"Let's look at what the world appreciates about us: Our youthful enthusiasm, our optimism, our diversity," says DDB's Reinhard. "And then, our negatives, which are very consistent across the world: No. 1, the perception that we are exploitative -- we take what we want, and don't give back in fair measure. Two, that we're corrupt -- we promote values that are not in concert with the social mores or religions of others. And three, that we're arrogant: We're self-absorbed, we're loud, we're rude." To fix our nation brand, Reinhard suggests we need to steal a page from Johnny Mercer: "Accentuate the positive, eliminate the negative."
Although his campaign has largely been written off as quixotic, Brand Huckabee has some unexpected merits, notably a certain self-deprecating humility that's missing from the other candidates' personas. "I was in Frankfurt a few weeks ago, at a panel about the U.S. elections hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce, and that day, the International Herald Tribune had run an article about Huckabee's sense of humor, and about how it's become such a part of his brand," says Reinhard. "And even the Germans were acknowledging, when it comes to personal style, you have to give him full marks."
Branding consultant Patricia Martin, author of "Renaissance Generation: The Rise of the Cultural Consumer," agrees: "Huckabee is what I'd call a 'compassion brand,'" she says. "He's a man of the people. He laughs, and people laugh along. He makes people feel comfortable." (On the other hand, notes Dick Martin, "Huckabee's religious demeanor gives the world pause; it's hard to underestimate the degree to which people outside of the U.S. are confused by our approach to religion. It bewilders people that more people believe in the Virgin Birth in the U.S. than in the theory of evolution.")
The ability to soften the die-cast lines of pre-scripted identity, to engage with humor and spontaneity rather than reason and rhetoric, have only belatedly become a part of Brand Clinton -- and, note commentators, perhaps too late and too halfheartedly to save her campaign. "Hillary built herself into an 'anxiety brand,' a brand that depends on uncertainty or fear to succeed; the whole appeal of familiarity and experience is rooted in this notion that the unknown is frightening," says Patricia Martin. "And when it was clear that that wasn't working, she was able to get some traction by exposing her emotions -- by laying out a little compassion. But her brand was out there so early and already established so solidly that it hasn't been enough to right the ship."
And while Clinton's aura of competence and professionalism (not to mention the global popularity of her husband) would smooth out some of the rough, clumsy edges of America's current global image, her brand would inevitably feel more like a retread than the reinvention the world is hoping for. "Even the fact that Hillary is a woman isn't going to be seen as a significant breakthrough," says Harvard Business School professor John Quelch, author of "Greater Good: How Good Marketing Makes for Better Democracy. "Many countries have already elected and been led by women, so this is simply America playing catch-up rather than a statement of change in the cultural mind-set. There's also that lurking suspicion overseas that, had she not married as she had, she wouldn't have gotten as far as she has."
Brand McCain is even more squarely planted in the "anxiety brand" space than Clinton: His straight-talking, muscular-contrarian persona (not to mention his shoot-from-the-lip rhetoric about a "hundred-year occupation" of Iraq) are designed to make him look strong, firm and unyielding in the face of challenge. The problem is that from abroad, "unyielding" looks a whole lot like "arrogant," while "maverick" translates into "unilateralist," both of which are fundamental sore points in the way America has presented itself to the world over the past eight years.
Being anointed Brand Bush's heir via endorsements from both H.W. and W. only exacerbates global fears that McCain is the same-old, same-old candidate -- accent on the "old." "For McCain, age is a brand attribute he can't control," says Mark Newsome, senior vice president and CMO of marketing agency Chernoff Newman. "He's in his 70s, and as much as that's an asset as far as experience and wisdom is concerned, he can't help being seen as the kind of status-quo patriarch that just isn't going to play in 2008 like it did eight or 10 years ago -- especially if he's up against a 46-year-old opponent."
Which brings us to the candidate that marketers universally agreed has the secret sauce that Brand America needs to regain its appeal.