Assignment 2 Rikke.doc

Engelsk int.kul.mark.komm afl 2 Rikke Harbo, 5 semester

afleveres d. 10 okt. 2005

Assignment 2 Adaptation of the Hipp advertisement –from German into Danish

Abstract This research paper discusses and accounts for the differences and adaptations which have been made from the German into the Danish Hipp advertisement. In order to describe the changes that have been made I have employed the indicative tables of advertisement aspects, Geert Hofstede’s and Edward Hall’s cultural dimension models.

Preface The increasing trend of globalization e.g. global trade, global companies and global economies has lead companies to communicate with the consumers as cosmopolitans, however providing for different language and cultures traits. The local and cultural aspects have become very important for the companies in order to initiate and maintain contact with consumers across boundaries. And within the framework of global communication the international advertisements plays a key role for the companies. A literal translation of an advertisement is often not a good solution because of the language and culture as mentioned above. The translator should probably try to develop a culture-specific communication style which directly addresses the type of culture you are dealing with. In 1991 Geert Hofstede1 developed a model of five dimensions2 of national cultures to clarify fundamental value differences, which could be of great help to the translator when adapting an advertisement into another language. Furthermore the anthropologist Edward Hall3 also distinguished patterns of culture e.g. “the concept of context” i. e. “high-text and low-text communication.4” Some of Hofsted’s dimensions will not be toughed upon in my research paper, because they are less important in my comparison and others will be more thoroughly employed. However, the existence of them all are important to be aware of in connection with cross cultural communication and “During 1978-83, the Dutch cultural anthropologist Geert Hofstede conducted detailed interviews with hundreds of IBM employees in 53 countries. Through standard statistical analysis of fairly large data sets, he was able to determine patterns of similarities and differences among the replies. From this data analysis, he formulated his theory that world cultures vary along consistent, fundamental dimensions” (http://www.tri.sbc.com/hfweb/marcus/hfweb00_marcus.html) 2 “Power Distance, Individualism, Masculinity, Uncertainty Avoidance and Long-term Orientation”. (Geert Hofstede’s Cultural Cultural Dimensions p 1) 3 “In 1960 Edward Hall contrasts high context and low context. How people communicate is both implicit and explicit. However, this does not apply for communication only, but in a way people and organisation do business.” (http://66.249.93.104/search?q=cache:jg65hG1drAJ:www.impgroup.org/uploads/papers/4328.pdf+Edward+Hall+high+and+low-communication&hl=da) 4 De Mooij, 2004: 182 1

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Engelsk int.kul.mark.komm afl 2 Rikke Harbo, 5 semester

afleveres d. 10 okt. 2005

advertisement. Moreover, I would like to point out that Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory has its own limitations and should be considered more as a guideline than the definitive answer. The reason for that is among other things that cultural changes have naturally taken place since the data were collected more than twenty years ago and due to the uncertain factor combined with the use of questionnaires e.g. do people within a culture perceive the interview questions the same way.

Communication styles Taking a look at the two Hipp advertisements it is quite obvious for the viewer/reader that there are a lot of differences and a lot of adaptations have been made when adapting the German advertisement into Danish, which I will try to account for in the first part of my paper leaning on Hofstede’s and Halls’ models.

Uncertainty avoidance Germany is according to Hofstede’s analysis a high uncertainty avoidance country in contrast to Denmark, which is a low uncertainty avoidance country5. In cultures of strong uncertainty avoidance like Germany the advertisements tend to be more serious and structured which also characterize the German Hipp ad and it becomes more obvious when comparing it with the Danish advertisement6. Firstly, in the German ad the emphasis on structure and a more traditionally way of designing advertisements reveal itself e.g. by the use of a longer headline and because of the content it also seems more “heavy” to read than the Danish headline. “The most important thing to remember here is that your headline must be short and snappy. People just don't read as much as they used to.7” Secondly, the German text body is typed without paragraphs which make the text much more compressed and disturb the taste for reading. Thirdly, the German Hipp advertisement pictures an older male representative for the Hipp baby food and he is dressed with a tie and in a lounge suit and surrounded by the nature and calve, while the Danish ad pictures a baby and female breasts. This conforms to Mooij’s Advertising Style figure which shows that more humour is used in the weak uncertainty cultures and that ambiguity is allowed8. The set-up with the baby and the breasts makes the Danish viewer smile. Another aspect

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Hofstede Uncertainty Avoidance Index p 1 De Mooij, 2004: 194 7 http://adbusters.org/spoofads/printad/ 8 De Mooij, 2004: 194 6

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Engelsk int.kul.mark.komm afl 2 Rikke Harbo, 5 semester

afleveres d. 10 okt. 2005

of the use of humour in the Danish advertisement is expressions as “[…] bryste sig med” and “[…] når baby ikke længere kan mættes ved at åbne “køkkenet” i form af amme-BH’en. Uncertainty cultures like Germany try to avoid uncertainty e.g. unknown, surprising and unusual situations by setting up and relying on strict laws, rules and regulations9. The German ad nearly mentions words such as statutory (gesetzlich), regulations (Vorschriften), law (Gesetz) and the protection of the nature (Naturschutzgebiet) in every line of the text body, which stresses the tendency of German law-making and bureaucracy in all parts of society. On the other hand the relaxed relationship to nudity in the Danish advertisement reflects the fact that a “less-rules society” is not afraid to take changes, because fact is that it could offend some people, which would likely be the case in Germany10.

Masculinity/femininity According to Hofstede’s theory Germany has a masculine culture. A high masculinity ranking indicates that the country experiences a high degree of gender differentiation i. e. the distribution of roles between the genders is high11. A low masculinity ranking indicates the country has a low level of differentiation and discrimination between genders. Values in a masculine culture are e.g. assertiveness, competition, material success, achievements and power as opposed to feminine values as modest, caring and the quality of life12. The Danish and German advertisements correspond very well with Hofstede’s theory concerning masculine and feminine values, because the Danish advertisement indirectly or directly expresses feminine values e.g. the female care, a mother’s love for her baby, naturalness and cuteness contrary to the German advertisement which indirectly or directly expresses values such as strength, achievement and competitive power e.g. “Wir sind strenger als das Gesetz”. Another masculine trait is the use of a known personality in this case one of the three owners of the company “Claus Hipp13.” His role is to present the product and make the German advertisement seem more reliable, whereas in feminine cultures the personality and role of the presenter is

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http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_germany.shtml http://www.geert-hofstede.com/hofstede_germany.shtml 11 I should be noted that the gender differentiation has changed a lot in Germany according to my belief, since Hofstede developed his model of natural cultures, and it seems that the number of e.g. full-time housewives has diminished and keeps doing so, women are better represented in politics etc. 12 Hofstede Masculinity index p 1 13 “Sohn Claus übernahm gemeinsam mit seinen beiden Brüdern Georg und Paulus 1967 die Unternehmensführung und baute den ökologischen Gedanken Schritt für Schritt aus” (http://www1.hipp.de/index.asp?lang=de) 10

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Engelsk int.kul.mark.komm afl 2 Rikke Harbo, 5 semester

afleveres d. 10 okt. 2005

downplayed14. In the Danish advertisement the face of the female figure/presenter has been left out for the benefit of the baby figure. It could maybe also be argued that Claus Hipp’s role is to increase Hipp baby food brand awareness and provide the brand with status (I guarantee first-quality Biobeef) due to his position and professional knowledge. “In masculine cultures status products and brands are important for demonstrating success….. status is not so important in feminine cultures15.” In this connection I would like to mention that Claus Hipp’s role as an expert is very characteristic for advertisements in a high uncertainty avoidance culture16, because in such cultures the belief in “specialists” is strong opposed to weak uncertainty avoidance cultures which believe in generalists17.

Low- or high-context communication Despite the differences, which is important to be aware of for an advertisement translator, Germany and Denmark are both “low-context communication cultures” according to the anthropologist Edward Hall.18 Hall’s theory primarily deals with the degree of directness in the language which can be witnessed and compared in intercultural encounters19. In accordance with Hall’s theory the Danish as well as the German advertisement is characterized by explicit communication (low-context communication) i.e. that the message is spelled out and there is little or no implied meaning apart from the words that are being said opposed to highcontext cultures. The latter depends on the context and the nonverbal and indirect aspect of communication e.g. symbols and music which requires that the communicators assume a great deal of commonality of knowledge20. The low-context communication employed in the Danish and German ad is more “in your face” and values “logic, facts, and directness21”. An example of “in your face“ communication could be “Uns sind die gesetzlichen Vorschriften für die Rinderaufzucht nicht streng genug” and “Du behøver ikke ét sekund at spekulere på, om indholdet er godt nok.” In my opinion implications could easily arise if these different ways of communicating are not taken into account in cross cultural settings, especially when low and high-context cultures communicate. Without adaptations and the regard for cultural traits a Scandinavian advertisement would probable 14

De Mooij, 2004: 195 De Mooij, 2004: 183 16 For more information about a high uncertainty culture look the previous paragraph. 17 De Mooij, 2004: 184 18 http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/cultural.htm 19 De Mooij, 2004: 182 20 http://www.analytictech.com/mb021/cultural.htm 21 http://www.marin.cc.ca.us/buscom/index_page0009.htm. 15

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Engelsk int.kul.mark.komm afl 2 Rikke Harbo, 5 semester

afleveres d. 10 okt. 2005

be found too blunt in Japan, while the Japanese ad would be found too secretive, symbolic and with a lack of information in Scandinavian. I have employed two of Hofstede’s cultural dimensions and Edward Hall’s two classic cultural dimensions which I found central for my discussion of the differences between the Danish and German Hipp advertisement. Hofsted’s and Hall’s theories help us understand consumer behaviour and the aspects which are necessary to consider e.g. needs, motives and emotions when you plan and design advertisements.

Indicative tables of advertisement localization aspects Mathieu Guidere, Master in Arabic language and literature and Ph.D in Translation Studies and Applied Linguistics, operates with “the verbal-graphic localization22” and “the iconographic localization” in connection with possible adaptation strategies within advertisements23. Leaning on Guidere’s model I will in my second part of my paper discuss and account for different cultural signs, which are visible in the two advertisements and which are vital know-how for the advertisement translator and which have not already been elaborated on in the first part of my research paper.

The verbal-graphic localization As an adaptation related to the product, the testimonials which Claus Hipp gives the reader “Bio Rindfleisch –Dafür bürge ich – Claus Hipp” and “Wir sind strenger als das Gesetz. Unsere Rinder sind Bio-Rinder” are not adapted into the Danish ad, since low uncertainty avoidance cultures as Denmark do not believe in “institutions” and “specialists” which/who provide us with the absolute truth as they often do in high uncertainty avoidance cultures as Germany24. The most important adaptation related to the language in the Hipp advertisements is in my opinion the way each ad communicates its message. The text body in the German ad provide the reader with a small narrative which emphasizes and informs the reader about Hipp’s ecological breeding, what the animals eat and where they live and the company’s compliance with ecological regulations. The text body of the Danish advertisement is framed differently and appears more personally e.g. it 22

"Localization is the process of creating or adapting an information product for use in a specific target country or specific target market." (http://web.letras.up.pt/bhsmaia/mtt/it/it4.htm) 23 24

http://www.translationdirectory.com/article60.htm Hofstede uncertainty avoidance index p 1

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Engelsk int.kul.mark.komm afl 2 Rikke Harbo, 5 semester

afleveres d. 10 okt. 2005

addresses the reader directly “du” and it provides the reader with information about the different variants of Hipp baby food, the company’s year-long experience with ecological baby food and the compliance with ecological standards and regulations is also mentioned, but not to the same extent as in the German ad. Furthermore the Danish ad employs e.g. a humorous metaphoric construction and a humorous idiomatic expression25” which would seem strange if employed in the German ad, because of the serious content. The German advertisement uses a lot of compounds such as “Babykosthersteller,” “Rinderaufzucht,” “Naturschutzgebiet,” “Bio-Rinder” etc, which in the German language is almost impossible to avoid, but is however still a mark of a more technical language and increases the difficulty of the readability. According to the adaptations related to the culture the argumentation strategy seems very different when comparing the two advertisements. The German ad makes use of ethical and political arguments which tallies very well with the serious and more professional content of the German ad. Ecological problems and the security of the environment are in the focus of attention today and it is ethically and politically correct to be pro-ecology. This trend is in the Germany ad combined with their tendency to regulate and legislate as earlier mentioned. The Danish ad also advertises that Hipp baby food is controlled by stricter ecological regulations than those normally required in Denmark. Nevertheless the difference is that the ecological restrictions are mentioned in the Danish ad, while the German ad is saturated with ecological terms and associations.

The iconographic localization Some of the adaptations which have been made related to the Hipp baby food product are the centering and the image pairing. The Hipp baby food glass (product) is situated in the centre of the Danish advertisement together with the baby (“target group”), while Claus Hipp (expert) and the landscape (bio-correct associations) are in centre of the German advertisement. The baby food glasses (product) even appear a bit blurred and remote from the centre of the picture in the German ad. It is more important for the German ad to stress the fact that Hipp is ecological responsible and that Hipp has set up and meets stricter company restrictions than the current laws request in connection with breeding of animals. The Danish ad contrasts with the German ad, since it appeals to softer values (feminine vs. masculine) as earlier mentioned and therefore the image of the German advertisement, which Hipp tries to “sell”, naturally has to be changed when adapted into Danish. The image and selling point of 25

which are mentioned at page 3

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Engelsk int.kul.mark.komm afl 2 Rikke Harbo, 5 semester

afleveres d. 10 okt. 2005

the Danish advertisement seems to be year-long experience within ecological baby food (good quality) and caring for your child, while the image and the selling point of the German advertisement seems to be an exemplary compliance with regulations and a reliable eco-product. The slogans also reflect these two different images: “Det bedste du kan servere, næst efter at lave det selv” and “Das Beste aus der Natur.” According to adaptations related to the culture the scenes and framework have been changed. The image background is adapted the socio-cultural components in Denmark e.g. the rules of conduct (nudity is acceptable) and social habits (humour and abandon) and in Germany e.g. the ethical norms (ecology) and rules of conduct (conservatism, bureaucracy and the use of “experts.”)26 The female breasts are not pictured in the German advertisement because of the respect of sensibility and the tendency to serious content.

Conclusion Today the local language and cultural traits are influential parameters when we talk about written or audiovisual communication across cultures. For the global companies the culture-specific communication style has become essential in order to avoid that the consumers reject their products and advertisements. The German company Hipp appears to be a “polycentric company, which integrates the cultural specificity of each country by adapting its advertisements as best as possible.”27 The different communication strategies manifest themselves in the design, choice of picture, body text, headline etc in the two Hipp advertisements. The German ad appears seriously and structured in its choice of text, picture and headline and it provides the viewer with a lot of details about Hipp’s image as an ecological company opposed to the Danish advertisement, which provides the reader with less hard core and less professional information, but on the other hand employs humour, which tally with the characteristics of strong and weak uncertainty cultures. The Danish ad is more personified compared with the German ad which tends to be more bureaucratic. In this connection the German ad also employs a “language economics” which contributes to a reduced legibility e.g. the high number of compounds whereas the Danish ad seems to employ more everyday language. Also, Germany is subordinate to more conservative values, which become apparent with the choice of the two pictures; the Danish ad is picturing nudity and the German ad is picturing a harmonious landscape. A weak uncertainty avoidance culture as Denmark, which is less-ruled, is not afraid to 26 27

http://www.translationdirectory.com/article60.htm http://www.proz.com/translation-articles/articles/276/1/Translation-Practices-in-International-Advertising

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Engelsk int.kul.mark.komm afl 2 Rikke Harbo, 5 semester

afleveres d. 10 okt. 2005

take changes and being innovative when designing advertisements. In general the German ad is much more political and ethical correct compared with the Danish ad. The German ad does not picture nudity and it is pro- ecology. In masculine cultures and strong uncertainty cultures such as Germany the use of specialists and known personalities in connection with the presentation of a product is very characteristic, while feminine cultures and weak uncertainty cultures such as Denmark believe in generalists and a less important role is ascribed the presenter. Claus Hipp, the German “expert” is supposed to assign Hipp baby food with credibility and professionalism, while the Danish advertisement does not employ a presenter, but the happiness of the baby could be an indirect presenter and is supposed to ascribe the product with credibility. However, a common feature would be that both ads rely on low-context communication i.e. a direct and explicit way of communicating; both ads state facts and are direct communicators.

From a market communicative viewpoint it appears as if Hipp has integrated a certain amount of cultural specific data, not only about marketing, basic communication and cultural signs, but also about the iconographic and verbal-graphic localization in order to accomplish their advertising mission in Germany as well as in Denmark. And not until a company masters the cultural signs etc. and thereby “the technical cross-cultural know-how” it will succeed in controlling a real communicative skill of interdisciplinary nature.

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Engelsk int.kul.mark.komm afl 2 Rikke Harbo, 5 semester

afleveres d. 10 okt. 2005

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