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February 15, 2005
Downgrading the US Brand?
As has been discussed before in these postings, one of this nation's most important intangible assets is the "US" brand. But, that brand is under continuing downward pressure. According to a story in today's New York Times, "U.S. Companies Rethinking Their Marketing in Europe":
For years, American corporations and the European companies that do business with them have faced anti-American sentiments from Europeans. But with the war continuing in Iraq and discomfort growing over United States dominance, the companies have been forced to further adjust how they do business in Europe.
The story goes on to describe how, according to a recent survey by Edelman Public Relations,
32 percent of Europeans polled in January said they were less likely to purchase products made by companies in the United States because of disagreements with American culture. The Coca-Cola brand, for example, was "trusted" by 69 percent of respondents in the United States but by only 45 percent in Europe and 46 percent in Canada. Procter & Gamble products, which include Vicks, Folgers, Charmin, Clairol and Pampers brands, were trusted by 74 percent of Americans but only 44 percent of Europeans.
I'm not particularly alarmed by this latest "trust" survey. Anti-Americanism in Europe waxes and wanes with the political and cultural winds, taking the value of the "US" brand with it. And, as I used to tell my international business students, a good international marketing strategy balances between localizing your product and building a global cachet (like Levi's or Coke).
However, we can not be blind or sanguine about the effects of our international actions on our international commerce (and brand valuation). Right now, the hottest selling book in Turkey portrays a US invasion of that country. According to the Christian Science Monitor, even the authors of the book see it as more than a novel:
The book is clearly sold as fiction, but its premise has entered Turkey's public discourse in a way that sometimes seems to blur the line between fantasy and reality.
. . .
[Co-author Burak] Turna does not see the book as fiction. "From our point of view, it's a philosophical and scientific calculation," he says. "It's more than a novel."
That has got to hurt sales of Levi's and Coke, no matter how big the cachet.
Posted by Ken Jarboe at February 15, 2005 05:51 PM
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