Ads Targeted to Turks

The German coffee-selling chain Tchibo is introducing Turkish coffee to the market. To test consumer reaction to a new product, the company gave out samples at a Turkish supermarket in Germany.

The sales campaign was designed by the Berlin advertising agency BEYS. The agency, run by two second-generation Turks, specializes in the growing branch of "ethno-advertising." It aims in particular at the underdeveloped Turkish market segment.

"German enterprises have reservations about (selling to Turks). The market is a bit too distant for them," said Atilla Ciftci, managing director of BEYS.

Ciftci says he sees BEYS' mission as helping German companies better understand their Turkish clientele.

Buying power for 'heavy users'

"They don't have a good feeling for the market. That's why they need agencies that specialize in ethnic marketing. And there aren't very many -- the market is still developing," said Ciftci.

According to Ciftci, Turkish consumers respond to different advertising than Germans do. "The wording and designs are more intensive, more color intensive. The wording should be more aggressive and more emotional," he said.

It's estimated that the 2.5 million ethnic Turks in Germany spend between 17 and 20 billion euros ($21 and $25 billion) a year on consumer goods and services. According to BEYS, second and third generation Turks in Germany no longer fit the image of their parents' and grandparents' generation, who are seen as having been frugal in order to save up to buy a house in Turkey.

Instead, BEYS claims on its Web site, they are "heavy users" who "like to shop a lot, are brand-savvy, and put a lot of value on high-quality products. Luxury carmakers long ago honed in on the Turkish market segment, with US automaker DaimlerChrysler targeting Turkish consumers in Germany -- employing Turkish sales staff and putting out Turkish television commercials -- for over a decade.

All about appearances

Mobile phones and technology are another big segment for ethno-marketing. In 2005, German mobile-phone provider E-Plus created the Ay Yildiz telephone service. Subscribers to Ay Yildiz -- which means "moon and stars," symbols on the Turkish flag -- pay only around half as much as other German companies charge for calls to Turkey.

The head of Ay Yildiz, Dogan Calmaz, has lived in Germany for 33 years. Like most of his clients and employees, he speaks fluent German as well as Turkish. Still, he produces TV commercials in Turkish that are aimed at second-generation, German-speaking Turks.

"Wherever it makes sense to be bilingual, we'll be bilingual," Calmaz said. "I've lived here for years and feel comfortable here, but I was born in Turkey. I'm from there and I want to be seen in that way. And many people feel the same way. Although they speak German well and have many German friends, they want to be perceived as Turks in Germany."