Where Do You Stand?

Thomas Friedman writes today that the selection of Barack Obama as the Democratic nominee has given more of a bump to America’s overseas image than “the entire Bush public diplomacy effort for seven years.”

He talks about how Obama’s nomination demonstrates that people still hunger for “the idea of America,” which he defines as: this open, optimistic, and, indeed, revolutionary, place so radically different from their own societies.

I would argue that this “idea of America” equals the American brand. The War on Terrorism and other political activities have impacted America’s reputation, but the American brand still lives in the hearts and minds of people around the world. Friedman argues Obama’s nomination reminds people of the America they once respected, thus improving our country’s global reputation.

Companies facing reputational attacks can learn from this lesson. With a strong brand that captures the hearts and minds of stakeholders, reputational damage can be repaired. A brand is who you are, while your reputation is current opinion based on recent behavior. If your company is suffering from reputational damage, look to your brand – the core of your organization’s being – and with bold actions make a bold statement that will demonstrate you are better than recent behavior would indicate. As Friedman argues, America has done so with the nomination of an African-American man.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 13th, 2008 at 9:41 am and is filed under Reputation Management, Branding and Positioning, Crisis Communications. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.