Although our member Erhan Tartan (35) was born and raised in Germany, he lost his heart to the Netherlands whilst studying in Arnhem. “The Dutch don’t take themselves too seriously! They are more relaxed and just seem a bit happier. I can for instance be eating a biscuit on the street and then a passer-by says to me, “‘Enjoy!” Those sorts of experiences I have more in the Netherlands than in Germany.”

If there is anything Erhan is really proud of, it is his son. Of course, every parent is. But, as a language enthusiast, Erhan is particularly proud that his son is raised bilingual in a multicultural family. This includes his Turkish/German background and that of his Dutch fiancée. “I notice that he is very interested in language and I’m immensely proud of that. He often proactively asks:

Erhan expresses his own love for language in his freelance career as a copywriter and brand strategist. He believes that marketing has an important job to do: helping consumers make good choices, instead of fooling them. “Consumers have so many temptations and distractions to deal with, but it should actually be easy to make a good choice,” he explains. Copywriting also plays a vital role in this, he says: “The message should always be clear.”

When it comes to marketing, he does perceive the so-called “purpose wave” that he’s seen taken place in the field in recent years with a healthy sense of irony. “Everything had to have purpose… But, to have real purpose, it has to cost you something. Right now, I don’t think there is any room left for companies to say things that are over the top or fake. Look at ‘the king of purpose’, Patagonia. They were taken seriously because they made a real investment. That is real purpose.”

If Erhan could give one piece of advice to starting creatives, it would be: quality comes from quantity. “As children, we are naturally creative”, he explains. “We just dó and have no barriers. But, as we get older we lose that capacity and are too critical. So, my advice is: just throw your ideas out there. It doesn’t matter how bad they are. You can go on to edit them ánd when you pop out your bad ideas, you make room for good ideas. Don’t hold yourself back too much!”

Erhan Tartan – House of Treats member since 2022