http://www.google.iq/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=linguistic%20features%20of %20television %20advertising&source=web&cd=125&cad=rja&ved=0CD8QFjAEO Hg&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.tu-chemnitz.de%2Fphil%2Fenglish %2Fchairs%2Flinguist%2Findependent%2Fkursmaterialien %2Ftranslation %2Fvolkswagen.doc&ei=qcEYUfyfPI24hAfKzIDgBw&usg=AFQjCNE -PjcoK6pqDoetl4NmoL8VdQBjNw&bvm=bv.42080656,d.

Yms

Analyzing the German and American/Canadian Web Pages of Volkswagen especially the Touareg Campaign
Hauptseminar: Translation Workshop Prof. Dr. Josef Schmied / Prof. Dr. Belinda Maia WS 2002/2003 28. April 2003 Roxana Kaspersky Am Hang 13, 08352 Markersbach Tel.: 03774/86696 E-mail: roxanak@t-online.de 8. Semester, Anglistik/Amerikanistik/BWL

Introduction

Day-to-day, if we want or not, we are confronted with advertising either on TV, the radio and the internet or for instance on posters and in shop-windows. Indeed, advertising has become so naturally to us that [...] we dont often pause to think about its nature and form of discourse, as a system of language use [...]. (Goddard, The Language of Advertising: 5) However, advertising on the internet is quite a new field and therefore, it allows a lot of different possibilities to analyze. Advertising as well as the advertising media changed continually and adjusted to its environment. Above all, the communication medium internet gained in importance in the last few years. Almost all international companies use the internet and all its possibilities for advertising in order to be recognized worldwide. Consequently, there

are existing numerous home pages which sometimes make it hard for the users to find the one they are looking for. Hence, due to abundance of information and interchangeable products a unique advertising is a great chance to stand out from competitors. Now, the aim of this term paper is to compare the web pages of the international company VW namely the German and the American/Canadian web pages. Therefore, I want to outline some general information about the Volkswagen company first. VW was founded in Wolfsburg in 1937. Today it is one of the leading automakers worldwide and the leading one in Europe. The aim of Volkswagen is to offer [] attraktive, sichere und umweltschonende Fahrzeuge, [] die im zunehmend scharfen Wettbewerb auf dem Markt konkurrenzfhig und jeweils Weltmastab ihrer Klasse sind. I want to analyze how VW advertises its products on the internet always having their aim in mind and I will show the varying uses of images and language dependent on the two different cultures. Firstly, I am going to describe my first impressions of the German and American/Canadian home page of VW. For a better understanding, I continue with giving some information about advertising in general. There I will focus on specific definitions and terms of advertising concerning the medium internet and the particular language. The main part, chapter four, will illustrate how VW represents itself on the world wide web. Therefore, I want to go into the used texts and its language and images to show how VW wants to attract its potential consumers.

First Impressions of the German and American/Canadian Home Page of Volkswagen

Firstly, I had a look at the German home page of Volkswagen. On this home page you were able to choose between the language German and English while clicking on the British flag at the bottom of the page. However, to my surprise only the home page was in English, because I clicked some links for further information but everything I read was in German again. Therefore, Volkswagen refers to the distributor of the local market which is outline on the following index page: <http://www.volkswagen.de/home_e/index_.htm>. Thus, I decided to use the American and Canadian distributor of Volkswagen. Now, I want to illustrate my first impressions of the two home pages of Volkswagen.

Volkswagen Germany <http://www.volkswagen.de/home/index_.htm: 04.04.2003>

At the German home page of VW, as you can see above, you are welcomed with the salutation Willkommen bei Volkswagen. which is placed at the pages top right side. Eye-catching is that only little text but one large image, showing the New Beetle Convertible, and a few small pictures are visible on the page. The large image takes almost 2/3 oft the entire home page and displays different models, not called by name, in varying backgrounds whenever the starting address is keyed in again. I figured out that there exists a total of six different images. A board with the following key words Mobile Service, Modelle, AutoZone, Dienstleistungen, Erlebnis, Unternehmen is located right below the large image. Through these six links you are able to open a column where you can choose between several categories. For instance the key word Erlebnis has following categories:

AutoLernWerkStadt, Automobil Forum, Auto Museum, Autostadt, Besucherdienst, Fan World, Glserne Manufaktur, Kfer-Galerie, Rallye Dakar, Messe, Reitsport, Sound Foundation, VfL Wolfsburg, Volkswagen Racing, Zoon, 50 Jahre Werbung. It was interesting to me that many key words and categories are existing which have nothing to with cars at all at least at first glance, for instance Rund ums Handy, Freizeit & Erleben, Reitsport, VfL Wolfsburg or 50 Jahre Webung. Next to the large image, at the right side, five small banners occur whereof the first four are changing constantly. All the banners are links showing news about VW models, important dates greetings to the consumers and even sponsorships like Atlantic Affairs in order to obtain detailed information. The top banner shows the picture of the Touran and the slogans Der Touran kommt alternated with iF design award winner 2003. The second banner gives the information of Ordentliche Hauptversammlung 24.04.2003 alternated with the banner showing the New Beetle Convertible in a blue cloudy sky and the slogan Das neue Beetle Cabriolet. There it seems as if the New Beetle is flying in the sky. The next banner shows the slogan Der Bora GT Sport. alternated with Der Frhjahrs Service 2003. The fourth banner shows the slogan Volkswagen frdert Atlantic Affairs. alternated with Groer Golf. Kleine Zinsen. Ab 0,9% effektiven Jahreszins. The last banner does not change and gives the hint for further news. The three text lines below the large image are composed as headlines which of course are changing daily. Therefore, I will outline just an example: Phaeton ist Official Car der BASEL 2003, der Weltmesse fr Uhren und Schmuck. You can see that VW is always concerned with being present worldwide. Further important terms like Autostadt, DriverLounge, Finanzdiensleistungen, Grokunden, Hndler, Investor Relations, and Volkswagenservice are listed alphabetically underneath these headlines. Eye-catching is that many English terms (anglicism) like DriverLounge, Sound Foundation and Investor Relation can be found on this German homepage. All in all, the German home page of VW is very clearly arranged and you have all important things at a glance which means that you have not to go up and down all the time. Furthermore, the home page is addressed to everybody - private customers as well as major and business customers. This can be recognized by the usage of the varying key words and its categories. To me, the home page does make a very serious impression not only because of the used colors dark blue and silver-gray but also because of the design. The color blue implies respectability and tradition. Moreover, the color of tranquility, blue is cool, soothing and orderly. The color of royalty, blue brings comfort and serenity to our lives. If you choose blue, you have a basic need for a calm, harmonious, and tension-free existence. Capable, conservative and sensitive to others, you make a loyal and trustworthy friend. (http://www.stanford.edu/class/linguist34/Unit_11/index.htm: 20.04.2003) Silver-gray on the other hand is rather neutral it even can stand for carefulness. Following, the colors are perfectly reflecting the company as colors do not only have an aesthetic character but they are also known to affect (and reflect) a person's mood or emotions, current style trends and cultural beliefs and symbols. (http://www.stanford.edu/class/linguist34/Unit_11/index.htm: 20.04.2003)

But how does the German home page attract attention? Honestly, attention cannot be aroused by only using images. Apparently, Volkswagen does not want to attract attention at first glance. The home page is addresses to everybody. There could be only one reason I would imagine. Volkswagen is a very established, traditional and respectable company in Germany therefore, it is not necessary anymore to attract attention at any price. Now I want to turn to the American and Canadian home page of VW where of course, the visitors are also welcomed with the salutation welcome to vw.com/ home of volkswagen of america and volkswagen canada. Due to the different cultures the home page distinguishes completely from the German one. As we can see below it appears a totally different structure, design and color.
Volkswagen America and Canada <http://www.vw.com: 04.04.2003>

Furthermore, text is more used than pictures. The only image is the New Beetle Convertible which is eye-catching as the car is illustrated in an outstanding color namely deep orange. Moreover, the slogan Spread the Joy. and Check out the New Beetle Convertible. attracts the visitors attention. However, not only the slogan but also the color orange implicates delight, joy, pleasure and sociability which is obviously used to attract attention. In contrast to the German home page only one image is used and not six. In addition, signs complete the page in order to keep it clear arranged and attracting. Due to the bright colors, pale blue and orange, the American/Canadian home page looks much friendlier, loosening and inviting to the users than the German home page. Next to the picture of the New Beetle Convertible at the column choose a model you can have an overview and short explanations including all the models which are advertised. Another column with the hint go places is located right next to it. One link is Model news. with the headline Introducing the Touareg. Car and Drivers Best Luxury SUV for 2003. which is the car model I am going to analyze in chapter 4. The main key words placed at the top of the page are VW models, VW etc. and VW the company. A search engine has been additionally installed in order to find specific categories much faster. Due to cultural difference the advertised car models distinguish a lot from the one of the German home page. As the aim of this term paper is to analyze the internet performance of Volkswagen a detailed information about advertising terminology, the language of advertising and the elements of an advertising is needed for a better understanding. Therefore, the following chapter will only deal with definitions of advertising terminology I am going to use while analyzing the home pages of Volkswagen Germany as well as the American and Canadian home pages and the campaign of the Touareg model.

3 3.1

Advertising Advertising Terminology

At the beginning I want to describe what advertising means in general. Then I will move on to Corporate Identity which plays an important role in advertising especially because Volkswagen is an international company. Another basic element of advertising is the communication process including the AIDA concept. Last but not least I will deal with low and high involvement advertising because it has a major influence on the design of an advertisement. 3.1.1 What is Advertising?

However, first of all we have to define what advertising is in general. At first glance advertising, one of the marketing tools, is an impersonal method to present ideas, goods and services of a company in order to stimulate a sale or to retain the customer. Though, if we want to go into further detail the following definition would be more suitable: [] advertising is primarily concerned with creating interest in the buyers in general by building acceptance for a product and by arousing confidence and respect for the firms and its products. Thus we can say that advertising is mainly concerned with presenting the information about a product in such a way that it touches the buying motives of the potential customer. (A.R. Fatihi, The language of Advertising and T.V. Commercials: 1-2) In other words we could say that advertising aims at convincing potential consumers to by a certain product. Fatihi points out that there exists several aims and objectives a company is trying to pursue with its advertising. Informing the customers about the company and its offered products is a basic objective. A second important aim is to call the customers attention in order to stimulate and increase demand as well as introducing new products. Moreover, advertising can establish recognition and reputation of a product. (A.R. Fatihi, The language of Advertising and T.V. Commercials: 4) Due to the fact that advertising cannot reach all individuals it is important but kind of difficult to influence or even convince potential consumers. Therefore the main prejudices have to be minimized or even overcome. Thus, it is obvious that advertising is able to influence individuals in many different ways just in order to motivate not all but at least a large number of them. 3.1.2 Corporate Identity

Corporate Identity gained in importance since interchangeable products and abundance of information aroused. But what does Corporate Identity actually mean? According to Meffert, Corporate Identity represents the focus of the communication policy. It stands for the concept of the companys identity and is accountable for the coordination of all aims and activities the company is pursuing. Corporate Identity is an important strategy to achieve consumers credibility, acceptance, confidence, affection and sympathy. Moreover, they should identify with the advertised product. (Meffert, Marketing. Grundlagen marktorientierter Unternehmensfhrung: 685) Corporate Identity is made up of the following four elements: Corporate Culture, Corporate Design, Corporate Communication and Corporate Behavior. Since Corporate Behavior does not play a major role in my analyzing I will only concentrate on the remaining elements. The first element, Corporate Culture, compounds all the principles, values, standards and the philosophy of a company. Whereas, the important element Corporate Design deals with the visual realization of the Corporate Identity. Therefore, the company pays attention to a consistent design of their advertising as well as consistent colors, symbols, script and structures. The other important element Corporate Communication can be achieved by using a consistent logo and a slogan as well as consistent images. Due to a consistent appearance the company and its products can be easier recognized by the consumer.

As I already mentioned above, it is very important for a company to present oneself in a consistent look. How about Volkswagen, an international company? Is this possible at all? Or have cultural differences be included in an advertising campaign? Yes, the local market and its culture have to be respected, as advertising is supposed to reflect the local culture. In chapter 4 we will see, how the Volkswagen company managed this problem of Corporate Identity and cultural differences. 3.1.3 The Communication Process Probably, we are all aware of the ordinary communication model as you can see below where the sender and the receiver are in contact over a channel. And we all know as well that a message or information is transmitted oneway from the sender to the receiver. Therefore, the challenge of communication is [] die bermittlung von Botschaften zwischen Sender und Empfnger mit dem Ziel, den Empfnger in einer vom Sender gewnschten Weise zu beeinflussen. (Kloss, Werbung: 7)

sender
Source: Kloss, Werbung: 7

channel

receiver

However, the aim of advertising is not only to inform the customers but also to convince them and affect their decision making to buy a special product. Now the question arouses if the ordinary communication model is applicable to the advertising process. In order to satisfy the requirements of advertising the simple model of communication has to be obviously extended as the language of advertising cannot be fitted into an ordinary communication model because of its artificially and its one-way nature. Moreover, [] there is no equal and interchangeable speaker-hearer relationship. (Brli-Storz, Deliberate Ambiguity in Advertising: 33) Therefore, Lasswell developed the following concept:

sagt
(sender)

zu (message)

auf welchem
(receiver) (medium)

mit welcher
(effect)

Source: Skrzypek, Werbung im Internet: 6

But could this new concept now be used on internet advertising as well? Yes, and therefore the Volkswagen advertising will act as an example. Now, the sender in this case would be Volkswagen and the message, all information about the company Volkswagen and its car models, will be transmitted to the receiver who are in this case the customers or potential consumers. The medium where all the information is transmitted would be the internet and the entire effect Volkswagen pursues is to inform and affect the customers.

As the effect is the most important part we will have a closer look at it. The question is which effect does an advertising create by its consumers? How can the customers attention be captured? In order to give an answer to these questions we have to call in the AIDA concept.

A I D A

- Attention - Interest - Desire of Possession - Action

This first concept was designed by Lewis, an American, in the 19th century and implies [] dass der Konsument verschiedene Stufen der Beeinflussung durchluft, bevor eine Kaufentscheidung getroffen wird. (Skrzypek, Werbung im Internet: 7) This concept reveals that Interest can only be aroused by calling Attention. Attention in turn activates Desire of Possession by means of advertising and should finally motivate to buy the product which would be the Action. (Skrzypek, Werbung im Internet: 7) Now, the main question arouses, how attention can be created. There exists several possibilities. In this chapter, I only want to refer to two general possibilities without having a closer look at the design of an advertising. I will go into further detail in my analyzing part. Coming back, the two possibilities are USP (unique selling proposition) and UAP (unique advertising proposition). USP means that special features or usage possibilities of a product are illustrated in an advertising in order to promise a certain benefit that demarcates from the competitive product. In short we can say that USP characterizes the product-specific additional benefit. The function of an UAP is to create an inimitable design of the advertising message including the offer of a psychological additional benefit for instance prestige, a certain lifestyle or a remarkable experience. UAP can be realized for instance through an image. Indeed, only UAP is used on the two Volkswagen home pages. The German home page tries to attract attention by using only images. However, the American/Canadian home page shows it more obviously by offering an additional benefit, joy. 3.1.4 Low and High Involvement Advertising An important aspect of advertising is described in the involvement of the target groups. The design of an advertisement mainly depends on the consumers involvement. But what does involvement mean? Therefore, it can be defined as: [] den Grad der Ich-Beteiligung beziehungsweise des Engagements einer Person, sich fr bestimmte Sachverhalte oder Aufgaben zu interessieren und einzusetzen. (Meffert, Marketing. Grundlagen marktorientierter Unternehmensfhrung: 107) According to Krugmann (1965), involvement can be divided up into two categories, high and low involvement. Characteristics of high involved consumers are for instance looking for detailed information, dealing with the product and comparing it to similar ones. They have evolved a special attitude towards the product and therefore they show a high brand loyalty. On the other hand, low involved consumers are not interested in detailed information, they only buy the product because they need it. Therefore, they only look at a product in a superficial way and show hardly any brand loyalty, only through habit, as they accept many possible products.

Above, I have illustrated the main characteristics of high and low involved consumers. But how can an advertising be designed in order to adapt to the consumers involvement? Hence, Trommsdorff has established some basic rules for advertising subject to the involvement. High involved consumers have to be convinced to buy a certain product. Therefore, all important aspects or features of a product must be illustrated in detail and be supported with factual arguments. However, low involved consumers only have to be consistently contacted with the product. The advertising message should contain a short text and has to be supported by affective impulses as well as images and music. In chapter 4 I will deal with the realization of involvement on the Volkswagen web pages.

3.2

Advertising on the Internet

Advertising as well as the advertising media changed continually over the years and adjusted always to its environment. For instance, in the 70s and 80s the print media, TV and the radio played a major role in the advertising process whereas in the 90s up to now the medium internet gained in importance. As the following quotation mentions: Eine virtuelle Prsentanz im Internet zu haben gehrt heute (...) fr alle mittlere und groe Unternehmen zum guten Ton. (Skrzypek, Werbung im Internet:14) almost all, especially international companies, use the internet and all its possibilities to advertise their products and services in order to be recognized worldwide. Possible models of advertising are for example web pages, banners and news letters. Due to the fact that advertising on the internet is a relatively new way of communicating it therefore has to be designed different than traditional advertising. Because consumers visiting web pages normally expect to gain precise information about offered products as well as service and some advice. Especially in the case of automakers, the internet does displace the catalogue where detailed information about particular models with regard to equipment, technical dates, prices and many more are offered. Moreover, many companies just like Volkswagen [] sehen im WWW eine Art digitale Hochglanzbroschre: eine Form der Selbstdarstellung. (Skrzypek, Werbung im Internet:14) However, what does make the internet attractive to companies? Kloss points out that the internet offers several advantages for both consumers and advertisers in contrast to traditional advertising like TV commercials, ads in magazines and newspapers or poster advertising. First off all, internet advertising is much more inexpensive and elaborate for the companies. Moreover, an internet campaign can be faster provided and above all its is up to date as the advertisers have to supply to the current wants of the internet users. Advertisers are also able to control and observe their customers by tracking them while being online in order to examine their interests which helps them in turn to improve for example their advertising strategy. Furthermore, advertisers can target their audience as the consumer searches for specific information. In addition the users have the possibility to interact directly with the advertisement as they [...] can click his or her mouse on the ad for more information []. (Zeff/Aronson, Advertising on the internet: 10) In order to attract the customers advertisers use other mediums within the online advertisement, not only texts and images but also video clips and sound. The following quotation summarizes the advertisers advantages:

Aus Sicht der marktfhrenden Unternehmen ermglicht das Internet eine Individualisierung und Personalisierung des Leistungsangebots. Auf diese weise kann auf spezifische Bedrfnisse und Probleme der Kunden eingegangen und somit intensiviert werden. Weiterhin knnen ber das neue Medium sachlichfunktionale sowie in derzeit noch begrenztem Mae emotional-erlebnisorientierte Informationen ber die Marke transportiert und wettbewerblichen Angeboten bspw. ber Suchfunktionen oder Verbindungen mit Hyperlinks gegenbergestellt werden. (Meffert, H. et al., Grundlagen der Markenfhrung: 119) An advantage especially for consumers is for instance complexity which means that the users can find every information on the net but in turn they are able to select all this information according to the topics they are interested in. However, the most important one is that the internet is available worldwide and 24 hours a day. Next to information it is also important to afford further incentives like entertainment, profit opportunities like the Volkswagen Golf Challenge Gewinnspiel, statements about the models and service as well as giving more information about additional activities the company is doing, Volkswagen for instance sponsors the project Atlantic Affairs.

3.3

Language of Advertising

3.3.1 A Definition of Advertising Language At first glance it seems that language of advertising has its very own characteristics. But if we have a closer look at it we realize that advertising language uses the same characteristics as common language because it is built up on it. In fact language use in advertisement offers linguists an excellent opportunity to see for themselves how the characteristics of common language are exploited at its best. (Fatihi, The Language of Advertising and T.V. Commercials: 38) Therefore, the language of advertising has to be adapted to the needs of the consumers which means that if the consumers need changes the language of advertising will change as well. Moreover, the function of advertising is to persuade customers. On the one hand this is possible by using images but on the other hand language plays an important role, too. Fatihi points out that language of advertising mostly seems to be artificial and artistic as it has to be used in a different way than everyday language. Therefore, the language of advertising is expected to be creative, glamorous, catchy, precise and operationally definable. (Fatihi, The Language of Advertising and T.V. Commercials: 39) According to its function language of advertising can be subdivided into two categories, informative language and consumer language. Informative language, is characterized by its factual, realistic, objective and informative style to describe mainly technical terms. Therefore, it is used in types of advertisement where consumers only have to be informed about a product. Moreover, these informative words are used [...] to establish a symbolic relationship between the name, the product and the quality of a product. (Fatihi, The Language of Advertising and T.V. Commercials: 51) On the other hand consumer language has to be creative, catchy and glamorous to attract the consumers attention and to stimulate their interest. Metaphors, analogy, imagery, idiom slang, colloquialism and informality are exploited in this type of language of advertisement. (Fatihi, The Language of Advertising and T.V. Commercials: 44) As we will notice later, both categories can be found on the Volkswagen web pages.

However, not only the function of language but also lexis (vocabulary) as well as morphological and syntactical features are important in advertising language. For instance vocabulary is expanded by the creation of completely new words and phrases. The morphological and syntactical features are described in the following section. 3.3.2 Morphology and Syntax Firstly, I will have a closer look at morphological features of language especially adjectives, nouns and verbs. Adjectives and nouns often in a compound form are mainly used in advertising language as they carry most of the informative function. However, adjectives are the most important words in the language of advertising. As it is generally known companies are not allowed to compare its products with the one of its competitors. This is the reason why comparatives, grammatical superlatives, superlative expressions, intensified superlative and the definite article are used a lot in advertising. They have the function to constitute a product as being outstanding, extraordinary and unique. Powerful adjectives are used to create positive and implicit impressions in order to magnify the differences between the offered products as well as the selling power. But why do compound adjectives and nouns appear that often in an advertising? Well, there exists a simple answer. The aim of a compound word-construction is to specify the quality, to put in as much qualification as possible, in order to exclude every possible ambiguity []. (Brli-Storz, Deliberate Ambiguity in Advertising: 20) The word formations taken from the Touareg campaign kompromisslose Sicherheit, grenzenlose Weite, atemberaubend, kristallklarer Klang, beispiellose Lsungen would be appropriate examples. Nouns have almost the same function as adjectives. The informative function is illustrated with single nouns like Komfort, besondere Gensse, Souvernitt, Kraft, Dynamik, Eleganz, Sportlichkeit, Passion, Freiheit. Compound nouns like Fahrspa, Himmelsstrmer, Globetrotter, Kosmopolit, Meisterstck der Technik are mainly describing the function of consumer language. Additionally, personifications like Ritter der Wste, Himmelsstrmer, Globetrotter and Kosmopolit emphasize the strong and different features of the Touareg managing every road surface. However, verbs do not have such an important status than adjectives and nouns. In headlines they are even left out as they do not carry any meaning, examples therefore are Freiheit ohne Kompromisse and Perfektion bis ins Detail which appear on the German web pages of the Touareg. Secondly, I want to outline the most important syntactical features of advertising language. The advertisement texts are mainly written in short, simple and often elliptic sentences. The grammar is as simple as possible and if we have a look at the tenses it is noticeable that the simple present is used the most. Interrogatives and imperatives are very frequently used as well. In short we can say that Pithy, short statements, lack of cohesion and connotative meanings have taken the place of long explanatory sentences. (Brli-Storz, Deliberate Ambiguity in Advertising: 25)

3.4 The Elements of an Advertisement

Every advertisement is more or less structured after a general scheme. Brli-Storz suggests the following standard components which can be distinguished by their function and typographical order: 1. headline (caption, slogan etc.) 2. illustration/image (drawing, cartoon, photography) 3. body copy (text containing the advertising message) 4. signature line (mention of the brand-name) However, not every advertisement must have all these elements in it. So it seems that the headline and the signature are the most important elements but they even can be left out in favor of an illustration which only shows for instance the product with the brand name. From the point of view of language, the headline and the body copy are interesting because their form is according to their function. (Brli-Storz, Deliberate Ambiguity in Advertising: 17) 3.4.1 The Headline The headline or caption of an advertisement has several functions. However, there exists only two important ones. Firstly, a headline should attract attention and in addition it has to animate the consumer to look closer at an advertisement. Secondly, it characterizes the product-specific additional benefit (USP) I already mentioned earlier. Therefore, the headline has to bring up a topic the consumer can associate ideas with. This can be done for instance by emphasizing a special feature like a particular function, design or taste. But it is important not to neglect the appearance of the headline. It has to be designed eye-catching as well. The use of short sentences is preferred and its script should be written in big bold colored letters. Puns or play on words are also possible or better preferable. Short sentences, especially the one with double meaning, should directly interact with the picture in order to avoid irritating the consumers. How are the aforesaid functions of a headline being transferred in the Touareg advertising? The introductory page of the Touareg invites the customer to visit the very own world of the Touareg by saying Willkommen in der Welt des Touareg. This sentence obviously should imply attention to the visitor to look up some more information about the pictured model. The headline of the following page Freiheit ohne Kompromisse. creates the center vision of the Touareg campaign. Moreover, this special vision is supported by the illustration which shows rocks awashed by the sun and the blue ocean whereas the image ocean is a symbol for freedom, as well.

3.4.2 Images Images in the form of photographs play a mayor role in the Touareg campaign and on the Volkswagen home pages. Even the image can be divided up into three elements, the key visual, the catch visual and the focus visual. (Esterlu, Werbesprache: Werbemittel und ihr Einfluss auf die Gestaltung von Werbung: no page) The key visual would be the real illustration of the product, in this case the car model Touareg. The catch visual in turn would be

the illustration of the key visuals typical surrounding, it is used to direct the view to the key visual, the real product. Therefore, the Touareg is driving on a street through the countryside. Finally, the focus visual can be small pictures around the key visual showing special details or distinctive features for instance the engine or the interior of the Touareg. Moreover, it is important that the image always interacts with the headline and the body copy. But why is the usage of images in advertising that important? Kroeber-Riel points out that using images is [...] die wirksamste Technik, um der Werbung zum Erfolg zu verhelfen. (Kroeber-Riel, Strategie und Technik der Werbung: 106) Images in advertisements appeal to the consumers needs and emotions whereas the text mainly gives us factual information about a product. However, we are living in the 20th century and due to abundance of information and interchangeable products a unique advertising performance is challenged. Therefore, images have several advantages. Firstly, they are faster realized by individuals than the text. If we look at an advertisement which contains an image as well as text, we are all realizing the image first. Therefore, images can be taken in much easier and a lot more stressless. All in all we can say that [...] durch gezielten Einsatz von Bildern wird es der Werbung mglich, Gefhle fr ein Produkt [...] auszulsen. (Kroeber-Riel, Strategie und Technik der Werbung: 110) 3.4.3 The Body Copy Whereas, the headline should only attract the consumers attention to look closer at an advertisement, the body copy now has to raise confidence in the advertised product. Therefore, the language has to be precise, factual and explanatory. (Brli-Storz, Deliberate Ambiguity in Advertising: 18) The text of the body copy in an internet advertisings is quite longer than on the traditional ones as the visitors are expecting detailed information of the product.

Analyzing the German and American/Canadian Web Pages of the Volkswagen Model Touareg

Before I want to start my analyzing I asked myself the question How does the Touareg gained his name and which meaning does it have?. As I could not find a possible answers I contacted Volkswagen and achieved the following message:

In ihrer eigenen Sprache nennen sich die Touareg freie Menschen. Menschen, die ihren ungebrochenen Stolz bewahrt haben. Die Touareg leben in der Saharawueste und konnten dort aufgrund der Abgeschlossenheit ihre einmalige Originalitaet bewahren. Ihr Gebiet erstreckt sich ueber acht nordwest-afrikanische Laender und ist rund fuenf Mal so gross wie Deutschland. Sie wurden zum Symbol fuer Freiheit und Wissen ueber eine Ueberlebenskunst unter schwierigsten klimatischen Bedingungen. Aus diesen Gruenden sehen wir eine enge symbolische Verwandtschaft zwischen unserem Off-Road-Touareg und dem Wuestenvolk. Freiheit, Ueberlebensfaehigkeit unter extremen Bedingungen und optimale Adaption an jedes Gelaende beziehungsweise an jede Verkehrssituation sind im uebertragenen Sinne Attribute, welche auf unser Fahrzeug zutreffen. Im Konzert der auf dem Markt befindlichen Off-Road Fahrzeuge besitzt der Touareg als Einziger die absolute Off-Road-Tauglichkeit gepaart mit dem uneingeschraenkten Komfort eines OnRoad -Fahrzeugs, verbunden mit sportiver Auslegung, und verbindet so drei Konzepte in einem. (Volkswagen: 2 Mai 2003)

Now the question arouses if Volkswagen succeeded in conveying this special image of the Touareg to its consumers.

4.1

The German Web Pages of the Model Touareg

<http://www.touareg.de/?emosite=false: 10.04.2003>

The home page of the model Touareg, as you can see above, is divided up into three parts. At the left side as well as below the image all links are listed from where you can choose between the following different categories: Touareg, Vision, Design, Technik, Komfort, Sicherheit, Finanzen, Service, Info-Center and Alle Modelle. The large image in the middle pictures the focus. It shows the Touareg (= key visual) driving on the road (= catch visual). The salutation Willkommen in der Welt des Touareg. implies that this car has its own world and the visitor is the special guest. A short summary is placed right below the picture of the Touareg. Reading the slogan Durchzugsstark und kultiviert: [...]. - describing the Touareg in short - the visitor can already imagine which preferences the Touareg has. A banner, having the function of an incentive, requests the visitor by saying: Spielen Sie mit den Besten. Volkswagen Golf Challenge Gewinnspiel. is placed right below the body copy. This banner containing a pun could imply that you should not only drive the best car but also play with the best which here could refer to the company Volkswagen itself. The pun is created by the word Golf, which on the one hand refers to the sport and on the other one to the VW model. More incentives placed at the right side of the web page are further links where you can download for instance the price list of the Touareg or you are even able to make up your own Touareg at the Touareg Konfigurator. However, a surprise is hidden behind the Flash-Special. If you press the button Flash-Special starten. a short movie is shown where all the technical features and the versatilities of the Touareg like driving through the mountains either on- or offroad, on endless streets and through the city is demonstrated in connection with overwhelming pictures of different landscapes. The introduction of the short movie should activate the users curiosity in order to look for further information. After all, driving the Touareg should present an adventure which is imparted through images and language. And this it not enough! You are invited to test what the Touareg is able to do and much more! The home page of the Touareg gives possibilities to low involved as well as to high involved consumers. As high involved consumers are always looking for detailed information a board with links to the special categories, always mentioned above, is placed right below the image. Low involved consumers on the other hand are not that interested in detailed information. Therefore, the advertising message should contain few text but a lot of affective impulses and images. The Flash-Special corresponds with these special needs in an excellent way. Adjectives appear as important words in the Touareg campaign because they carry most of the meaning in order to describe a car perfectly. Powerful adjectives like kultiviert, faszinierend (appeared even more than once), reizvoll, imposant, auergewhnlich (also appeared several times), berraschend, innovativ and perfekt are used to constitute positive and implicit impressions of the model Touareg. Next to comparatives

superlative expression like besonders gnstige Verbrauchswerte or intensified superlatives as der leistungsstrkste PKW-Diesel-Motor der Welt are created to show how extraordinary and peculiar the Touareg is. Moreover, the phrase der leistungsstrkste PKW-Diesel-Motor der Welt functions as an advertising claim which is described as the [...] verbal or print part of an ad that makes some claim of superiority for the product being advertised. (Schrank, The Language of Advertising claims: no page) There exists a total of ten claims. The claim mentioned above for instance is called the were different and unique claim. This kind of claim states that there is nothing else quite like the product being advertised. (Schrank, The Language of Advertising claims: no page) In the example above it means that the Touareg would be the only car which has the most high-power diesel engine of the world.

4.2

The American and Canadian Web Pages of the Model Touareg

<http://www.vw.com/touareg: 10.04.2003> home page of the Touareg

Now I will turn to the American and Canadian web pages of the Touareg. Already at first glance we recognize that the American/Canadian welcome page of the Touareg differs completely from the German one. You can get to the home page of the Touareg by clicking the link Introducing the Touareg. and at the same time the home page opens an additional window (= pop-up window) appears. The home page is arranged very simple. The model Touareg is placed in the middle of the page and the model name the Touareg is written next to it. The headline Onroad. Offroad. And all the road in between. which also functions as a slogan in this case describes all the preferences the Touareg offers. The slogan emphasizes the special features, the unique selling proportion (USP), of the Touareg which implies that the Touareg is able to manage every road. Moreover, the slogan contains a play on words whereas the word road appears three times in a row. The slogan is composed of three short sentences whereby the first two ones consist only of one word. The color silver-gray is used for the name of the model and the slogan. If you press the button Enter. designed in orange you will gain more information on the Touareg. However, you normally do not press this button because the page opens automatically (pop-up window) as described above.
<http://www.vw.com/touareg: 10.04.2003> pop-up window on the home page of the Touareg

The web page above contains all the elements of an advertisement. The Headline Funny, it looks just like an SUV. again refers to a particular feature of the Touareg namely that he looks like a S(port) U(tility) V(ehicle). The signature line The Touareg. Coming soon. mentions the brand-name Touareg. The image shows the photography of the Touareg on a gray background and the body copy mentions some important information which should arouse interest in the Touareg model. Additionally, the button Explore. designed in blue should attract the consumers attention and appeals to their curiosity and interest to look for further information. Moreover, the page is designed for low as well as for high involved customers. The explore and the gallery links are designed especially for low involved customers as images outweigh text. If you press the explore button fourteen short video clips are presented in order to describe the main features and preferences of the Touareg. The features link

is created for high involved customers who are mainly interested in factual and technical background information about the Touareg. But how does the body copy appeals to the consumers interest? Therefore, the body copy is written in consumer language as it is characterized by a creative, catchy and glamorous style. Volkswagen is addressing to the consumers by using direct affective consumer appeals like for instance [...] you know [...]. Moreover, the consumers are requested to [...] hit the explore button [...]. Or to check out the gallery [...]. In addition, rhetorical questions like Surprising? or Feeling adventurous? are used to aerate the text. Another feature of consumer language is the usage of slang and informality for instance [...] hankering for [...] or Its a Volkswagen, all right. Now I will turn to morphological and syntactical features. Therefore, I want to analyse the used language of two video clips. In addition, the videos are always supported by sound and music.
<http://www.vw.com/touareg: 10.04.2003> video clips on the home page of the Touareg

The headline Call it a great suspense story. contains a pun. The Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture suggests that word suspense is a state of uncertainty about something that is undecided or yet not known. The word suspense should refer to the special feature the adjustable 4-corner air suspension which is explained in the short movie. Therefore, a suspension is the apparatus fixed to the wheels of a car to lesson the effects of rough road surfaces (Longman Dictionary of English Language and Culture). The sentence below Just another way to lift your spirits implies that the Touareg is able to adapt to every surface of the street by lifting up its wheels to keep a nice and smooth ride. The next video clip refers to the engine power of the Touareg. Therefore, the Touareg is compared to a bull as the slogan is describing it as well by saying Strong like bull. The ambiguity is created by the homophonic word bull as it sounds just like the word pull which actually refers to the power of the V6-engine of the Touareg.
<http://www.vw.com/touareg: 10.04.2003> video clips on the home page of the Touareg

Now I want to move on to syntactical features. Due to attract the consumers attention advertisement headlines and slogans are mainly written in short, simple, ambiguous and often elliptic sentences. I only want to outline a few examples: Strong like bull. or Onroad. Offroad. And all the road in between.. Rhetorical questions as well as imperatives like Check out the New Beetle Convertible. are used very frequently as well.

5. Conclusion
The aim of this term paper was to analyze and compare the German and American/Canadian web pages of Volkswagen in order to show language and structural differences of the design of advertising on the internet due to cultural differences or similarities due to Corporate Identity. At first glance you can see that the web pages of Volkswagen Germany distinguish completely from the American/Canadian web pages as different texts and images are used. But at second glance some similarities were

eye-catching like for instance the logo of VW or to some extent the used colors. Similarities are necessary in order to present the companys values and ideas outwards in a consistent way. Coming back to the logo of VW, on the German web pages it is always placed on the left top corner whereas on the American/Canadian web page it is always situated on the right bottom corner. I could not thought of any peculiar reasons for this phenomenon. However, it does not really matter where the logo is placed because the reading habit of German and English speakers is from the left to the right. Therefore, it will always be recognized by the customers. The second obvious similarity is the used color of the Volkswagen company, blue and silver-gray which are the basic colors of the whole web pages. Whereas, the German web pages are designed in a dark coloring the American/Canadian ones appear in bright colors. Orange is used as the third main color on the American/Canadian pages. In summery, the American/Canadian web pages are designed much more loosening and friendlier which lets Volkswagen appear less conservative. Language similarities are for instance the use of short elliptic and simple structured sentences as well as imperatives and interrogatives. Powerful adjectives and nouns play a major role in describing the model Touareg and all its features and preferences. The frequent use of comparisons is eye-catching as well. The headline and the body copy always correspond perfectly with the used images. Indeed, images appear as the most important element on both web pages as a lot of pictures and photographs are used because they are able to influence and convince the consumers on an emotional way. Moreover, they can be faster absorbed and are easier to remember. How about the differences between the two web pages? Therefore, I want to refer to the two home pages again. Eye-catching is that Volkswagen Germany mainly communicates through images and only some news as well as information about the company is outlined on the home page. In my opinion they did a bad job in trying to attract the consumers attention and interest. However, the American/Canadian home page arouses attention and interest through the picture of the New Beetle Convertible as well as through the headline Spread the Joy. Check out the New Beetle Convertible. There the consumers are directly addressed and requested to check out the advertised model. Moreover, I could not find any slogan on the German home page of the Touareg either whereas the slogan Onroad. Offroad. And all the road in between. appeared on the American/Canadian home page. Summing up the American/Canadian web pages mediate rather experience and joy than the German home pages. And how about language? The language on the German web pages is very emotional, fancy and glamorous. Whereas the language on the American/Canadian web pages is more precise and factual. All in all I could say that I had fun examining and exploring both web pages especially the video clips. In my opinion using audio-visual elements is the best way to attract the consumers attention and interest in order to evoke emotional experiences by the consumers.