The DNA of "Made in Germany," part 1: Paul Saffo's take

What is, and what is in a national brand?

I asked some astute observers of current affairs and business men and women around the U.S. for their definition of the term "Made in Germany." This poll in 500 words or less is part of the latest cover package of brand eins, which revolves around identity and identification. Not all the submissions I solicited made it into the printed version. That's why I am running a mini-series on what some sharp minds think when they hear the well-worn term "Made in  Germany."

I'll start with Paul Saffo, a futurist and technology forecaster in the Valley, who offered an amazing blend of retro and sc-fi connotations in his definition. And, yes, he is looking for a Plath sextant, if there are any navigation buffs out there. (Portrait copyright Mikkel Aaland.)

It has been a long time since anything was designed and manufactured in the same country, but even in a time of borderless globalization, but there is still something special about "Made in Germany."  It is a matter of function -- and esthetics.  My favorite pen (a rollerball) on my desk is American-branded (and manufactured god-knows-where), but it was designed in Germany, and the cartridge in it was manufactured in Germany.  I have dozens of other pens, but there is an indefinable something about this one that causes me to keep it in arms reach when I am at my desk -- that is "Made in Germany."

This distinctiveness of course depends on present-tense design skills -- designers designing today, for today's needs.  But it also derives from Germany's cultural and entrepreneurial DNA.  Memories of Germany's reputation for product color consumer expectations.  I was prepared for my favorite pen to be excellent because I am surrounded by historic examples of German design/manufacturing excellence.  For example, I have a two historic Plath marine sextants sitting in my office.  Beautifully designed and made, they were a blue-water mariner's most accurate position-finding tools until the advent of GPS.  My only regret is that despite searching for years, I still cannot locate a Plath Artificial Horizon to use with my sextants.

This historic DNA also affects makers as well as users. A designer's perspective is affected by what is around them, and thus if they are surrounded by a tradition of excellence and artifacts of that tradition, it cannot but create unique new products. Designers steeped in the German tradition, exposed to the excellence of earlier inventions, and fully participating in the global product world will create wonderful -- and uniquely German-- innovations for years to come."

Next: the Guidewire Group's cofounder and CEO Mike Sigal on "Made in Germany."

Comments

[miko matsumura]

steffan, this is wonderful... if there's room for a part N+1 I'd love to comment as an outsider who got "accidentally" acquired into German Software maker Software AG...