Top American brands suffer as attitudes to US changes

by Jennifer Whitehead,, Brand Republic 11-May-04, 14:00

LONDON - Coca-Cola, McDonald's, Nike and Microsoft have all seen a decline in the number of people who trust them, according to new research on how people see America, as the world's only superpower suffers an image problem.

The NOP World survey looks at the attitudes of consumers in more than 25 countries around the world and claims to represent the views of more than 1.3bn consumers.

It found that between 2003 and 2004, trust in American brands fell from 36% to 35%, with several high-profile brands suffering badly.

Coca-Cola saw trust levels fall from 55% last time to 52% this time, while Nike's trust level was down from 56% in 2003 to 53% this year.

McDonald's, already suffering from lower levels of trust, saw a three point decline to 33% in 2004, while Microsoft, possibly suffering more from problems with its software than America's foreign policy, saw trust levels plummet by six points to 39%.

The number of consumers who said that they like American brands fell by one percentage point to 29%, while the number who said that they use American brands was down by three points to 27%, suggesting that boycotts have started to have an impact on consumer decisions.

The US has suffered some terrible publicity in recent days as its troops are found to have been guilty of degrading treatment of Iraqi prisoners, which has inflamed opinion in the already hostile Muslim world.

Comparatively, attitudes towards non-American brands appear to have remained stable.

The research firm, owned by Lord Hollick's United Business Media, said that the findings presented new challenges for global brands and that worsening attitudes toward US culture could have an impact in the marketplace.

However, it found that the basic attributes necessary for brand greatness remain the same: quality, reliability and value. Trust and honesty are possibly more important than ever, NOP said.

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