Heimat Is Where The Heart Is

At the recent Berlin Film Festival, signs of a revival of the German film industry were more than apparent. In 2003, only 17% of box office takings were from German films; in 2004, this had risen to 24%. Culture Minister Christina Weiss commented that "audiences here want to see authentic films about European people dealing with the mentalities and stories that happen here." A quick look at the subject matter of some of the recent successes - Der Untergang, Das Wunder von Bern, Sophie Scholl - clearly shows a new openness and willingness for Germans to look objectively at the past century, good and bad, rather than denial or an automatic feeling of guilt for being German.  

This week in Stern is a fashion spread from new German designers, using the traditional German virtues of love of order, cleanliness, discipline, thrift and so on in a semi-ironic way.   In the new renaissance of Old Europe, it seems clear from where Im sitting that gradually, slowly, a little gingerly perhaps, the Germans and Germany are wearing their national identity a little bit more in public. I nearly wrote 'on their sleeves' in the last sentence and there, Prince Harry aside, lies a potential problem for marketers who are dealing with German brands or events. At first glance, it would seem to be an ideal opportunity to use the new-found self-confidence in Old Europe to promote German brands on the basis of their national provenance. But when we try to do this, it's never long before the ghosts of the past goosestep into our consciousness, making us feel distinctly uncomfortable about what we're doing.  

The problem is, of course, that the Nazis may not have been the master race, but they were certainly masters of propaganda or marketing, as it would be called today. Almost every time one looks for values, myths, archetypes or even fairy stories to support a German brand, we see that someone else got there first, probably in the 1930s. Want to use a stirring piece of Wagner as background for your brand's TV spot? Forget it. How about a nice dynamic logo in red, black and white? No chance. What about an advertising campaign that associates the brand with mythical or historical characters, in the same way we might use the Knights of the Round Table in the UK? Er...not today, Siegfried. How about a spectacular TV spot for Lufthansa (as in British Airways) with lots of people waving flags and forming patterns? A bit too reminiscent of Nurnberg, I'm afraid. Is it any wonder that much German advertising shies away from the symbolic and emotional and concerns itself only with fact and product performance? Not only does the devil get the best tunes- in Germany, he has certainly spoilt a lot of good advertising and marketing ideas for anyone else.

However, there is one peculiarly German concept that is also enjoying a revival that was not hi-jacked and abused by Adolf and his cronies. Although no-one is going to wander around here publicly declaring his love of the Fatherland, the word and concept of Heimat is back on everyone's lips. Heimat is one of those words that are untranslatable into English. The best attempt is to say that it is a mixture of the notions of "homeland" and "roots". Heimat is something that is different for each individual and this is precisely the reason that the notion did not play a great part in Hitler's vision of the unification of the German-speaking peoples. Hitler himself played down his exact origins. Heimat can have elements of feelings, place, memory, roots, origins and sensory elements of sight, taste, smell and sound. Heimat is a place (not necessarily a physical place) where the individual feels at home, feels that he belongs and notices most of all in its absence.  

The rediscovery of Heimat by the Germans was originally prompted by the recession and the "hedgehog" or cocooning response to events on the world stage. However, what arose as a necessity has now become a desire. Germans are re-discovering the joys of a camping holiday by the Baltic Sea or a week in a Bavarian farm in the foothills of the Alps. Interest in local and regional specialities in food and drink is being revived and some of the young designers featured in the Stern article mentioned above even incorporate elements of traditional regional Trachten or dress in their creations. Five years ago, the word Heimat, if spoken, was used in a derogatory manner. A Heimatfilm or Heimatroman was a book or film strictly for female over-70s (think Mills & Boon in Dirndl and Lederhosen if you can stomach it!).  

But now, serious publications have articles on Heimat; movers and shakers in all fields own up to the Heimat feeling. No-one is yet admitting to being proud to be German, but it is now absolutely acceptable to show pride in your origins as a Berliner, Bavarian or Thringer. Even owning up to being an 'Ossi', with roots in the former DDR is not only acceptable, but positively hip, with an outbreak of 'Ostalgie' sweeping the country, be it T-shirts sporting the logos of former DDR brands or TV compilations of game and comedy shows from 1970s East Germany.  

The rediscovery of Heimat can be traced back to a positive expression of the need for belonging to something or feeling at home in an increasingly impersonal world. Like all good concepts, the new idea of Heimat has adapted itself to a more mobile world. Heimat is no longer strictly related to place. The people interviewed recently in Stern on the subject of Heimat mentioned music and speech as well as specific parts of Germany and the associated bundles of feelings when asked what Heimat was for them. Nowadays, you can take your Heimat with you wherever you go!  

It seems to me that this is a deep concept that one should almost certainly try to tap into when developing communication for brands and not just those within Germany. In these days where authenticity and substance are increasingly appreciated over dramatic but ultimately ephemeral smoke and mirrors, the idea of a brand Heimat seems a good one. In a world that's getting more and more cynical about globalisation, surely it makes sense to start at the grass roots level with a brand when working out how to connect with people at a deep emotional level.  

A couple of days ago, I saw a prime example of getting it wrong. It was a one page advertisement in a German TV magazine from Head & Shoulders which used as its creative idea a press clipping, in English, from an Australian newspaper from last November about a thief who was caught via DNA analysis of his dandruff. However amusing a tactical advertisement might have been in same paper in Sydney the very next day, sadly, I could not imagine any German finding anything to remotely connect with personally, taking into account the distance of thousands of miles, three months and a back translation.  

Last weekend on German TV was an example of getting it right, as one of the country's most popular entertainers presented 'The Bundesvision Song Contest', an affectionate homage to Eurovision, with entries from all sixteen Bundeslander and all the usual tacky costumes and strange dance routines. Yes, there were even Lederhosen but the winner, beating off internationally-known competition such as Mousse T, was Juli, a guitar band singing in the Hessisch idiom. One: nil to Heimat!  

Sue Imgrund, 21st February 2005  

EDITORIAL NOTE: The APG web division would like to apologise for the lack of appropriate accents in this piece. We just can't work out the HTML. For the complete word vesion with accents and everything please click here.