H&M's Fashion Against AIDS: Sex and Beauty in Berlin

The Fashion Against AIDS Campaign was launched in May 2009. It is a consistent campaign throughout Europe and in the United States to promote Aids awareness and prevention as well as safe sex. The campaign was executed in several countries with a distinctive look and an array of stars representing as opinion leaders and trend setters of an up and coming generation. The campaign consists of a fashion line designed by Designers for AIDS and also several pieces designed by the stars. A donation of 25% of each "Fashion Against AIDS" item is made.



For more information, check out: http://www.designersagainstaids.com/ & http://www.hm.com/us/#/faa2009/

Highlights:
- International stars are considered influential in most European countries alike and are sending an awareness message in English rather in customized native languages so that the locals can relate. (Seems to be working but there is no proof!)
- This is a truly international campaign with one look and one message completely standardized.
- H&M and the stars are benefiting greatly, publicity wise, out of this campaign and the store performs corporate responsibility all around the world and the stars are also donating their time and efforts for this cause.

Marketing a destination: One or two possible markets?

Vacation destination marketing appears outdoors in Berlin from the sides of buildings, taxicabs, and buses. Berlin is a mobile city in which the majority of its residents use public transportation to travel to work, so this is an effective technique. The billboards and signs advertise tropical and warm holiday spots and all copy is written in German. In the cold outdoors of the city, these tropical destinations appear very enticing to the Berliner who is scurrying to work in an over coat.



Highlights:

- Advertising through outdoor vehicles reaches Berliners and German visitors to the city alike, as Berlin is a mobile city.
- A potential market exits since many foreign visitors arrive at the city with intentions on traveling to other locations nearby. This is a market that professionals in the tourism industry should attempt to take advantage of.

“be open, be free, be berlin” Campaign: Analysis of a branding campaign

In March 2008, the Berlin Senate launched the new be Berlin campaign promoting the city of Berlin both locally and internationally. As we traveled around the city, exploring its abundant locations, a variety of different pieces of this campaign appeared. Under the slogan “the place to be”, a single message is sent out to both the local and international publics: “Berlin is like a magnet attracting people from all over the world – and just not letting go! You can’t resist Berlin’s charms!” (1). Now, a year into the campaign, Berlin is officially going global as the campaign expands to New York.



Discussion:

Although this campaign consisted primarily of events around the city (including a scavenger hunt, Berlin Festival of Lights, and the Longest Love Letter to Berlin located along the lines of the S-Bahn), walking around one could find the signature of the campaign, the red boxes, located sporadically in many locations. The boxes were available for residents and tourists to pose behind as they enjoy their stay in Berlin. Another great promotional activity was a random set of stairs placed outside of an S-Bahn station where visitors could climb up and take a look at the city from the top. Around the stairs were also red boxes with pictures of Berlin to remind people of the many sites around the city.

Highlights:

- The city of Berlin attracts 17 million tourists a year, although only 7 million of them are foreigners of countries such as Great Britain, Netherlands and USA. Over half of the visitors are German natives and that is why it was so important to create a campaign to promote the city as a location for tourism as well as living.
- The campaign consisted of outdoor advertising, primarily billboards, a be Berlin Sound and Campaign Film, a variety of activities around the city many that involve the participation of locals.
- Campaign was a success in Berlin and is now going international making its first stop in New York.


Check out: http://www.be.berlin.de/

Source:

1. http://www.be.berlin.de/
2. http://www.visitberlin.de/english/ueber-uns/e_uu_entwicklung.php

“Love Deserves Respect” Campaign: The portrayal of ethnic minorities in advertising

The first piece of advertising that I saw in Berlin was a billboard of two men, one of Middle Eastern features and the other of white descent, kissing outside of our hostel. Since I was aware of the fact that Berlin’s gay population was standing at approximately 300,000 making the Capital the third largest in Europe (1), seeing this was not shocking to me, on the contrary, I was excited to see such an expressive poster. Although the copy was not in English, this billboard symbolized all that Europe stands for when it comes to openness, freedom of speech and existence. Little did I know this poster was a part of an ongoing campaign to promote the respect of different sexual preferences amongst all ethnicities living in Berlin. To my surprise, this was one of the only advertisings I saw that also targeted minority groups living in Germany.



Discussion:
The “Love Deserves Respect” campaign was started in Vienna where discrimination against gay and lesbians was so intolerable that the rate of attempted suicide among homosexuals in Austria had risen seven times higher than among heterosexuals (2). This campaign, targeted at the residents of Vienna, was transferred to Berlin and thus became an international campaign. Due to the fact that there were no language barriers, the campaign kept the same exact advertising with same images and copy in German, Turkish, Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian. Although it was targeting two different markets that are different in many aspects, the showing of three couples, gay, lesbian, and heterosexual kissing in public appeared to be influential to both Berliners and residents of Vienna.

Highlights:
- Posters were put up primarily in schools, youth centers and other youth institutions.
- The choice of background, in public scenarios, was deliberate as kissing in public was often the presumed cause of violence.
- This campaign was transferred from Vienna to Berlin reaching both natives and immigrants through three languages and a variety of images.
- It was based completely on three images and the rest was done through programs targeted to the young and upcoming generations.

Check out: http://www.zeig-respekt.de/

Source:
1. http://www.visitberlin.de/english/zielgruppen/e_zg_gay_geschichte.php
2. http://www.wieninternational.at/en/node/14519

More about passtheball.de

Take a look at what I found on my way to school the other day. These are pass the ball train station advertisements! I guess the campaign continues...

Aroma: Globalization? Localization?

Café Aroma has been making Israel's best coffee for the last fourteen years and I would easily qualify it as my favorite coffee house. I was happily surprised to run into a branch in Berlin, located by the famous Check Point Charlie. My discovery drove me to enter aroma.co.il where I learned that in recent years this Israeli brand has expended globally with franchises in USA, Romania, Canada, Ukraine and Cyprus. When I first walked into Aroma I felt as if I was entering a branch in Israel, the look and atmosphere were the same. It was only when I grabbed a menu that I realized that besides the coffee, all sandwiches and salads offered were different than in Israel. For example, you would never find a bacon and egg salad sandwich in Israel while here in Berlin it was one of the first options on the menu.



Aroma is a perfect example of globalization while localizing and adapting the host country’s lifestyle and values. This is usually a challenge for marketers who enter a market that is different than theirs and especially when an Israeli company that began with targeting a Jewish market must adapt to a non- kosher market. Globalization refers to when brands have the same brand image and equity no matter where there location is. Localization is when a brand thinks locally and molds their offerings and image to that of the local culture. Any of my friends who came with me to Aroma said that if I hadn’t told them that the coffee house was from Israel they would have never had known.

In the United States, most restaurants from other countries keep their Unique Selling Proposition (USP). For example, restaurants remain globalized and market their brands as uniquely global or that of a particular country. However, Aroma in Berlin has localized themselves to fit a market of Berliners and tourists while keeping their brand identity and maintaining their image.

Pass The Ball: Your Ideas Can Change the World

I was walking around Potsdamer Platz when I was approached by a young men wearing a black shirt, holding a clipboard and a bag filled with blue and green balls. Many around him appeared exactly the same and as he began speaking to me in German I knew that I was being approached by some sort of promotional effort. I quickly informed him that I could not understand what he was saying and without hesitation he began chatting with me in English. “Would you like to pass on the ball?” he asked. Lost and confused, I began to seek more information.


Pass the ball is an online social network, similar to YouTube, where people are free to post their ideas and others from around the world comment on them. Together they create a platform of ideas. Every time someone shares an idea and others comment on it, it initiates donations from Cisco to Teachers Without Borders. Also, winning ideas receive one year of free WebEx, the company that runs the website, to help make them a reality as they are brought to life through collaboration with people all over the world. Besides Germany, this currently exists in the USA, UK and France.

All around me I saw people being approached by others as they were trying to direct them into the 3D ball where they were going to “pass the ball”. On a huge screen in the middle of the Sony Center were videos of others sharing their ideas and a poster advertising the program and directing people to the website was placed right in the middle of the center. Whether or not you agreed to enter the ball and share your ideas with the world you received a stress ball for free to take with you and if you ever change your mind, www.passtheball.de was the place to go. Whether you passed the ball or not this personal selling technique made anyone who agreed to stay and chat aware of this program.


I personally passed on the ball when I shared with the world my genius idea about elevator buttons. I absolutely hate it when I step into an elevator and press the wrong floor. I wish someone would invent a button that once pressed a second time the floor chosen is deactivated. I placed my idea out there. If you have any suggestions or comments, feel free to let me know!