14/11/2014

“Casual fashion for a casual life”. There’s something not quite right about Tom Tailor’s former slogan. As with most of its campaigns, it’s written in English, promoting the broader American feel about the company. Most Germans think Tom Tailor is based in the US, a perception supported by its thoroughly un-German name – few would suspect that its head office is in the sleepy Hamburg suburb of Niendorf, characterised by its predominance of elderly people and startlingly nondescript architecture.

Bleak is chic in Niendorf Market

The majority of people here speak English – indeed, most of them slip it into their everyday speech without thinking. Words like “service”, “show” and “download” are liable to crop up in otherwise purely German sentences, just as “I don’t know” is a perfectly legitimate German response to questions. But though bilingualism is impressively prevalent here, few speak English to a level of fluency and linguistic confidence to recognise the many minor oddities in English language advertising here.

Let’s take a look at “casual fashion for a casual life”. If it were “casual fashion for a casual lifestyle”, it’d be beyond criticism (barring appraisal of the actual effectiveness of the message). But a “casual life” isn’t a thing. It sounds like a life of not being bothered. A life you only show up to when nothing else is on. If your eulogy featured a reference to the “casual life” you’d led, your legacy would be in pretty dire straits. Of course, it’d be a great campaign for a company targeting the existentially noncommittal – but after six weeks of working with the company, I’m pleased to say that our customer base isn’t quite so narrowly definable. Accordingly, my native English-speaking boss killed the campaign as quickly as he could.

But he might just as well have spared himself the effort. German consumers capable of this sort of hair-splitting are few and far between; most will see “casual + fashion + life”, and run with the gist of the message. Even those who harbour doubts about the formulation are likely to shrug their shoulders and accept it – after all, who are they to correct the Americans at Tom Tailor?

This I think allows for an interesting linguistic phenomenon to develop in commercial advertising: the license to sound foreign. It doesn’t matter if the sentences are stilted from the perspective of a native English speaker – the targeted German consumers will have much less of an appetite for criticism.  As long as you strike the right buzzwords or catchphrases, the ideas will come through even if the phrasing is patchy. 

The phenomenon can be witnessed all over this city. Tom Tailor provides another specimen with our “You better believe (kn)it” campaign, in which we exhort customers to cast their doubts aside and affirm their faith in textile manufacture. At least, that’s what the message literally implies. The benchmark standard of puns drops significantly when you permit yourself to sound foreign – your claims can be unapologetically nonsensical, as long as they’re more or less familiar-sounding.

Now I'm a beweaver.

A Marlboro ad on my route to work is another good example. It displays a biker in the middle of the desert on the left side, then on the right a couple of packs of cigarettes and the message “Maybe I will do it my way”. With “maybe” struck out. As if the biker opened his diary one afternoon, wrote the sentence complete with the “maybe”, then reconsidered, and in a devil-may-care act of brazen defiance drew a red cross over it.

Scorching intransigence from the smokers

Or my HanseNet mouse pad from Customer Services at the Alsterhaus. The more I look at this one, the less I understand it. Is it meant to be a play on words? 

Get it?

No one says “high speedy”, because it doesn’t mean anything. No one talks about their "casual life". And no one writes “maybe I will do it my way”, least of all leather-clad desert trekking bikers. But once you leave a native English-speaking market, this stuff becomes pure gold. English is a very different beast here – it’s fizzy and it's glamorous, and faintly intoxicating. And even when it’s wrong, it’s oh so right. 

05/11/2014

Fashion spam reworked.

As briefly summarised in the previous article, I’ve been working at a German clothing retailer for the last month. I’m at the lowest rung in the strategic marketing team hierarchy, and as such, one of my primary responsibilities is to face all the spam that gets sent our way. Some of this is spam which I actually have to do something about – if Frau Naujoks of Interactive Digital Marketing insists on speaking with my boss about developing branded trinkets as customer giveaways, it’s my job to tell her that, while we’re very impressed by her idea of printing the company logo onto a USB stick, we’re either a) already well supported by partner firms in this area, or b) unable to modify budget allocations for the year. Sometimes both, if the Frau or Herr in question is really struggling to get the message.

But some of the spam is, I’m pleased to say, entirely harmless. I’d go a step further – some of it is positively delightful. It’s always a relief when an unexpected email turns out to be an Italian fashion newsletter or photographer’s portfolio, clearly sent to thousands of addresses at once. There’s something very uplifting about reading these messages – they are almost always upbeat and friendly, and yet they expect nothing in return for their cheering buoyancy. It only felt right to honour them as best I could, with verbatim inclusion on this blog. Though with some of my own edits added in – they’re rough diamonds, to be sure, and as this one captured my imagination, I couldn't help myself from embellishing. Below I give you my rework of a piece from Shotview Berlin (everything in navy is from the original email).

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A few minutes with… CLAUDIA HOFMANN! And her muscular boyfriend, Jarryd.

Interviewer: Claudia, you are well-known for your intensive cooperation with high fashion magazines. Is there one particular work of yours that stands representative for your style?

Claudia: I would describe my style myself as sleek/glamoures but always with a twist of coolness.

Jarryd: Oh come on, she’s being modest. A ‘twist’ of coolness? More like a whole bloody saucepan of it. She pisses cool, is what she does.

I: You collaborated with photographers like Peter Lindbergh, Joachim Baldauf or Markus Pritzi. As well as with celebrities like Karl Lagerfeld or Naomi Campbell. Is there someone or somebody´s œuvre that you would call your muse?

[J coughs loudly]

C: I very much like to work with different photographers and teams because it is always nice to get different amazing input and my style is getting also a different look.

J: Well put Claud. I think “muse” is a pretty serious word to start throwing around, but I mean I help out with her diet and shit.

I: Fashion brands such as Escada, Toni Gard, St. Emile and Adidas love to work with you. From classic-chic to avant-garde to sporty – you are familiar with the diverse concepts of styling. Is there any style on your wish list that you haven´t realised yet?

C: I almost did all kind of styles, but to look into the future, realize the look of the year 3000 would be amazing.

J: Hey yeah, you could be wearing like space boots and an astronaut suit. And riding a purple hovercraft! Yeah, it’s a great idea. But absolutely, she almost did do all kind of styles. This close… [gestures with thumb and forefinger]

I: Your work as creative consultant for TV shows as fashion editor, stylist and creative consultant demonstrate the confidence in your work also in this field. Is there an anecdote that can tell us more about the method and give us an insight behind the scenes of your work?

C: I was responsible to bring Naomi Campbell into the show of GNTM.  The whole idea, which scenario would fit perfectly to her to be in the show and how to translate it into a nice and sensitive content was quite interesting since the TV world is so much different for fashion people.

J: Hahah yeah that story always gets me! It’s just, like, totally different! Like you wouldn’t believe! [wipes eyes amid jerks of laughter]

I: Originally you have studied fashion design. You are the co-founder of stylebop.com and established the portal as creative director. Your work for the exclusive porcelain manufacturer Meissen shows another side and variety of your competence. You got the exhibition going and launched the catalogue. Besides styling, your skills in concept, curating and production were also highly appreciated. You are without doubt a multi-talented person. [C blushes at the flattering words, J sees this and shoots a cold stare at the interviewer] What do you do to get inspired?

J: You watch what you say mate.

C: Since I´m traveling al lot in different countries I got most of my inspiration from there and from daily situations when I´m walking on the streets.

J: She’s pretty much being inspired all the time, when she’s not having to deal with wanker interviewers. Isn’t that right babe?

I: Currently, you convince as Editor-at-large Beauty at Harper´s Bazaar. Do you have a particular kind of woman in mind while creating your styles?

C: For Harper´s Bazaar I see a strong independent woman but still with a feminine sense.

J: I should just help explain this a bit, because most people we meet find it hard to figure out the whole “strong independent woman with a feminine sense” thing. They’re just like, “do you mean masculine sense?” For ages I assumed Claud meant “masculine sense” too. But I’ve thought about it, and I think what she means is, being a woman, and being strong and independent at the same time. Still trying to nut it out though.

I: As fashion director you always established the upcoming trends. In a few words how would you describe the fashion stories that you tell in your work?

C: I always play with fashion and create my own style. It is very important for me that my work shows  an idea for readers or clients to get a new view/perspective for them on fashion.

J: I’ll answer your question with another question. What is fashion? [glances back and forth between the interviewer and Claudia, with a glint in his eye] Hm? That gets you thinking, doesn’t it? Fashion is basically whatever Claud decides to put on in the morning. Because she’s a natural. Would you ask a forest where it gets its trees from? Like, would you ask a mountain how it makes its caves? No. And this is totally the same thing. Totally. Sorry, what was the question?

I: Is there a key piece that you would recommend every woman to have in her wardrobe? What is a must-have and must-do in fashion? 

C: White blouse. It could be a very elegant, basic or oversized one. With a white blouse you are always nice dressed for every situation and it is easy to break a formal look down with leather pants or more dressed up with a pencil skirt.

Be your self.

J: You heard my girl. Be yourself in a white blouse. It’s that easy, just get a bloody blouse and the rest takes care of itself. Though I’ll add a “must do” here, which is like, once you’ve bought the blouse, wear it. Don’t just let it sit there, you know? Cause that’s a pretty easy mistake to make.

I: Which style should we be in the lookout for this autumn?

C: Leather jackets with shearling and knitwear as an all over look.

J: But keep your eyes open, they could be lurking anywhere.