Brand Central Station

As in many parts of the country, it’s been “Obamamania” here. Expectations are being set very high, despite the incoming administration’s best efforts. But if Americans are anything, they’re optimistic and President-elect Obama’s soaring rhetoric seems to reinforce that.

But what is the “upside” to an Obama administration as viewed by those people not living in the USA? We took a moment to ask some of our partners in the ECCO International Public Relations Network – all owners or managers of small and mid-sized public relations or marketing consultancies. What they told us was insightful, especially for those US-based brands who rely on exports to buoy sales revenues when the going gets tough at home.

The first question we asked related to the impact the current administration (under George W. Bush) may have had on the prestige of US brands sold abroad. The answers were as varied as the countries represented by the respondents:

“The image of American products is not connected to the existing American government or President in the mind of Hungarians” explained Zsuzsanna Takacs of S.T. Scope in Budapest, Hungary.

“Yes, I believe so,” explained Didier Lagae from Marco de Comunicacion with offices in Barcelona and Madrid. “Generic sentiment towards the US was pretty bad with Bush.”

Christian Kollmann, MD of Communication Matters in Vienna, Austria disagreed: “People in Austria didn’t change their consumption behavior towards US products during the last eight years. The fact that some American products have been so cheap (due to the exchange rate) has had much more influence than the question of who is sitting in the White House.”

Our partner in Copenhagen, Denmark agreed with Mr. Kollmann: “I do not think American products suffered under the Bush regime.” Lars Ludvigsen, of PR Partner, elaborated on this statement: “But the reputation and perhaps the view of Americans has.”

While the personal approval or disapproval of President Bush may not have had a direct impact on the perceived value of American brands, Gunnar Angeltveit of CCN in Norway did note that US products have a low standing in his country. “The main reason … is the low innovation rate and quality issues.”

Michael Zuhkle, at Relatio-PR in Germany, said that after talking things over with his colleagues in Munich it was clear that “There will be a change (in how) German people will look at American products.” Mr. Zuhkle continued: “People did not rely on the promises of (President) Bush. IF the promises (of President-elect) Obama will come true, there will be a bigger confidence in America and thereby American companies and products, too.”

From a different part of Germany, Heike Lange (of PRGS in Frankfurt) disagreed: “The majority of Germans neither look differently at American products right now, nor were they influenced in their consumer (preferences) by their personal attitude towards George W. Bush.

So what impact will the ascendance of Barack Obama have on American goods and brands sold overseas? The general sense is little to no immediate impact commercially, but the long-term effect on US prestige and standing in the world does matter.

Rita Platzer, MD of RPPR in Stockholm, Sweden summed it up this way: “People will look at American products in a new, more positive way. (President-elect Obama) stands for something new, young and modern.”

Mr. Lagae echoed those sentiments by explaining how a President Obama would make the US more “likeable” and, as a result, “that is sure to reflect on its iconic products and brands.”

“The American lifestyle … are an integral part of our lifestyle,” said Mr. Ludvigsen. “Denmark has been very friendly towards the USA during the past 20 years. This means we did not consider to become less allied with the US, even with (President) Bush in command.”

The history of strong US-UK ties plays an important role in Sara Render’s take on the impact of the Obama election as well.  Ms. Render is the Managing Director of Kinross + Render, based in London: “Although some people will feel more comfortable about supporting US foreign policy … a boycott of US companies amongst minority groups becomes less likely.”  Ms. Render continued, saying “This is a very pro-US country where the old bonds arising from the US support in World War II are still recognized.”

“Let’s hope that CHANGE really happens,” wrote Fred Howald, principal of Howald & Partner PR in Bern, Switzerland. Things should get better for US brands because “the image of the US has dramatically improved.”

A more pragmatic tone was sounded by Elina Kivi of Imageneering in Helsinki, Finland. “The election of Barack Obama makes no difference in the opinion of the USA here in Finland. (Finns) are very well informed of political issues in the USA. They understand that the President of the USA can not change anything immediately.”

“Things can only get better,” explained Lutz Cleffmann, from ECCO-Duesseldorf, Germany. “American companies will benefit from that. Tourism will profit the most from the change as a lot of people didn’t travel to the USA although it was incredibly cheap.”

Ms. Lange from Frankfurt seemed to underscore Mr. Cleffmann’s comments: “A lot will depend upon President-elect Obama and his handling of the international crises. Reassurance of consumers and investors is crucial.”

But putting it best was Geerd Schlangen, a partner with Bex*Communicatie in The Netherlands who summed up the entire situation as follows:

The election of Obama will not impact our appreciation of (American) products. What it will impact, however, is the way we see America – back again as a responsible partner in the global arena and no longer the representative of big oil, big energy, big weapons and big debt. The USA must mobilize its positive energy (and) join the world in solving problems in sustainability, fair trade, fighting poverty, etc. The only country that can make a global change come true is the USA – and you’ll need the rest of the world, too.

(President-elect) Obama has the appeal and qualities to lead this change. It will be a hard, long and tough journey. First for the USA and then for the rest of the world.

Our hopes are on the USA again.

Here’s to not letting the rest of the world down.