What German audiences expect
“Take the Germans, for instance. They’re pretty straightforward and like to get right to the point. No beating around the bush.”
That goes for advertising, too. Enthusiasm that sounds natural in an American original can quickly read as exaggeration in German.
Then there is how the product itself is seen. In the US, cars are often seen as a symbol of freedom. In Germany they are a carefully considered investment. A campaign that misses this misses its audience, even if every word is translated correctly.
What rarely survives a literal translation
A straight marketing translation swaps the words and adjusts formats, units and terms. That is localization, and for advertising it is rarely enough, because a lot depends on the source language:
Wordplay and idioms. They depend on the source language and need a German idea, not a translation.
Humor. A sense of humor is one of the cultural traits we pick up early and carry around without noticing.
Aspirations. Copy written in the UK may play on dreams that German readers do not share.
Visuals. A photo with a mix of people that is right for the US does not necessarily reflect everyday life in Germany.
Ideas that are old hat here. What makes a brand stand out in one country may not be particularly fresh in another.
Forms of address. English “you” does not say whether a brand addresses its customers formally or informally. German has to choose.
Mistakes like these stay just under the radar. Nobody sees them as mistakes, but they cost the campaign impact. More on this on our brand name and tagline check page.
Sie or du: formal or informal?
German has two words for “you”: the formal Sie and the informal du. Every brand has to decide which one it uses, and that decision then applies to every text, from the ad to the newsletter.
Which form fits depends on the brand and the audience, not on the template from headquarters. We advise on it before the first line is written. If a brand switches forms halfway through a campaign, every reader notices.
Germany, Austria, Switzerland
A German version is not automatically a version for the whole German-speaking region. Austria and Switzerland have their own vocabulary and spelling habits. In Switzerland and Liechtenstein, for instance, ss can always be written instead of ß, according to the official German spelling rules (Section 25 E2).
Whether a campaign needs separate versions for Austria and Switzerland should be settled before the adaptation starts.
What we do for the German market
Cultural check of the campaign. We probe slogans, headlines and creative concepts for cultural compatibility and impact with German audiences.
Advice on the master campaign. We advise on and help create master campaigns that work internationally, including visuals and color choices.
Competitor review. We review how your competitors communicate in Germany.
Pre-testing. If you wish, we run microsurveys to test how the campaign is received.
Slogans and copy. Slogans, headlines, print ads, brand films and customer magazines for German audiences. How we approach them is explained on our transcreation page.
Names. We check how product names work in Germany and develop new ones if needed (brand name and tagline check).
Working with headquarters and the German subsidiary
Global campaigns often have two clients: headquarters, which guards the brand, and the German subsidiary, which has to sell. This is how we work with both:
The same brief. Ideally, you send us your content with the brief and background information you used for the original. We handle the rest, including research, cultural filters, proofing and coordination.
Coordination with the markets. Liaising with the target markets is part of what we do for our clients.
Same teams. We assign the same teams to each client, which keeps writing style and content consistent across all texts.
Several time zones. Our network covers several time zones, and working nights and weekends isn’t off limits if that’s when our clients need us.
Frequently asked questions
It depends on whether your brand should feel local or deliberately global in Germany. Some brands want to be seen as global players, and then the tagline often stays in the original. Decide this before the adaptation starts, because it shapes every decision that follows.
It is a brand decision that depends on category and audience. What matters is making it once and sticking to it in every text. We advise you on it at the start of the project.
Yes. Ideally, send us the same brief and background information you had for the original. Your brand guidelines are part of that.
With a cultural check of the campaign that tests slogans, headlines and concepts for their effect on German audiences. If you wish, we also run microsurveys in the target market.
Because the mistakes are rarely in the words. A visual that does not match everyday life in Germany, an aspiration nobody here shares, an allusion without a reference point: none of it looks like a mistake, but all of it costs impact.
Translation carries over the content, adaptation the effect. There is more on this on our transcreation page.