New Image for America Begins at Home

Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus of an international advertising agency, now promotes the United States. (By Michel Du Cille -- The Washington Post)

With nearly 50 years in marketing, Keith Reinhard knows when a brand is in trouble. Even before the war in Iraq bred new resentment of the United States abroad, the country had developed an image problem, says Reinhard, 71, chairman emeritus of DDB Worldwide Communications Group Inc., an advertising agency with offices in 96 countries.

He says surveys taken in 17 countries in 2002 showed that people think that global U.S. businesses are exploitative, that Hollywood promotes messages that conflict with local cultural and religious values, and that Americans are materialistic, arrogant, loud and uninterested in other cultures. That is not just bad for the United States, Reinhard says, it is bad for business. So in 2004 he founded Business for Diplomatic Action, a New York-based nonprofit organization that enlists the help of U.S. corporations in bolstering the country's image abroad.

-- Christopher Lee

Q Why did you start this group?

A Looking at those [survey results] early in 2002, it seemed to me that you could attach, either directly or indirectly, all of these negative perceptions to business expansion. And that if that were the case, then why not mobilize the business community to start to address some of these perceptions? Now some of these root causes still remain. At the moment, the disagreement with U.S. policy would be a primary root cause. But, still, all of these other things can be addressed by U.S. business.

How do you change opinions?

The first point is to try to sensitize certain U.S. key constituent groups to the problem. There is still not widespread knowledge or agreement that we really have a problem with our reputation and image around the world. So with the help of the media, giving presentations, our Web site [ http://www.businessfordiplomaticaction.org ] . . . and our testimony in Congress, we're starting to sensitize people to this issue. If this were a brand in the commercial world, we would declare a crisis.

. . . The second part of our plan is to transform or change those parts of America and Americans that we can influence. . . . If the perception is that we are loud, arrogant, insensitive, ignorant -- we can change that. Americans make 60 million trips outside the United States every year. If we could make 60 million positive impressions, that would be a step in the right direction.

We have published two "World Citizens" guides. The first is for students who travel and study abroad. . . . And 300 colleges and universities have now put these in the hands of kids who are planning to study abroad. . . . That was so successful that the National Business Travel association said, "Okay, can you do an abridged version for business executives?" It's 16 reminders that are placed in the hands of executives from 800 companies who will get this as a part of their travel documents. . . .

We're trying to change the visa policies and the entry attitudes. . . . For example, we have offered Disney to help orient customs and immigration agents. Disney handles large crowds, long queues and still has a way of making people feel welcome. We're not suggesting the rules change, but that the attitude change. Word gets out, you know, "They don't want us there." The visa delays are six months in some cases.