Published October 13th, 2009 by Future Atlas
Fixing America’s Brand
Marian Salzman asked me and others to talk about re-branding the United States. These are extracts from two of her blog posts, about challenges and solutions.
My remarks:
Brand America is suffering from the hangover of the Bush years, which intensified perceptions of the U.S. as arrogant, violent, greedy, ignorant and self-interested. One of the tragedies of the Bush administration’s missteps was that about a billion people came of age during those eight years, forming their first impressions of the U.S.
One path to future reputation is making an impression on the vast cohorts of young people growing up now. We don’t want to battle the BRICs with our legacy strengths, the size of our economy and our military power, which are declining or sullied advantages. We can fight the challengers in areas where they have weaknesses and we are admired: freedom, egalitarianism, creativity and opportunity, for instance.
As Davids says below, diversity is another area of comparative advantage over the BRICs.
Keith Reinhard:
We have become an unwelcoming brand—with visa policies that discourage the best and the brightest from coming to study … We are not taking the lead in addressing challenges the global “market” most cares about—climate change being an important current example. America is still the leading nation brand. Surveys on innovation and competitiveness still rank us as No. 1. But other nation brands, like China, are gaining on us.
Our position as the world leader did not come overnight, and our brand recovery will take some time—maybe a generation.
Axle Davids:
A smart marketer would push diversity and inclusiveness for Brand America. Show us how you are a world nation, instead of acting like the standard-bearer for all nations.
N. Sedef Onder:
A global audience watched as we failed the most basic test of our authenticity during the recent financial crisis. A country built on the premise of capitalism, or the ability of anyone with any background to succeed based on individual effort, hard work and innovation simply failed to deliver on that promise.
Brand America was, and is still, a bit “drunk” on its faded glory as the pinnacle of opportunity and invention during the industrial age. We’ve yet to reinvent ourselves for the Brave New World. Understanding our role as international partners and working in collaboration with other nations will be critical to regaining respect and credibility.
Joy Donnell:
It seems all my overseas acquaintances felt America had gone rogue during the Bush administration and hoped our new president would signal a return to the world stage.
Michael Margolis:
What “big story” initiatives might the government introduce that bring to life how our country continues to fulfill the larger promise? What about a global entrepreneurship competition sponsored by the U.S. government, with both monetary prizes and immigration visas?
Several of those interviewed wisely point out that it is not about PR — real-world actions matter.
(Image courtesy Ctd 2005, Flickr)
kurt9 Says
I agree with the comments about the Bush neo-con policy of invading first and asking questions later. This has certainly not won us many friend around the world and is the one area where Obama is actually doing some good. I was certainly happy to see Bush leave office.
Global warming is a fraud. I’d forget about it.
Oct 14th, 2009 at 9:11 pm