Culture Within Berlin: a Low Context Lifestyle

In my mind, I left Berlin with two very contradictory opinions of the city: on one hand I saw how many cultures there are living within the city yet, on the other hand I also saw just how close minded the German culture actually is. Before arriving in the city I was told that the stereotypical German is very cold, low context, and not accepting of other cultures and anyone who is “different.” Needless to say I thought that this, as is the case with all stereotypes, would be proven wrong… Sadly, we were all in for a surprise.

Discussion

Much can be said regarding the German culture. Aside from the typical blonde hair, fair skin, and blue eyes I uncovered an entire population of tanned skinned, dark hair and exotic eyes. Though I never imagined it before arriving, Berlin has a large population of immigrants. The question that now arises is: how can a city with so many different cultures be so ignorant to others?

The feeling of hostility was not present within the first couple of days there. Perhaps it was due to the excitement and lack of sleep, but I could not tell that we were disliked until after the Carnival. Ever since then we all noted that we were being stared at in the trams and on the streets. Though many would only stare others were rude enough to actually approach us and belittle us in German. It was very unsettling to not be liked and accepted somewhere.

It seems incredible to me that a city that houses so many cultures would have such a close-minded community. Throughout our stay in Berlin we lived in a predominantly Turkish neighborhood where the people were friendly and smiling. Though the advertisements presented on the streets and restaurants were completely in German and featured models with German features the community itself could not be more different. From their outward appearance to their personalities, you could tell who was a German and who had immigrant roots.

It is because the various cultures are so diverse that marketers need to advertise to each specific group differently, this is a prime example for the need of cultural competence. Each culture can be seen as a distinctive target group that can become a potential consumer. If each group’s customs and cultures are so different, then why would marketers expect them to be persuaded by the same material? They will not be and that is why they should be marketed to distinctively.

Highlights

- There are many diverse cultures living within the city of Berlin
- Typical Germans are very low context and not accepting of those who are “different”
- Marketers should advertise their products to the various cultures differently.

Detail
The following video portrays a scene at the "Karneval de Kulturen" where various cultures came together and spent the day in harmony through dancing and singing. This was the best example of culural competence that I could find. It was a surprise to see how many different cultures there actually are in Berlin.




http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hsd8Cn09LzI

* I could not upload it on blogger.com for some reason. So, this link should take you to it on youtube under my account. If there are any problems, please let me know!