(Dieser Artikel ist in Englisch verfasst, da er aus unserem Englischkurs kommt.)

M&C Saatchi

Let me ask you a simple question. What do you associate with: “For the extra portion of milk”? Is it a model child with sparkling white teeth? Chocolate in red and white wrapping? Well, Ferrero’s research claims that 100% of us Germans would reply “Kinderschokolade” to this question. Supposedly it is that renown and in order to keep it that way, Ferrero annually spends 4.5 billion dollars on marketing. But how exactly does this huge investment force the “milk” into our heads?

One late afternoon on December 4th in 2007 the English LK of Ms. Gansekow visited M&C Saatchi, Ferrero’s main advertizing agency to unveil this mystery. At first glance, the office fully met our expectations: A neatly organized conference room with plain white walls thoughtfully decorated with flashy print ads. What caught our attention, however, was the huge amount of chocolate on the table. “We’ll save that for later” Gisele, our hostess politely replied. With big eyes fixated on the chocolate we reluctantly followed her demand and got seated. Still, one person was still missing before the session could start. Only few moments later he appeared, maneuvered dreamily around the table until he finally dropped into his seat. “Hi, I’m Björn, the creative director” he mumbled while leaning forward to grab a chocolate bar. “What are you looking at?”. Jealous eyes followed the Kinder-Schokolade as it disappeared into his mouth.

It was easy to forgive Björn for that, however, as he enduringly lead us through two hours of professional presentation. M&C Saatchi Berlin - so we found out - is only one department of the marketing corporation, the so called accounting department. Its task is to manage the budget of promotion campaigns. This is necessary as airing a single primetime spot on RTL, for example, costs up to 70 million Euros. You would get a lot of chocolate for that! The “mother-company” of M&C Saatchi resides in London and employs several thousand people. M&C Saatchi’s motto: “Ads as simple as possible” is just as bold as Björn’s statements. While he introduced us to general marketing concepts and showcased numerous of promotion spots he shared his insight with us: “Nobody wants to see standard stuff anymore.” He says. “You have to sneak yourself in where it is not expected. It’s called brand entertaining”. So instead of showing people drinking Coke he continued his presentation with a clip depicting a handsome surfer who picks up his board and goes surfing … in Munich-city! It’s the unexpected that makes people remember your product and will therefore buy it.

Ferrero, Coke, Apolinaris and Viva are just some of M&C Saatchi’s well-known clients and correspondingly high are their demands. For instance, he showed us a commercial which intended to redefine, or “rebrand” Apollinaris as nothing less than “The Queen of Table Waters”. Specifically designed for England and Germany this commercial depicts a knight stumbling over a deliberately posed leg of a British guard. “Because he’s German.” This commercial would not work in America. Björn added “If it’s only nice, then it won’t reach people. There needs to be friction.” Our jaws dropped in awe, when he mentioned that the coke soccer world-champion-cup campaign has actually been planned for both – the loss and success of the German soccer team right from the beginning. Considering this example, it became quite clear to each of us that clever marketing is by no means a coincidence. It’s the contrary: “You don’t want to shoot kids and weather. Why? Because they’re both unpredictable.”

By then, our heads were buzzing. But suddenly, redemption was finally in sight! Chocolate! Like a herd of

 ravenous animals we indulged in Ferrero products leaving nothing more but crumbled pieces of wrapping. You would think no valuable lessons on marketing could compete, but Björn and Gisele still had one ace up their sleeve. At the end of the presentation our two hosts handed us assignment sheets which challenged us to prove whether we’ve got the talent to become marketing specialists, or in Björn’s words become his “creative hamsters” (for further details, check out the “do it yourself” page).

So, after all, I figure that the milk is nothing more but carefully crafted smoke and mirrors. Does that make Kinder Schokolade a simple product of make-believe? I take a bite and figure: Perhaps, but it surely tastes good.