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Global Backlash Against U.S. Brands: Can Tsunami Relief Efforts Stem the Anti-American Tide?

Twenty-country GMI Poll finds corporate Tsunami relief improving the image of some American brands; 1/3 of all consumers from across the globe identify American foreign policy as key in shaping perspective of "Brand USA"; Consumers identify specific iconic American brands they boycott.

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European Consumers | Asian Consumers | Central/South American Consumers

Seattle, Washington -- February 02, 2005 - Significant South Asian Tsunami relief efforts mounted by major American companies - notably Coca-Cola, Starbucks, and Microsoft - improved the world's image of their global brands, but the uplift may be cut short by a growing international backlash against American foreign policy that threatens to overshadow any favorable activity, according to a 20-country study by independent market research solutions company GMI, Inc.

"Contributing in a highly visible way to the tsunami relief efforts resulted in large improvements in brand image for several companies. The main question, however, is whether this image improvement has longevity and is powerful enough to reverse the erosion caused by American foreign policy," explains , chief pollster and COO of GMI.

The GMI Poll conducted an international survey of 20,000 consumers one week after the South Asian Tsunami, measuring their opinions on American multinational brands, corporate tsunami relief efforts, and U.S. foreign policy (representative samples of 1,000 consumers in each of 20 countries: Australia, Brazil Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, India, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, Poland, Russia, South Korea, United Kingdom and United States).

On average, among all 20 countries, a striking 59% of all consumers reported that American multinational corporations' tsunami relief efforts have improved their impressions of those companies' brands.

For example, Coca-cola provided bottled drinking water, basic foodstuffs, and medical supplies to tsunami victims; Starbucks made an initial contribution of $100,000 to international relief organizations CARE and Oxfam UK, plus donated $2 per pound of Sumatra coffee sold during January; and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged an initial $3 million to nongovernmental organizations to aid tsunami relief efforts.

The GMI Poll results indicated that as a result of Coke's contributions, 61% of consumers reported an improved image of Coca-Cola. Starbuck's Tsunami relief pledge resulted in 51% of respondents expressing an improved image of Starbucks. Bill and Melinda Gates' donation resulted in 50% of respondents reporting an improved image of Microsoft.

Furthermore, 46% of all consumers indicated that they will purchase more products from those companies that had provided tsunami relief. Among top global brands, 39% indicated they would consider purchasing more Coca-Cola products in the future; 32% indicated they would buy more at Starbucks; and 37% indicated a greater willingness to buy Microsoft products.

Positive brand sentiment gained from tsunami relief efforts stands in stark contrast to images heavily influenced by U.S. foreign policy. The GMI Poll found that one in five international consumers consciously avoids purchasing American brands as a way of displaying their discontent over recent American foreign policies and military action (the three countries with the highest percentage of consumers who indicate an intention to boycott iconic American brands are: South Korea 45%, Greece 40% and France 25%).

Softening the blow however, 56% of those who indicated that they consider boycotting American brands also reported that their judgment of those corporations that had donated to the Tsunami relief effort had improved; similarly, 48% stated that they would consider purchasing products in the future from those brands that had provided tsunami aid. Clearly, there are powerful international cross currents influencing global consumers' views of American iconic brands.

Dr. Simon Anholt, one of the world's leading specialists in creating brand strategies for countries and cities and co-author of Brand America: The Mother of All Brands (© 2004 Cyan Communications), explains that despite the positive data from the GMI Poll study, American brands tsunami relief efforts may be too little too late.

"The problem is that once the image of a country has started to decline, international consumers tend to reject any data which doesn't confirm their negative prejudices. Bad news always travels further and faster than good, unfortunately: people usually assume that bad news is more truthful than good, because it's something they're not supposed to know," says Dr. Anholt. He adds that America's reputation has fallen too far for it to be retrieved by a few additional good-news stories and that a wholesale reappraisal of U.S. public diplomacy (and policy) is long overdue.

A glimmer of hope can be found in the GMI Poll numbers where 68% of international consumers regarded the use of the U.S. military to aid South Asian Tsunami victims as an appropriate use of the U.S. military, with the largest support coming from four countries: Japan (90%), Canada (82%), Australia (82%), and the Netherlands (81%). Fifty-two percent of all respondents, however, concluded that the United States overall response to the South Asian Tsunami tragedy was inadequate, with significant majorities reaching this conclusion in six countries: South Korea (74%), Greece (73%), France (73%), Australia (67%), Brazil (64%), and Germany (59%).

Dr. Anholt explains that the major problem facing American brands is that U.S. foreign policies play such a crucial role in shaping international consumers image of America (GMI Poll finds that 35% of all international consumers indicate that U.S. foreign policy is the most important factor in formulating their image of America, with the highest at 49% in Italy and lowest at 18% in Russia; only 3% of all international consumers indicate that American brands and products are most important in molding their impression of America).

"The U.S. government must support industry and all the other 'stakeholders' in Brand America and commit to a clear, truthful and visionary strategy for overhauling America's standing in the world. The unfortunate fact is that American brands can indeed suffer from the poor national image of their home country," advises Dr. Anholt.

The GMI Poll finds limited evidence that anti-American sentiment is softening among international consumers as a result of the American government and corporate America's aid to Tsunami ravaged countries. For example, among the same set of countries studied in multiple waves over several months, 50% of all consumers in this January's study had a favorable view of America. Last December, GMI found that only 48% had a favorable view of America (well within the 3% margin of error). Furthermore, 2/3 of all respondents indicated a negative change in their views towards America as a result of the U.S.-led war in Iraq, with the most negative countries being South Korea (82%), France (78%), Mexico (77%), and Greece (75%). Additionally, a striking 3/4 of all respondents had a negative view of President George W. Bush, with France reporting the strongest negative impressions (88%).

Dr. Douglas Holt, L'Oreal Professor of Marketing at the Said Business School of the University of Oxford and author of How Brands Become Icons: The Principles of Cultural Branding (© 2004 Harvard Business School), explains that the trends of anti-American sentiment (and if it hardens or softens) depends largely on the U.S. Government's policies with in the next four years.

"If the U.S. continues to act aggressively and unilaterally in other countries such as Iran, the desire to push against all things American will continue around the world," he explains. Dr. Holt suggests that the continued American soft boycott against French wine and travel is a good indication of how the rest of the world will respond to the United States. "What American multinational companies must consider is: what brands serve as the most useful proxy for people to use to protest American policies? These have been brands that are most readily associated with an expansionist U.S.: particularly McDonalds and Coke," Dr. Holt concludes.

When GMI Poll asked the 3,400 consumers that indicated that they boycott American brands which brands they boycott from a list of 35 international brands (both American and non-American), Marlboro Cigarettes (42%) and McDonalds (29%) were the brands most cited. Likewise, Marlboro Cigarettes (59%) and McDonalds (77%) were also among the top brands identified as being extremely American companies. Coca-Cola was also identified as an extremely American company (77%), but only 20% indicated that they would avoid purchasing Coca-Cola products (with the most resistance in Europe: United Kingdom at 28% and France at 27%).

International marketing expert and co-author of best-selling business book Working with Americans (© 2002 Financial Times Prentice Hall) Allyson Stewart-Allen (an American based in Europe for the past 20 years), concludes that anti-Americanism is most prevalent in Europe because of the NATO alliance.

"Most Europeans see their economies as highly dependent on the U.S., so anything the U.S. does to threaten America's prosperity and popularity feels proximate to Europeans," explains Stewart Allen. She adds that this is the reason why Europeans are more ready to boycott American brands when compared to other international consumers. According to the study, 60% of Italians, 60% of French, 56% of Greeks and 53% of Germans - all members of the NATO alliance - have negative feelings towards American multinational corporations. Likewise, 85% of Greeks, 85% of French and 81% of Germans have negative feelings towards America's foreign policy since 2000.

Stewart-Allen has this advice for CEO's of American brands that face anti-American backlash. "They [CEO's] might not want to go 'public' on admitting the problem, but they still need to accept that it is there, and take steps to make their brands feel and look more local." She explains that many U.S. companies aren't better at localizing their brands because of psychological barriers that CEO's face; more work and time understanding different cultures and consumers, ethics, languages, and learning a bit more world geography.

Dr. Holt agrees with Stewart-Allen, but adds, "Companies should devise global marketing policies that will signal to their constituencies that the company is acting independently of the American government and is genuinely interested in the social welfare of people in the markets they serve. Companies can build up a defense against anti-Americanism only by acting consistently as global citizens and making sure that people know about it."

The recently completed survey is the eighth GMI Poll conducted over the past several months. GMI Poll questions are designed to solicit opinions on numerous topical issues and critical global events. GMI surveys use highly profiled double opt-in panels from more than 500 global sources to help achieve 97% accuracy in their statistical results.

About GMI Poll

GMI Poll quickly and accurately gathers international opinions about topical issues and critical global events, with real-time results available in as little as 24 hours. GMI Poll is the only survey that polls global opinions in real time, online, and with statistically accurate results.

About GMI

GMI (Global Market Insite, Inc.) is the only company that provides comprehensive integrated solutions for global market intelligence for both market research firms and corporate market research departments at Global 2000 companies. Solutions include Net-MR®, a suite of software tools to manage and automate research throughout the project lifecycle, desktop analysis tools, 24x7x365 service bureau capabilities, and one of the world’s largest, highly profiled, double opt-in managed panels, spanning across 200 countries. In addition, GMI offers high-value, real-time enterprise feedback solutions for customer, partner and employee programs. Founded in 1999 with world headquartersin Seattle, Wash., GMI has operations on five continents.