Branding Through Diverse Media

Innovative branding strategies are being widely used to market brands throughout Berlin. Different media being used vary from large print ads wrapped around buildings to wireless bluetooth technology. It seems as though Berlin is the center of diverse media branding as they come up with new ways to promote products and services.

The most innovative branding I was able to see was the use of toilet paper as an advertising medium.


Corona is a brand that is exploring branding with diverse media. We ran into the Corona booth at the Carnival of Cultures in Berlin. Not only did they have a booth there, they also had a float participating in the festivities as well as a HUGE Corona bottle, a welcoming, familiar sign to those of us that are loyal consumers of that brand, especially after working up a thirst enjoying the Carnival. Corona cars were also a prevalent sign in Berlin as the brand is trying to break into the competitive German beer market.



The German Aviation Museum also used an innovative form of marketing by hanging a DC-3 aircraft used in the Berlin Airlift in front of their building.

Design in Berlin: From Oppression to Liberation

This city has a very storied past as it has gone through so many changes in its history. Design elements are considered extremely important in Berlin due to the power they have to convey ideas to the populous.

While in Berlin we had the opportunity to take a bicycle tour around the city. While on the tour we saw many Nazi-era buildings which were designed solely to be ominous and convey fear to the people. All the buildings had the same design fundamentals: large scale, relatively in-ornate, and intimidating. Below is picture of the Ministry of Aviation in Nazi Berlin, which still stands but has been converted to the Office of Finance and Taxes.


Berlin has now become the complete opposite. Architecture in Berlin is being used as a form of non-verbal communication and is seen with a sense of pride and design elements are used to convey the complete opposite of that under Hitler and under communism.

Below is a collection of photos that shows the sense of German design which is now used to convey messages of freedom, liberty, and equality amongst countrymen.

Ethnic Minorities

Berlin is like most major metropolitan cities in the United States. A large immigrant population makes up this distinct city. Prior to our trip I always thought that Germans were very nationalistic and ethnic minorities were not a large percentage of the population. I soon came to find out that this was wrong. Not only is it a large percentage of the population that are of immigrant descent but the nations represented in this great city are so similar to those of New York, Miami, and Los Angeles. Each minority has adopted the German language and some traditions and customs but most of them have also stayed true to their heritage and brought back a piece of their culture to add to this beautiful "salad bowl" known as Berlin.

The way I see how ethnic minorities are perceived in the various places I have visited is through the food. The way that native Germans have adopted donners, pizza, and asian noodles is surprising as I have always thought that Germans would be biased to their sausages and beer, but this ethnic food has become a way of life not only for immigrants but for native Germans that have roots there.




German companies are now noticing what a large market these immigrant communities are and are targeting them for the first time in history as potential customers. Minorities are not only being targeted for purchases but also for them to embrace a "more European" way of thinking. One of the ways they are doing this is by a campaign geared toward tolerance for couples no matter what their race or nationality, as some cultures do not embrace the certain lifestyle choices.


This advertisement is geared mostly to the Turkish and Arab community calling for respect and tolerance for love, no matter what form it takes.

Non Traditional Advertising

While in Germany we were able to enjoy many forms of non-traditional advertising, as they are prevalent throughout the city. The term 'thinking outside the box' definitely applies to marketers in Berlin as they have very innovative ways of showcasing and selling their products or brands.

Perhaps the most distinct were the advertisements featuring HUGE building wraps, most notably the TV Tower at Alexanderplatz for T-Mobile, which was used to advertise the T-Mobile sponsoring of the Berlin Games.

Audi also had their own giant building wrap in the middle of Potsdamer Platz. What made this one so interesting is that they placed this wrap over another wrap that showed what the building would look like once construction was complete.


Finally, a truly incredible form of non-traditional advertising was the wrap over the construction site of a building near the Opera House. At first glance it seemed as though it was a beautiful building, relative to the other ones in the area, but upon a closer examination you could see that it was really a print wrapped around the construction site.

Marketing a Destination

With $120+ dollars being spent annually on travel, it should be no surprise that Tourism Boards want to advertise and market their destination internationally. This is evident in the marketing in and around Berlin for tourist destinations. Being an economic powerhouse, Germans have the luxury to travel to vacation destinations around the world. Germans travel more than any other nation, spending almost $70 Billion in 2006.


Marketers obviously want a piece of that pie, and in Germany they are actively marketing destinations for those travel dollars. One of the most prevalent campaigns is to the Canary Islands in Spain. Posters and advertising are placed across the S-Line platforms to make them clearly visible to riders of the S-Bahn and pedestrians a like. The images depict pleasant beaches, and a couple enjoying themselves frolicking in the sand. Their website, http://www.turismodecanarias.com/de/, is caters completely to Germans planning on visiting the Spanish Isles. They also include a service that sends SMS messages to mobile phones as a tourism guide.

Images of Sex and Beauty While Abroad

Images of Sex and Beauty

Images using sex and beauty as selling tool have been around for a very long time. As the cliché phrase points out, ‘Sex sells’, and this is true no matter where you are in the world. The only things that dictate how much you can show are local norms and attitudes in those specific cultures.

Traditionally, the United States is much more conservative in how much skin you can show in advertisements. It doesn’t take much for an ad to be considered too racy for the general public. In Europe however, sexuality is more embraced, allowing marketers to get away with showing more (or less) and insinuating scenarios that in America would be considered taboo. It is commonplace to see a half nude couple promoting a brand of beer, a semi nude model selling health and beauty products and a seductive looking woman advertising cigarettes. Had they tried to use these images in a campaign in the U.S., family groups and politicians would have been up in arms about the issue and demanded a boycott until the ad was removed and an apology issued by the offending company.

An example I found particularly appropriate for this topic is an advertisement I saw while on a weekend trip to Prague. The ad shows a woman, completely naked, and her long blonde hair covering her breasts. The poster is advertising a vibrator and this is shown off to the corner of the ad. It is interesting to note how comfortable and open Europeans are with sex and beauty in their advertisements. The same campaign features a half naked man and woman advertising an adult store.

Culture plays a huge role in what is considered the norm and what is considered excessive and lewd. For Americans, having vibrator advertisements plastered around the city may be somewhat much considering that sex in the United States is still a very taboo subject that people like to keep in the bedroom. On the other hand, Europeans are comfortable seeing other people’s bodies and nudity and sex seem to be everywhere, therefore in the European culture this does not have such a negative connotation as it does in other parts of the world.

Integrated Marketing Communication In Berlin

Berlin, being one of the most advanced cities on the planet, ranks high in various aspects such as: technology, architecture, fashion and automotive advances. If it’s new, bold and daring, chances are they originated in Berlin. This holds true with IMC and how large a role marketing and advertisement play in this wonderful city.

Since the moment we stepped off the plane, we saw ad after ad bombarding us with the newest available products or services. However, Germans have found a way for this to be a so aesthetically pleasing that these bold ads and displays have become an art form. They use interesting shapes and colors, simple catch phrases and bold pictures to sell their products in a way that they are still compelling even if they are not necessarily aimed at your demographic.

However, this does not stop with your typical run of the mill billboards. They apply their creativity and come up with fantastic advertising ideas. One of the better campaigns I’ve seen while we have been in Berlin is the advertising from T-Mobile on the TV Station tower. They had T-Mobile customers send in text messages and picked those messages to be included on a wrap that goes around the tower as part of the campaign for the German Games. This example of mobile advertising shows the caliber of IMC and how it differs from campaigns seen in the United States.

A common new media for publicity in Berlin is video. I have seen many video projections throughout the city and the subways where a projector is placed facing the wall across the tracks. The ads are then interspersed with weather forecasts, headline news (local and international), and sports.