Interview with Keith Reinhard
Place Branding: Are you concerned about US exporters downplaying their country of origin? Do you see this already happening? What can you — or anyone else — do to persuade them to ‘fly the flag’? Reinhard: The goal of Business for Diplomatic Action is not to persuade US exporters to ‘fly the flag’. Rather, we want US multinationals to undertake specific actions to address the rise in anti-American sentiment. As a start, we’re asking them to poll their own international workforces to determine what, if any, current behaviours might be exacerbating the problem of anti-Americanism and what new positive initiatives might be suggested by their employees in international markets. We believe this information, when shared with other companies, can shape an improved ‘foreign policy’ on the part of US business that will start to win back friends for America and American brands. In the meantime, some US exporters will increasingly try to position their brands as ‘local’, a tactic that makes sense from a marketing standpoint if ‘country of origin’ is seen as a negative. Other US-based multinationals claim their brands have never been seen as ‘American’ brands but as global brands. Those marketers should know that, at least in some countries, their brands are being boycotted by retailers armed with lists of brands distributed by American companies. If a local alternative is available, those ‘global’ brands simply don’t get to the retailers’ shelves.
And then there are those brands that will always be seen as American — American Airlines and American Express are the obvious examples. But to repeat, BDA is not out to get US exporters to ‘fly the flag’. We’d rather see them get together and fly a bunch of young interns to the United States to spend time working inside American companies. ‘The American way of business’ still shows up as a positive in most surveys. Creating a ‘Fulbright of Internships’ could represent one way US companies could start changing the minds of young anti-Americans. Place Branding: What is your prognosis for ‘Brand America’ following President Bush’s re-election? Do you think it likely that the administration will rediscover the value of sensitive and coordinated public diplomacy? What might make them do this? Reinhard: I have no way of knowing what the administration will or won’t do. Business for Diplomatic Action is a non-partisan, private sector effort focused on mobilising the US business community. To that point, I will say that if the lack of a sensitive and coordinated public diplomacy policy begins to dramatically and demonstrably affect the fortunes of US business, then business might well apply pressure for change. Place Branding: Given that US culture and US brands are, after US policy, the most potent communicators of Brand
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1744–070X (2005) Vol. 1, 2, 153–154
Place Branding
153
Interview with Keith Reinhard
America overseas, can you see a way of encouraging them to work together? Is a single, unifying brand strategy a feasible prospect for the nation? Is it necessary? Can any useful degree of coordination between the stakeholders of such a large and diverse country ever be achieved? Reinhard: In our testimony last August to the House Subcommittee on National Security, Emerging Threats and International Relations, we outlined a plan for arriving at a ‘brand foundation’ for the United States and we recommended how communications based on such a foundation could be coordinated. If such a recommendation is acted upon, we could see bringing key members of US business, entertainment and academia into the process to arrive at one unifying ‘brand’ strategy to serve as a new platform for ‘marketing tactics’ and for all the disparate voices of America. To accomplish this would require leadership from someone held in the highest regard by all stakeholders. And leading figures from all sections of American civil society would have to buy into the need for such a unifying strategy. I would hope that the government might take the lead in such a strategic initiative. But even if it doesn’t, those who market US culture and American brands might well get together and develop a plan of their own. In either case, I hope we can all agree that our founding fathers had a pretty good brand strategy — life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. Place Branding: You speak of the need for America to acquire new ‘brand attributes’, such as cultural sensitivity and a willingness to listen. Where do you think such a change will come from? Is
154
Place Branding
Vol. 1, 2, 153–154
this the role of government? Or is it a question of education, and therefore a generational change? Reinhard: Acquiring new ‘brand attributes’ will require many actions on the part of many groups over many months and years. If every CEO of every US multinational polled his or her company’s international workforce, as we did at DDB Worldwide, that in itself would be a dramatic first step towards being seen as ‘listeners’. Our own polling resulted in the production and distribution of a ‘World Citizens Guide’ for young Americans who study abroad. Thanks to a grant from PepsiCo for printing and production and some help from UPS in distributing the guide to 800 US colleges and universities, 200,000 of our young Americans will be made more culturally sensitive this year. We plan to place an abridged version of that guide in the hands of the 55 million Americans who travel outside the United States each year. A downloadable version of this guide is available at www.worldcitizensguide.com. We envision a World Citizenship briefing programme for top executives of US multinationals and I hope there will be interest on the part of the US government in such briefing programmes and materials. There should definitely be a World Citizenship curriculum in our schools. In a 2002 National Geographic Global Literacy Study of Americans aged 18–24, fewer than half could find India on a map, four out of five couldn’t find Israel, one out of five couldn’t find Mexico and nearly a third couldn’t pinpoint the Pacific Ocean. Many of BDA’s intended programmes have a youth focus. So yes, to a great extent, acquiring new brand attributes for America will be a generational change.
䉷 Henry Stewart Publications 1744–070X (2005)
