深夜，在纠结brand portfolio strategy，branded house (Havard, Scania), sub-brand (Porsche Cayenne), endorsed brand (Courtyard by Marriot), house of brand (P&G).branded house 和house of brand是两个极端。
看到一篇文章非常有意思，讨论美国到底是branded house还是house of brand，从一方面看，美国在国际上作为branded house，军事强国是第一形象，而在国内看，切分为各个州或者其他更小的部分是却未必跟军事挂钩，例如常春藤（IVY），例如好莱坞，例如加州。很有意思，呵呵。中国呢？还真说不好中国作为一个branded house首要定位是什么，虽然我们一直在建孔子学院，一直在宣传和谐世界，貌似西方国家总是不愿意相信与承认。Anyway，路遥知马力，总有一天看让人们看出个明白，不是么？
下面就是那篇有意思的文章
America: House of Brands or Branded House?
Wednesday, 02 July 2008
America has a troubling brand portfolio quandary. Internationally, it seems America is a branded house, with the parent brand operating from the position “military strength.” Domestically, America strikes me as a house of brands, in which each sub-brand (i.e. state) is not necessarily chained to the militaristic meaning of the American parent brand.
Within the U.S., it is not uncommon for people to associate themselves more strongly with a particular state brand rather than a national identity. People often relocate because they identify with states with favorable brand positions, relative to their identity and aspirations. This is not merely a divide between conservative politics and liberal politics. California is a perfect example in which both conservatives and liberals are willing to admit that California is, in many ways, a country of its own. It is common to see houses which fly the state flag rather than the U.S. flag.
Surely most people have a preference for state pride in the context of national identity, but how far away are we, as U.S. citizens, from placing our preference for state brands above the American brand? Will the messaging and iconography of America’s “war on terror” brand become so dominant that we will begin to see America solely as a necessary, but odious military contractor?
Much has been made of the upcoming presidential election as the potential re-launch of “brand America.” If presidential approval ratings are indicators of public opinion about America’s brand manager, we’re clearly ready for a new one.
Is it possible that the only way to fix “brand America” is to reconcile the split brand strategy we seem to have between our international and domestic positions? What ought to come first is a reformation of a national identity which we then feel confident in offering to the world.