A New Year’s Resolution for the German Advertising Industry

As an industry we need to be faster and more flexible when bringing all ideas to life. Germany needs to be quicker and more open to change and innovation, as well as learning from the fast-moving trial, error and learn approach that countries like the US are incorporating into their marketing.

Don’t get me wrong, we are doing a lot of things pretty damn well and have turbo-charged our way out of the economy crisis. 

It is a great place for creativity, talent and for life quality but we generally tend to over-think, over-complicate and silo creativity into innovation departments or start-up hubs especially. 

Whilst we build the most tech–sophisticated machines and cars, we apply the same rigour to most industries including the tech-innovation and creative industries. 

In transformational times it is imperative to embrace a stronger entrepreneurial mind-set. 

We need to elevate our thinking – think bigger and bolder and implement a general entrepreneurial creative mind-set across the board. Reward bold ideas and see failure as essential to learning and developing even bigger ideas. 

We will succeed if we foster an environment where great ideas can flourish and we encourage them to grow. 

Of course we need to discuss ROI and of course we need to get all the stats and data aligned to prove what works. But in Germany we need to refocus, reflect on what makes us strong and embrace creative entrepreneurialism that will kick our butts into the future.

Robin Karakash is Managing Director at VCCP Berlin