Rehabilitating Brand America was the theme of an expansive, multi-presenter session at Advertising Week New York on Wednesday, including a panel of PR and reputation leaders. Keith Reinhard, chairman emeritus of DDB opened with recent data from the Pew Research Center that shows US favorability around the world has dropped from 64% to 48%, and un-favorability has grown from 26% to 39%. [...] Trump is perhaps more the symptom than the disease, according to the panel of PR leaders. 

U.S. News and World Report’s 2017 “Best Countries Ranking” was released earlier this month and it hit the United States in the gut. The survey of 21,362 people from 36 countries across the globe ranks the world’s largest countries on a set of 65 attributes ranging from “most business friendly” to “best to visit” to “richest traditions.” America slipped from #4 in the previous ranking to #7 in the current report.

Donald Trump was a master at branding in his business career, but he seems to have left those skills in New York. In just a month in Washington, the president has significantly damaged the American brand abroad, in ways that could harm U.S. interests for years. America is not perfect in the eyes of the world. But it is different — and it is seen to be different. Since President Woodrow Wilson framed our entry into World War I as necessary to make the world safe for democracy, American leadership in advancing democratic ideals and global prosperity has been second to none.

As President-elect Donald Trump continues making his picks of US officials, including the controversial announcement on Friday of Ambassador to Israel David Friedman, his upset poll victory is still sending shock waves around the world. [...] The continued shock at Trump’s election, and some of his early decisions and appointments, threatens to potentially damage the reputation of the United States (so-called ‘Brand America’) internationally. 

The US remains deeply popular around the world, as soft power and branding are used as tools of cultural imperialism.