The Lady In The Lake

Last week Hamburg’s already culturally rich community became even more so with an artistic “thank you” from Soap & Glory, a British beauty company that had expanded into the German market.

The article that found on CNN.com caught my eye because of the photo — a larger-than-life woman who appears to be bathing in Inner Aster Lake as a couple in a boat pulls right up to the sculpture as if to examine the surprised look on her face.

Soap & Glory said they commissioned artists Oliver Voss to build the 13 feet tall by 67 feet wide sculpture that weights two tons and sits in the lake’s waters. In a statement, the company said it was looking for a way to thank the German community after launching there a year ago.

What a creative way not only to say thanks but also to get people talking. In the 10 days “Die Badende” (“The Bather”) will soak in Inner Aster Lake there is little doubt in my mind that Hamburg’s residents and tourists will be talking about it, after all where is her towel when it’s time to get out of the water? Soap & Glory has that figured out too. The company said they have a crane with a “supersized towel” ready for when “Die Badende” is pruned and ready to get out of the waters.

It looks to me that Soap & Glory accomplished its goal of saying thank you in a way that was fun and beautiful. More pictures of the sculpture can be found here.

Something else Soap & Glory accomplished with “Die Badende” was international attention through media reports, allowing the British company to expand public knowledge of its company and products from a European base to a global audience. Not bad considering I found this article on CNN, not Spiegel Online where I would normally seek out my German news.

There is something to be said about a publicity stunt — when done right. It gets people talking, reading and curious about a product. Bringing a company’s name to the forefront of peoples’ minds in a positive manner is a good way to get people interested in and buying a product.

Who’s in for a trip to Target? They carry Soap & Glory products and now you’ll recognize them by the image of a bathing pin-up girl on the packaging.