USA, the Brand: Here's Why America is the World’s Greatest Brand
Nike’s got its swoosh, Apple’s got its bitten apple, and the United States of America has got its red, white, and blue. These symbols represent some of the greatest iconic brands. But what makes a brand, and how does it get to be great?
A brand has followers and non-followers alike. A brand creates an impression and stimulates emotion. A brand influences people, their behaviors and beliefs. Brands possess power. They provide a sense of connection and belonging. They influence, generate opinion, and impact whole societies.
Climb to the Greatest
There’s no one way to define how a brand rises to “the greatest.” Maybe it represents supreme power. Perhaps it’s the most impact on people or the quickest rise to overnight success. Maybe it’s financial superiority or society-changing innovation. Regardless, whether it’s a corporate brand, celebrity brand, service brand, activist brand, place brand, nation brand, luxury brand, cult brand, challenger brand, or global brand, to be great, the brand must be hugely recognizable and have loyal followers. Some of us are so fanatical about our brands that we tattoo their logo proudly on our body, proving our ultimate dedication and commitment.
It’s a reasonable claim, then, that the “USA brand” is truly the world’s greatest. The United States of America, Americans, our society, culture, and our symbols are the most recognizable around the world. People across the globe recognize, have an opinion about, and react to the American brand, good or bad. And there’s no question about the number of loyal followers for the great USA brand.
Brand Loyalty: Our Badges of Honor
Among the 324.3 million citizens of the United States, most of us wear badges of American citizenship proudly. We are a patriotic bunch: 62.5% of us own an American flag, 48.6% have some type of American apparel, and 9.1% of us proudly mark our vehicles with a bumper sticker shouting out our American pride.
We celebrate our patriotism loud and proud. Last year we spent over $695 million in fireworks sales to celebrate our independence on July 4th.
We celebrate our All-Americans, “The Star-Spangled Banner,” patriotism, freedom, Betsy Ross, the Declaration of Independence, democracy, the American flag, “Yankee Doddle,” the Pledge of Allegiance, the Statue of Liberty, American-made, “God Bless America,” “America the Beautiful,” baseball, hot dogs, apple pie, and the red, white, and blue!
USA . . . the greatest brand!