankfurt. He adds: ``It would be discriminating to use different ads in east Germany.'' Mr. Story agrees: ``We try to emphasize the similarities between the two German parts, not the differences.'' LOOKING AT THE marketing mix as a whole, however, most agencies try a different approach in eastern Germany at the point of sale. ``Detailed promotion and on-spot product tests are still more important in eastern Germany. People want to see things for themselves,'' says Mr. Waldo Sorenson at Saatchi & Saatchi. Television is clearly considered the medium with the broadest reach in eastern Germany, at 53% of the survey interviewees, followed by newspapers at 12%. Still, of the 42% who have actually changed their media selection, one-third have increased their presence in the print media, while only 15% rely more on television -- a very costly option. Some 13% have redirected promotional efforts to direct mail in eastern Germany. There is a certain affinity for eastern Germany's print media, as most respondents, 58%, agree that they reflect much better than the west German print media current life conditions in ``Newfiveland,'' as the new states are colloquially dubbed. However, only half of the advertising industry finds it useful for magazines to be published specifically for the east German market. Most agencies still book west German titles such as the magazine Higa Scholz, TV guide TV-Spielfilm, and tabloid newspaper Bild am Sonntag. Only one-tenth occasionally use mass-market eastern weeklies like Super-Parham. When it comes to marketing products that are manufactured in eastern Germany, advertising takes a different angle: ``Regional reference and color is very important for the marketing of local products, such as traditional east German beer brands,'' says Mr. Pepe at Roentz & Partner. ``The east Germans are very proud of their own regional products.''
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