For fishing brands, distributors & tackle shops
that want to win Germany
Enter the German fishing market as a German brand. Not as a translated one.
Germany is Europe's biggest tackle market — and German anglers notice within seconds when a brand isn't local. We're a Berlin team of anglers who know the retailers, the trade shows, and which creators work and which are burnt. You keep your home market. We run the German one.
Berlin team · 38 German fishing brands seen from the inside · Founder started at Nash Tackle
Why Germany
Europe's largest fishing-tackle market sits next door.
0.0M
valid fishing licences in Germany (2024)
0.00M
Germans went fishing at least once in 2021
up to0%
of EU tackle retail value sits in Germany (est.)
€0.0bn
online goods revenue in Germany in 2024
Add roughly 200,000–350,000 active anglers in Austria and 100,000+ in Switzerland, and DACH becomes one of Europe’s densest angling markets.
Why foreign brands stall in Germany
German anglers notice when a brand isn't German. And they move on.
Translated content feels translated.
A campaign shot at home and subtitled doesn't read as German — no matter how good the translation or the AI voice-over is. A German angler on the Rhine does. People feel the difference before they can explain it.
One newsletter for all of Europe.
The same deals, translated and sent to every country. In the German shops we run, email and automations typically bring in 20–30% of revenue. Most foreign shops we look at are stuck in single digits in Germany — with customers they already paid for.
The wrong face costs you the scene.
Picking the creator with the most followers is the classic mistake. Some have held up ten different brands in five years — and every German angler knows it. From abroad you can't see who's trusted and who's burnt.
One marketplace listing can lose you every dealer.
If a German retailer googles your reel and finds it on a marketplace at his wholesale price, the conversation is over. Distribution, pricing and channels work differently here — and mistakes are remembered for years.
What you can't google
We know how the German fishing market actually works.
Not from a market report. From years inside it — as anglers, as a former tackle-brand team, and as the agency behind German brands, shops and trade shows.
Creators
We know who works — and who's burnt.
We know the German anglers personally: who is credible in which discipline, who's tied to which brand, and who will say anything for a fee. You get the right faces — including the strong ones just below the big names who aren't signed yet.
Retail & trade shows
We know the shops, the distributors and the shows.
Which retailers matter, how German dealers think about pricing and online channels, and which shows you need to be at — several of the organisers are our clients. Whether you sell via retail, your own shop or both, we build demand without burning a channel.
The German angler
We know how Germans fish, talk and buy.
The tone that works here, the waters people recognise, what makes them trust a shop — and why Austria is not just "more Germany". It shapes every ad, every email and every page we make for you.
How it starts
Not a translation project. Your German team.
Content, performance, email and tech under one roof in Berlin — with anglers in the seats where it matters. If something already works for you, like Google, it stays where it is. We build what's missing.
1 · We look at your German numbers
Revenue, conversion and email share for Germany only — not blended with your other markets. You see where you stand against what we see in German shops, and where the biggest gap is.
2 · We meet in person
At your place or in our Berlin office. We work with few brands and for years, so both sides should know who they're dealing with before anything is signed.
3 · One plan, one team, one number
German content with German anglers, creators from our network, Meta and TikTok for DACH, German email flows — measured on German revenue and reported in your own attribution, every week.
Results, not claims
Numbers from the German market. Not from the brochure.
A selection of brands we've built demand for in the German-speaking market — from tackle to bait to events. Plus 38 German brands and shops we've worked with from the inside.
25× ROAS
Carplounge Tackle · Own shop, Europe
Every advertising euro brought back €25 in revenue — sustained over weeks, with Meta, Google and email working together.
+120% revenue
Headbanger · Swedish brand, direct-to-consumer in EU & USA
In the first two months of working together, compared with the previous year — monthly revenue normally seen only in peak season.
"We can grow now without it depending on luck."
Carp Expo · Retail + end customers
Ticket sales grew so strongly that the show had to move venues. "Ad Social made the business scalable again." — Marcus Sippel-May, organiser.
By the way: several of our market-entry cases we're not allowed to talk about publicly — in a call, we show you the one closest to your situation.
Why us for Germany
Not an agency that also does Germany. A German team that fishes.
Any agency can translate your ads. Very few can make your brand feel German to a German angler — because that takes people who are both.
We're German. And we're anglers.
Berlin team, ten people, founder on the bank since childhood. What sounds German and what sounds translated — we don't need a focus group for that.
38 German fishing brands from the inside
Pre-orders, trade shows, seasonality, retailer politics — you don't have to explain the German market to us. That saves you the first six months.
One brand per category. For years, not months.
We don't run two competing brands in the same category in Germany — our best ideas can only go to one of them. We prefer a base fee plus a share of the German revenue we build, so we only win when you do.
The German rules, handled
Payment mix, trust signals, OSS VAT, LUCID, GPSR, legal texts — we know what a German shop needs before it goes live, and we bring in the right partners for the rest.
Founder & angler — Thilo Schulze
"I helped build the German market for a UK brand once. Now I do it from the other side."
At 18 I was on the bank at Nash Tackle in Essex as a cameraman, working with the UK team on the German market. Then I built Nax Stream — the stream for carp anglers — and sold it after four years. Since then: 38 fishing brands in six countries, from Rapala and Daiwa to Zeck Fishing. I've sat on your side of the table — and I know exactly what it takes for a foreign brand to feel German to a German angler.
Let's both be honest
One brand per discipline in DACH. Not everyone.
We take on one brand per discipline in the German-speaking market. Whoever starts first keeps the head start — your competitor won't get the same German build.
Then we should talk
You run the company
Owner-led, short lines, fast decisions.
Your home market works
An established brand, distributor or shop with seven-figure revenue, proven where you are — we build Germany, we don't fix the basics.
You can ship to Germany
Or you're ready to set it up. Demand without delivery is just noise.
You want Germany for years
Not for one season. A market build pays back over years, not weeks.
Then better not
No proven product yet
We build Germany for brands that already sell at home. If you're still pre-launch, get that right first.
"Let's just test Germany for a month"
Market entry doesn't work in a month. Others will tell you it does.
No advertising budget
Without reach in Germany, nothing can be tested properly.
No one to look after German customers
We can show you the tools that make it easy — but someone on your side needs to own it.
More ticks than crosses? Then fill in the form below. If not, you've just saved yourself a call — and probably a failed market entry.
Step 1 of 3
Let's check if Germany is a fit.
A few short questions — then Thilo gets in touch personally.
Do you run the company yourself?
Before you have to ask
What you want to know about Germany.
Do we need a German company?
We already sell to Germany via Google — why change anything?
Who handles German customer service?
Will this upset our German retailers?
How fast will we see German sales?
What does it cost?
You've read everything
A German team that knows the market — or another year of translated ads.
A few short questions. Then we both know whether Germany is a fit — and if not, why not.
This site uses cookies and tracking technologies, including the Meta Pixel, to measure the effectiveness of our ads. Details and how to opt out can be found in the privacy policy.
This website is not part of Meta Platforms Inc. and is not endorsed or reviewed by Meta in any way. Facebook and Instagram are trademarks of Meta Platforms Inc.
© 2026 Ad Social · All rights reserved.