Maze & Friends is a marketing agency from Vienna for clients in Paris whose next customers live in Germany, Austria and Switzerland. We build the German shop and website, shoot the films and product videos, cover your shows and fairs for German-speaking audiences, run the campaigns and make sure AI assistants recommend you in German.
In short: Maze & Friends, a senior-led marketing agency based at Vienna Airport, works with Paris companies on their market entry into the DACH region (Germany, Austria and Switzerland). The team produces German-language websites, product pages and guides, brand films and event content, runs performance campaigns on Meta and Google and measures AI visibility, meaning how often ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews name a brand in German answers. For Canal Toys, a brand strong in France and unknown in Germany, Maze & Friends built the German market presence.
Source: case study Canal Toys, Maze & Friends company data.
Paris is where much of France's economy is decided. The Paris Region produces €866 billion, 30 per cent of France's GDP, and hosts more than 350 trade fairs a year. Luxury, fashion and beauty houses sit next to a fast-growing technology scene: Station F calls itself the world's biggest start-up campus, and Paris-based Mistral AI raised €3 billion in September 2026.
The most important export market for all of them is next door. Germany is France's first trading partner, its first supplier and its first customer: French exports of goods and services to Germany reached €114 billion in 2025, and France was the second-largest foreign investor in Germany that year. Austria buys from France as well; in the first half of 2026, Austrian exports to France alone rose 8.2 per cent to €3.7 billion, and the flow runs in both directions.
A strong brand in France is often an unknown one in Germany. Canal Toys was exactly that: a strong brand for creative toys in France, hardly searched for in Germany, with a blog without articles and product pages that didn't answer parents' questions. We built the German presence from Vienna, and the work reached a ROAS of 3× within a year, calculated across all activities. That is the job we do for Paris brands: German pages that sound native, films and product videos that travel, campaigns aimed at the right cities and the sources AI assistants quote in German.
German product pages, collection pages and guides that answer the questions German, Austrian and Swiss customers actually ask, built in your shop system or in Webflow. We set up GA4 and conversion tracking, meaning we measure which page and which campaign lead to a sale or an enquiry. For Canal Toys we created 20 new product pages, six collections and 15 guides.
Meta and Google campaigns aimed at Germany, Austria and Switzerland, with German creatives produced in-house and landing pages that convert. For the menswear label Paolo Sarti we combined a photo shoot, social media design and ad campaigns into one look that attracts new customers.
One or two shoot days in Paris produce a brand film, product videos and short formats with German and English versions. For KCB Professional Austria we shot application videos and reels in a hair salon with four models, so customers understand the products more easily.
Paris Fashion Week, Maison&Objet and VivaTech produce moments your German-speaking customers and press should see. We film shows, stands and talks with interviews and deliver recaps, reels and photos with German subtitles. Germany was VivaTech's Country of the Year in 2026, so the German-speaking audience is already in the hall.
GEO, short for generative engine optimisation, makes sure ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews recommend your brand when someone asks in German for a product or provider like yours. We measure who gets named today, then build German answer content and mentions on sources the models trust, as we did for Canal Toys in Germany.
For Paris tech companies selling B2B into the DACH region, people are the first proof. We position founders and country managers, write LinkedIn posts in your voice in German or English and produce photo and video when we are in Paris anyway.
Shows, fairs and conferences in Paris where we can cover your appearance for a German-speaking audience. Dates as published by the organisers on 25 October 2026.
30 minutes by video call, free of charge: which DACH market first, which products, what already exists in German? Afterwards you receive a fixed-price quote.
We check how your brand appears on Google in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, on social media and in German AI answers, and which competitors customers find instead.
A fixed-price quote with every line item, travel to Paris included. You contract with Maze Marketing & IT GmbH in Austria; invoicing between two EU businesses is set out in the quote.
Audiences, messages and the German tone of voice, worked out with your team in English. We decide together which French ideas travel and which need a German equivalent.
Brand film, product videos and photos in Paris, coverage at your shows and fairs, bundled into as few trips as possible.
German pages, campaigns and AI visibility work go live with tracking to the sale or enquiry. Monthly reports show what sells in which country, and where budget should move.
Our studio is at Vienna Airport, not in Paris, and we don't produce French-language campaigns. Your Paris agency knows France better; we work alongside it within your brand guidelines and take the German-speaking market. With your team we work in English.
We don't translate line by line. A French claim that works in Paris can sound stiff in Munich, and we will tell you when it does. Legal and tax questions, from product labelling to VAT, stay with your advisers. Number-one guarantees, bought followers and reviews aren't on offer.
Brands that are established in France and starting in German-speaking e-commerce and retail: German shop pages, product videos, social media and campaigns. Canal Toys is the blueprint: from unknown in Germany to a ROAS of 3× within a year, calculated across all activities.
Companies whose products need to be seen and understood: product and application videos, photo shoots, event content from shows and fairs. For KCB Professional Austria we shot application videos with four models; for Exclusive Home we produced a cinema commercial at five locations that ran in more than 20 cinemas in Austria.
Paris start-ups and scale-ups selling into Germany, Austria and Switzerland: German landing pages, founder visibility on LinkedIn, trade fair content and AI visibility in German answers.
Working from Vienna for clients in Paris only works with clear ownership. Here is what we commit to.
German shop pages, films, campaigns and AI visibility come from one team, as they did for Canal Toys in Germany.
The senior people from the initial call come to Paris for shoot days and shows and stay on your project. That slows our growth. We accept it.
Sales, enquiries and return on ad spend per country, tracked to the source. Reach is a means, not a result.
If a campaign that worked in France won't work in Germany, we say so before you spend on it.
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Because your next market speaks German, and we work in it every day. Maze & Friends builds German shop pages, campaigns, films and AI visibility for Germany, Austria and Switzerland. For Canal Toys, a brand strong in France and unknown in Germany, we did exactly that. We travel to Paris for shoot days and shows and handle the rest online.
For consumer brands, rarely. People in Germany, Austria and Switzerland shop, search and ask AI assistants in German, and product pages in English lose trust at the moment of purchase. B2B tech audiences tolerate more English, but sales pages and ads still work better in German. We decide per audience and per channel.
No. We work with your team in English and write for your customers in German. French campaigns stay with your Paris agency, and we are happy to work alongside it within your brand guidelines. Briefings, approvals and reports run in English, so nothing gets lost between three languages.
Yes. We plan interviews, looks, products and stand moments with you before the event, then deliver a recap, reels and photos with German subtitles for your DACH channels and press. Typical stages are Paris Fashion Week, Maison&Objet and VivaTech, where Germany was Country of the Year in 2026. Travel appears as its own line in the quote.
We built the brand's German market presence from the ground up. That meant 20 new product pages, six collections, 15 guides, twelve newsletter automations, Meta campaigns and work on search and AI visibility. Before, the brand was hardly searched for in Germany. Within a year the work reached a ROAS of 3×, calculated across all activities.
AI assistants answer product questions from sources they trust, such as guides, reviews, retailers and editorial articles. We measure which brands ChatGPT, Perplexity and Google's AI Overviews recommend for your category in German, then publish German answer content on your site and earn mentions on credible sources. Progress shows over months, and we report monthly.
A fixed-price quote, a contract with Maze Marketing & IT GmbH in Austria and invoices issued from Vienna. Between two EU businesses, how VAT is handled is set out in the quote and checked with your accountant where needed; we don't give tax advice. Usage rights to films, photos and texts, including use in ads and retail, are agreed in writing.
Still have questions?
In the initial call, we answer whatever is still open and tell you honestly whether we are the right fit for your project.
In a free 30-minute call we look at where your brand is missing in the German-speaking market today and which step will have the most effect first. Afterwards you receive a fixed-price quote. Consulting that also delivers.
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Brand video vs advertising video