Last week Edelman.ergo, the German branch of Edelman, was awarded with the International German PR Award for Financial Communications for the “Pro Aktie” (Pro Shares) campaign. This is the first time four otherwise fierce competitors in the German online banking industry came together. It is a serious matter when the likes of comdirect bank, ING Diba, Consors and DAB bank join forces instead of pursuing each other´s customers. And things are, indeed, serious. Though the country is home to some of the most valuable companies in the world and is proud of having turned “Made in Germany” into a marketing landmark, Germans are reluctant to invest in even the country´s most iconic businesses. The most telling example is the single largest shareholder of Daimler, maker of Mercedes cars; the country of Kuwait.
When it comes to money and investing, Germans, as a whole, tend to become irrational. Zero interest? Wealth melting under inflation like ice cream in the sun? They stick to their savings books and keep risk locked in a dark closet. To them, investing in companies and markets for future opportunity means accepting wholly inappropriate risks.
Most are familiar with the, “no risk, no reward” adage. But this risk avoidance is a problem that goes beyond money matters and investing. In a country highly dependent on engineering, manufacturing and innovation power, there needs to be an underlying understanding of risk; how much to manage, how much to accept, and, ultimately, how to turn it into new products and services. A society is lost if it fails to understand that nothing comes for free and without inherent risk. Are these the signs we are seeing in Germany? The reluctance to embrace new technology and the hesitance (if not open hostility) toward immigrants – when the bet should be on the talent that comes with migration – are the two most recent signs. This same common denominator – that nothing is without risk – holds true for taking care, or, rather, not taking care, of one’s finances.
Given that it is not always right away that PR campaigns change the world, it is good to see competitors join forces to address the broader issue of shareholder sentiment and shareholding opportunities, even if driven by their very own interests. Who are we to defy business targets as a lever for change? Shareholder Value against German Angst – why not? The campaign reached out to more than 10,000 new shareholders and was received by an audience of over 20 million people. The day after the campaign went live, trading volume was more than six times higher than average. This award may provide some comfort to the banks involved that the case for change is not a lost one. What more is there to wish for?
Tobias Mündemann is senior partner at Edelman.ergo in Germany and former Co-founder of ergo Kommunikation.