Growing Worldwide Rejection of US Brands Threatens US Companies; Global Communication Expert Counsels US Businesses on Regaining Advantage Through Brand Globalization

American executives are increasingly concerned about the global market for many of their brands. In an article in the December American Executive Magazine, Global Communications Expert Josef Blumenfeld explores the threats facing American brands and offers strategic counsel on globalizing those brands as a buffer against continued anti-US sentiment. Blumenfeld has experience managing PR/Communications in 28 countries worldwide.

Boston, MA (PRWEB) December 14, 2005 -– In an article in the current issue of American Executive, global communications expert Josef Blumenfeld, founder of consulting firm Tradewind Strategies, provides American business executives important strategies that will enable them to sustain their leadership in the global marketplace – a position that many US brands could soon lose to foreign competitors.

“It’s clear that the world’s passion for American brands has been tempered,” Blumenfeld writes in the December issue of American Executive, published by RedCoat Publishing, Inc. “In some countries, double-digit percentages of the population actively boycott American brands.” Blumenfeld sites examples from US publications and other research that illustrate the striking rejection of American brands by consumers in France, Germany, Canada, China and Japan.

America’s global competition is “taking advantage of this decline in favorability and some are emerging as impressive global players,” Blumenfeld warns. “When an American brand’s leadership appears vulnerable, foreign competitors know how to grab marketshare.” The slow economic recovery in the US requires that many American companies look overseas since “global markets may be the only opportunity for growth.” Blumenfeld adds, “Many American companies are rightfully concerned about their global staying power. There are important strategies to strengthen their brands that these companies should adopt now.”

Blumenfeld warns against the current tendency of American companies to overemphasize local market-specific connections, effectively fragmenting these immensely valuable brands by “giving the local arm of a company too much autonomy.” He adds, “A country manager should not be the shepherd of a global brand.” In order to maintain global leadership, Blumenfeld advises that American businesses emerge as a global brand, rather than an American one. “A globalized American brand can connect with the global marketplace” and insulate itself from growing anti-American sentiment. “The end of an iconic American brand is not without precedent,” he cautions in this article.

“The global marketplace expects nothing less” than truly globalized brands,” Blumenfeld concludes. “By emerging as a global brand, rather than an American one, US products can continue to compete in the global marketplace.”

About Tradewind Strategies
Tradewind Strategies was founded by Josef Blumenfeld, a strategic communications professional with experience managing PR agencies and programs in 28 countries on six continents. As international markets continue to grow in importance, there is a growing need for experienced, global communications professionals. With offices in Boston and Beijing, Tradewind Strategies enables companies to identify international marketing resources and to expand their public relations and communications programs into these new and growing international markets. Clients have including global PR agencies, corporate global giants such as Wal-Mart and Philips, and smaller companies – both in the US, as well as in international markets. Blumenfeld has been quoted in worldwide press, including Fortune, The New York Times, Asian Wall Street Journal, China Business, Xinhua, Globo (Brazil), Media (Hong Kong), UPI, CMO, PR Magazin (Germany), and Inc. More information can be found at www.tradewindstrategies.com.

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