Alles vom Deinsten
A campaign launch, my kitchen window and why authenticity is the best advertising
You’re expecting an article about a campaign launch, right? But before we get into that, I want to get personal for a moment. It’s about my neighbor. My neighbor is perfect. I smoke at my kitchen window and I can see into his kitchen. Fresh herbs sparkle in the sunshine. It’s perfectly tidy. He has kitchen appliances that I just have to google. His kitchen towels are ironed. Then I look in my kitchen: it’s too small. There are pizza boxes. It’s better not to open my only kitchen cupboard. I stub out my cigarette, and go into my living room with its crooked old floorboards.
Real life. Real me.
Now you’re probably wondering why I’m telling you this — and what this has to do with a Germany-wide campaign for an online furniture shop. Well, more than you’d think. Wayfair’s new German campaign, ALLES VOM DEINSTEN (A wordplay around everything that suits you — in perfect quality), focuses on you and me. On all of us. Of course, all campaigns do that. But I mean it literally. The main message is about our customers’ needs and supporting their real selves. It’s about real-life problems, real living and real people. And you’re doing great. Don’t change yourself.
You are not perfect
Back to my kitchen window. We can’t help but compare ourselves to others. I’m not going to claim that our world is free of norms. In the era of Instagram and Photoshop, that would be naïve. It would be a lie. Our modern life has established standards that we all fail to meet. They scream at us, even from the couch, all channels chanting: you’re not perfect. Do something.
Just follow us
Well, not anymore. ALLES VOM DEINSTEN is a fresh start. There’s a certain arrogance in the very nature of what advertisers do. We can’t say that we never really wanted to dictate anything to our customers. Of course we wanted to! After all, we made the decisions on what to promote. We dictated which lifestyle trends you should love. We chose products for our campaigns that we felt were stylish (even if our customers actually go on to buy others).
Home positivity
Our new German-market campaign no longer prescribes anything. Instead, we support. We inspire. And here’s what’s central to it all: we actually let our customers be who they are. We encourage home positivity. It sounds like marketing, but it’s actually the answer to the most important question — what do our customers really want?
Tiny wellness temples
Really want? As a copywriter, you should start with yourself. Which brings us once again to my kitchen window. And a strange contradiction: I have very particular needs for my home. I have my own budget, tastes and priorities. But what I do as a copywriter often contradicts that. 3sqm windowless bathrooms turn into wellness temples. Superlative follows superlative.
Alles vom Meinsten (Everything that suits me in best quality)
ALLES VOM DEINSTEN avoids the empty phrases and wishful thinking that nobody really achieves. It’s about real needs. It’s about acceptance. About words that don’t sound like an accusation. Words that simply say: you’re fine the way you are! Your style is great! If you like it, go for it! And I actually like my kitchen. Because that’s Alles vom Meinsten.
