Why are American brands everywhere?

Your question seems simple, but the answer is actually a bit complicated because it's a mix of circumstances and efforts that have led to American (U.S.) brands being in so many places – and so popular – around the world.

First, while Americans do like to think we are great at branding, we would have nothing to brand overseas if not for our government's trade agreements that make our products available worldwide. And those agreements have come about for different reasons over the last 100 years or so, but many of them have gained strength from our mix of safety regulations, natural resources, economic strength, university-based research, political stability, corporate lobbying, and strong tourism.

Then again, while we love to give ourselves awards that say what marketing and branding geniuses we are – Holy Moly do we love to give ourselves awards! – the global strength of our movie and television industries has also helped tremendously. After all, our movies and TV shows have been showing and later mentioning U.S. branded products for decades, which has helped normalize and popularize them wherever the movies and TV shows appear.

However, the U.S. can also only sell brands overseas if the people living in those other countries want to buy them. So most brands that we export have to be among our best (within their category) to compete and, yes, we need to be good branders by learning what each market needs or will enjoy about our products, so that we can market them strategically.

Note that a key part of those strong trade agreements is our own willingness to also import a lot of other countries' brands. So while you may see what seem like a lot of American brands in Shanghai, we are also seeing (and buying) a lot of Sony, Samsung, Dos Equis, Jaguar, IKEA, Bertolli, and other non-U.S. brands in the U.S. because of those good trade relationships.

Last, keep in mind that due to the multi-national nature of business today, more than a few major brands that you may think of as “American” – Purina, Budweiser, Chrysler, Jim Beam, and Frigidaire, for example – are now actually owned by non-U.S. corporations. Those owners don't always sell the products in their home countries under those brand names, so how would you know? But that very fact further reinforces that the success of brands is often as much about the sales, regulatory, trade, and tax environments that are in place as it is about any particular "branding" efforts.

How can Marketers Avoid Culturally or Racially Offensive Advertising?

If your product or your approach even hints at being culturally or racially offensive, it’s worth the time and expense to see how people in the real world react to it with focus groups, online surveys, or other exposure to limited audiences. We don’t recommend that every marketing idea or ad campaign undergo focus group review, but the world is a diverse and litigious place and people’s life experience, sense of humor, education level, exposure to new ideas, and so on all affect how they are likely to react to the ads, ideas, turns of phrase, imagery, etc. that a brand puts out. Having developed creative advertising and materials for many consumer packaged goods (CPG), health plans, hospitals, utilities, automobiles, electronics, retailers, and more for over 35 years, we can assure you that a little extra insight into how your target audiences will react to your concepts is never a bad thing.

With that said, it’s also our long-held belief that advertisers should not do every single thing that any focus group says to do. That’s one of the fastest ways to end up with the most boring, milquetoast, nondescript advertising on the planet. It would be like giving small children approval over what goes on the menu at your favorite French cafe or seafood restaurant. Unless you want the equivalent of chicken fingers and mac & cheese for the next few years, you will listen, but pick your own solutions. It can be constructive to hear how a focus group or other feedback provider responds — especially if some of those responses are gasps or shrieks at points in the ad that are unexpected by your team. That’s a sign of a pending, “Crap, why would anyone think we meant THAT?” moment.

Another option that marketers can take is to have 2–3 lawyers review and comment on the ad. In fact, most large corporations insist that their legal team see ads before there are broadcast or published. We actually recommend attorneys from outside the company, though, because you are more likely to get honest feedback from parties who don’t think their job is on the line if they deliver unwelcome feedback. Of course, you also will never create breakthrough ads by doing exactly what a lawyer tells you to – it’s their job to play it safe – but even if you intend to push the outer envelope of good (or bad) taste with an edgy ad, it’s smart to know where things stand before you go on air or to press.

Thankfully, most U.S. examples of culturally tone deaf or racially cringe-worthy ads that come to mind quickly for us are from many, many years ago. One of the worst was a laundry detergent ad where of course the owners of a laundry service were Chinese. Quite recently, though, an ad where a black woman becomes a white woman caused a stir, and should have. Many people today comment that “everyone is so oversensitive” as a broad whine about why today isn’t as good as “the old days.” But if more people are, in fact, overly sensitive today, perhaps that’s because too many were so blithely and insultingly insensitive in the past.

In the end, how far you decide to push before going “over the line” into truly offensive ideas or language is a judgement call, but your gut should “just say no” to the use of 99.9% of ethnic, gender-specific, or cultural stereotyping and other jabs. Because even if you are being light-hearted or sarcastic – and you think they know that – it’s rarely worth risking a lawsuit or high exodus of customers just to prove your point.