Measuring the state of U.S. business brands abroad from two different perspectives
This survey was slightly different than others we’ve conducted. We posed the same questions to U.S. marketers and to international business people in order to gauge how U.S. marketers’ perceptions of their overseas brand relationships align with the opinions of those working abroad. We also asked how U.S. business brands in general have been affected by U.S. foreign policy.
First, a little geo-demographic, geo-political, geo-background.
To gauge attitudes without the influence of specific current events, we ran this survey over a three-year timeframe—from May 2005 to October 2008. Results shown here were tallied before the election of Barack Obama.
We received responses from 1,867 people. Of that, 1,378 were identified as U.S. business marketers and 489 identified themselves as business buyers of U.S. brands who work overseas.
85 percent of U.S. survey respondents conduct business abroad: 30 percent in Europe, 22 percent in Asia, 20 percent in the United Kingdom, 10 percent in Australia, 4 percent in Africa and another 4 percent in the Middle East. 10 percent conduct business in all of those regions.
While 30 percent of respondents sell products and services overseas, 21 percent provide marketing services to foreign companies, 19 percent have offices abroad, and 15 percent outsource services to other countries. Another 10 percent have products manufactured abroad, and 7 percent obtain products from overseas.
WE ASKED:
How are U.S. business brands perceived abroad? And how have business relationships between American and overseas companies changed?
YOU ANSWERED:
Respondents completed a survey covering their opinions of US business brands over time and contributed comments and personal insights.
Okay, Vasco da Gama, here’s the top line.
- Both U.S. business marketers and overseas business buyers agree that the perception of American business brands has declined dramatically.
- The decline is dramatic enough to force almost 20 percent of overseas buyers to switch to brands from other countries.
- One third of these changes were attributed directly to U.S. foreign policy prior to October 2008.
- It appears that U.S. business marketers are not aware of this trend yet. More than nine out of ten of them believe that they will continue to do business with their current overseas brand customers.
- Personal relationships appear to be the only stabilizing factor. Half of both U.S. marketers and foreign buyers believe their personal relationships have changed. But two thirds believe they have changed for the better. To see why check out the verbatim comments.
Is war really good for business? Not according to your responses. An overwhelming majority of both U.S. and non-U.S. respondents believe U.S. business brands have been affected by U.S. foreign policy—70 percent within the U.S. and 74 percent outside. And almost everyone agrees that foreign policy has affected U.S. brands adversely—87 percent within the U.S. and a whopping 93 percent abroad.
Personal relationships to the rescue
On the other hand, while most of those surveyed see a detrimental effect of foreign policy on U.S. brands, they feel differently about their own individual relationships.
Within the U.S., a slight majority (54 percent) believes their relationships with foreign clients and partners have changed, while outside of the U.S., a small majority (56 percent) feels those relationships have remained the same. Of those both here and abroad who have noticed a change, more than 2 of 3 thought those changes were for the better—72 percent in the U.S. and 68 percent outside.
South America? It’s like America only South
We asked both sets of respondents to rate recent changes in the quality of their business relationships with foreign counterparts. The results were similar, though U.S. responses were a bit more optimistic than those from overseas.
Compared to five years ago, your relationship with overseas/U.S. companies you do business with is:
| U.S. responses |
Non-U.S. responses |
|
| Dramatically better |
5% | 0% |
| Better | 36% | 28% |
| About the same | 51% | 50% |
| Worse | 6% | 14% |
| Dramatically worse | 2% | 8% |
Compared to one year ago:
| U.S. responses |
Non-U.S. responses | |
| Dramatically better |
5% | 0% |
| Better | 27% | 9% |
| About the same | 60% | 77% |
| Worse | 9% | 6% |
| Dramatically worse | 0% | 9% |
U.S. respondents seem to have a rosier, perhaps even a more naive view of their overseas business relationships than non-U.S. business people do. And the difference has gotten larger over the past year.
All hail the clueless, ugly American brand
What’s even more disturbing is the gap in perception U.S. and non-U.S. respondents have of the future of these relationships. 98 percent of U.S. respondents feel the companies they do business with abroad want to continue their relationships, and 96 percent believe their companies will continue to do business abroad with their current clients and partners.
Those darn international awakenings can be so rude
But the reality for American companies doesn’t jibe with those perceptions—19 percent of overseas respondents said their companies are planning to replace the relationships they have with American companies with ones not based in the U.S. And almost a third of those (32 percent ) said U.S. foreign policy is directly responsible for that change.
Looks like some U.S. companies are in for a rude awakening. Unless a change of perception accompanies the change of administration in Washington.
Imperialistic threats that undermine French culture
Some of you pulled no punches in describing overseas perceptions of U.S. foreign policy and how it affects U.S. brands. (And that’s just the way we like it.) But opinions on the consequences for U.S. business vary depending on how much you identify business brands and business people with their home country’s political agenda.
From U.S. respondents:
“We feel a lot of animosity to the way U.S.A. is behaving globally.”
“Brand is really a shell around what’s good about a company’s products. But if that shell is pierced by political ideologies, brand suffers.”
“No one likes a bully.”
“People want to avoid American brands.”
From overseas:
“U.S. foreign policy is increasingly regarded as aggressive, hostile and self-serving.”
“People around the world—fewer in the U.K. than I find elsewhere— resent American government policy and associate it with American brands and business.”
“...International perspective has changed for the worse...because of the perceived ‘big brother’ attitude of the U.S. government...”
“The international political actions of the U.S. demonstrate insensitivity, blinkered thinking, a bullying approach, massive ego, awesome naiveté, extreme parochialism, to name just a few negatives. This is not conducive to good relationships or good business.”
On the other hand, many of you see a distinction between politicians creating U.S. policy and the individuals with whom your companies are doing business:
From the U.S.:
“U.S. foreign policy is roundly mocked by the rest of the world, but business is about the money and opportunity. Both of those things continue to be richest in the U.S. economy.”
“In our experience, clients have separated us from U.S. Meaning, we tend to agree on some of the perceived blunders of U.S. foreign policy.... especially when those policies hurt our mutual interests in doing business.”
And from abroad:
“I don’t quite see why business with Americans would change because the U.S. government is rubbish.”
“There is a difference between American people and American politics...as there is a difference between Arabian politics and Arabian people.”
“We do our best to keep politics out of it.”
The Mobium bottom line: Rectum it almost killed ‘em
Several sources, including our survey, indicate that business-to-business brands may not be as susceptible as consumer brands to the erosion of America’s image around the world. But that is no reason to dismiss the warning signs.
Anytime almost 20 percent of your brand’s customers abandon you for a competitor – whether its a U.S. brand or a foreign one – you had better take notice. To ignore this trend is not only unwise it is arrogant. We can see signs of that arrogance in the rosier (some might say clueless) perceptions of U.S. business marketers over their overseas buyers.
Four ways to keep your brand from falling off the planet
Our advice?
- Don’t think that just because you are a business-to-business brand with strong personal relationships with foreign buyers that you are immune from this decline in U.S. brand perceptions across the pond.
- Check out the strength of those relationships through an objective third party. You may be surprised what foreign buyers say when someone else asks them about your brand relationship.
- Listen to what your overseas customers and prospects have to say. Take it to heart.
- And then initiate actions that connect with them on their
cultural terms. In fact, you might want to check out what Dr. Clotaire
Rapaille, the author of Culture Codes, has to say about why people around the world buy as they do. Just click here.
We agree with Allen Rosenshine, ex-CEO of DDB and creator of Omnicom Group. As Rosenshine puts it:
“Branding is based on the notion that promoting a specific relationship between a product and its user creates psychological value for the product in addition to the benefit of its actual performance. That means creating a relevant linkage, both rational and emotional, between the product and the lives of the people you hope will use it.”
We would only add, even if those lives are culturally and politically different than yours.
And, hey, even if we’re wrong about that, keep your chin up. American foreign policy is going to change. For the better we hope.