The German research company Endmark claims that advertisers are dropiping the use of English in favour of German


30.09.04	read original article
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Have German advertisers got the language message?
Researchers detect increased use of German, less use of English'.

Research published one year ago by the Cologne based company Endmark obviously resonated far and wide, says the magazine Persoenlich.

German consumers, Endmark found, were often confused by the English-language claims used by major companies in their advertising. Perhaps, it suggested, advertisers would be better served by speaking to their audience in their own language.

Since then, Endmark claims, there has been something of a 'back to German trend'.

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'The Beck's Experience': core of the beer brand's advertising

The reaction of the companies mentioned in its original research is interesting, it says. Eight of the twelve claims it looked at one year aho have now switched from German to English. McDonald's, for example, now uses the line: "Ich liebe es" instead of "Every time a good time". At Lufthansa, they no longer tell viewers (in English) that "There's no better way to fly", but that it is "Alles für diesen Moment" (the German version of the international claim, "All for this one moment" - click here to read about that on the Lufthansa website). And recently, the perfumery chain Douglas switched from telling people (again in English) that they should "Come in and find out", and is now reminding them that "Douglas macht das Leben schöner" (in English, "Douglas makes life more beautiful" - click here to read an earlier story about that on From Europe With Love).

Elsewhere, the TV station SAT 1 is no longer "powered by emotion", but "zeigt's allen" ("shows it all"), while Esso has moved on from its English-language phrase "We are drivers too". Its drivers may be the same, but the Audi TT is now not "driven by emotion" but simply "pur und faszinierend" ("pure and fascinating"). And the security feature of Mitsubishi automobiles are no longer flagged by the line "Drive Alive". Finally, energy group RWE has replaced "One group. Multi-utilities" with "Alles aus einer Hand" ("Everything in one place").

Only Siemens mobile, Endmark says, has not decided to switch back, choosing to replace "be inspired" with "designed for life". Not all the changes can be directly traced back to the study, it seems, but there clearly seems to be a trend here.