Babbel launches Understanding Changes Everything

Babbel, the world’s top-grossing language learning app, launches a new global brand campaign for January. 

The campaign focuses on the transformational effects that come with knowing another language. Highlighting the claim Understanding Changes Everything, two new TV Spots show how small interactions in other languages can have profound effects on a personal and professional level. This adds to one of Babbel’s core brand messages: to inspire conversations that transform your world. The campaign has been developed based on research and market tests done via the research institute IPSOS.

It’s the first cooperation between Babbel and the award-winning Amsterdam-based production company Media Monks together with creative director Charlotte Moore.

While much of the language learning space is about promoting language skills as a bullet point for your résumé or a tool for your next holiday, Babbel wanted to dive deeper. “It’s true that learning a new language can change your cognitive skills, your career options or your personal life”, says Charlotte Moore, Creative Director for the campaign. “But deeper than that, beyond that, it enhances what you understand about yourself and the world around you. When you put people together who share that experience, the possibilities of change for the better increase dramatically. Understanding is a power for good, and Babbel takes the responsibility of spreading it through language-learning very seriously.”

The message: Learning a language isn’t just a transactional skill, but a life-changing activity that changes how you see other people and therefore the world. Babbel’s courses, developed by language learning experts give users the necessary confidence to engage in a conversation with others. The efficacy of the courses has been demonstrated in several studies in collaboration with, for example, Yale University.

To test how this messaging would resonate in the markets before launch, Babbel enlisted the help of the market research institute IPSOS. "After talking to consumers globally, we understood that they wanted to be inspired to learn a language, but also wanted to know more about the benefits of Babbel,” says Ana Cavalcanti, Head of Creative Operations at Babbel. 

“This is why our creative strategy addresses both, with a brand spot that delivers a fresh perspective of Babbel that inspires people to start their language learning journey, and a product spot that reminds learners that Babbel's expert-crafted learning experiences will motivate them and help them achieve the gratification of speaking a foreign language."

The international campaign kicks off with the two TV spots in 30-, 20- and 10-second formats in the United Kingdom, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Canada, Brazil, France, Italy and Spain. Besides TV the multi-channel campaign will be rolled out across social media, display, YouTube, PR channels and SEM.