U.S. brands becoming more 'likeable'

McDonald's, Coca-Cola are among American brands that are back in favor with global consumers.
NEW YORK -- U.S. brands, which have been on the receiving end of anti-American backlash overseas, are beginning to enjoy a resurgence in their "likeability" among global consumers.
This was the finding in the latest brand perception study from market research consultancy Gfk NOP. The study tracked consumer attitudes to top global brands in 25 countries.
Last year's report showed these brands were losing their luster in markets outside of the United States because of a backlash against all things American.
But U.S. brands have rebounded since then, said Jennifer James, consultant with Gfk NOP.
"There was some apathy for U.S. brands over the past two years. That's stabilized and we're seeing renewed interest in these brands," James said.
According to the Brand Power Study, which looked at a mix of 60 American and international brands, half of the 33 U.S. brands listed showed year-over-year increases in scores based on three key attributes important to consumers: familiarity, likeability and the likelihood that consumers would tell others good things about the brand.
Likeability scores increased for Coca-Cola (Charts) and McDonald's (Charts) in 2006 versus declines for both brands a year ago.
Other companies that performed well were MTV, Google (Charts), Yahoo (Charts) and MSN.
James said the revived interest in consumer products brands is partly driven by emerging markets for American products in China and India.
Moreover, she credits media and new media companies like MTV, National Geographic, Google and Yahoo for setting an example on how to become truly "borderless" brands.
Most of these brands have incorporated local flavor into their marketing and product offerings in their foreign markets because they want to be universally appealing rather than perceived to be projecting American culture, she said.
However, Ford, Disney, CNN, and Microsoft (Charts) were some of the brands that suffered declining scores.
CNN is a division of Time Warner (Charts), parent company of CNNMoney.com.
Besides catering to the local market, the report said American companies can boost their brand performance overseas by committing to product and service innovation and developing a brand identity that's promotes universal values like "enjoying life," "having fun," creativity" and "excitement."
The study was conducted between Nov. 2005 and January 2006 and based on a total of 30,000 interviews with consumers between the ages of 13 and 65.