上海大学 2018-2019 学年秋季学期研究生课程考试评分标准
课程名称：Strategic Corporate Social Responsibility
论文题目：Global Brands as the conductors of Soft Power Strategy
学生姓名：
学号: 18760037
Albina Haidarzhi
论文主要结构及其满分占比与完成情况：
Abstract (10%)
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Introduction (5%)
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Literature review (20%)
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Topic-centered discussion (20%)
Methodology, result, strategy (20%)
Conclusion (20%)
Reference (5%)
成绩：
评语：
教师：
评阅日期：
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GLOBAL BRANDS AS THE CONDUCTORS OF SOFT POWER STRATEGY
Abstract. This article was written in order to provide analyses regarding the connection between two
congruent, yet different concepts: global brand and soft power strategy. In this paper, the author
aimed to highlight the characteristics of the approached concepts; define the role of global brands in
the implementation of SPS and study the dependence between the level of corporation performance
and the level of country’s growth; a brief literature overview and possible way of conducting research
on this issue is presented.
Key words: soft power, global brand, country image, international business.
1.
INTRODUCTION
In the conditions of intensification of economic competition between the participants of
the world economy, latent forms and methods of protection of national interests and the
strengthening of countries' competitiveness thus become more and more active. Due to the
high level of interdependence between the countries, the increase in the international status of
an individual state is achieved not because of its military strength and the possession of
nuclear weapons, but due to the sustainable economic success, ideological persuasiveness and
cultural attractiveness identified by the experts as "soft power". Therefore, the strategy of
"soft power", as a complex of intangible resources, culture, beliefs and political ideals for
influencing the population of foreign countries without involving more traditional elements of
force, including military, is one of the most important sources of foreign economic policy of
the modern state.
Nowadays government is not the only engine for soft power development and growth.
The governmental and non-governmental organizations, transnational corporations and others
now are among the main representatives of respective countries in the international relations.
Non-governmental players, for instance, business corporations and global enterprises can be
considered as power which pushes the boundaries between the countries by spreading goods
regionally and globally. Modern approach makes it available for businesses to achieve success
abroad and across cultures using the soft power tools which governments have used to
implement as the method of realization of national interests for about hundreds of years.
Hence global enterprises and relatively global brands are believed to be a system that provides
all the necessary opportunities for getting acquainted with the culture, habits, history,
religious and spiritual values of the respective state and its people, yet it is increasingly
considered as a soft power tool.
3
Such scientists as J. Nye, Keighan, R. Kohohin, A. Cohen, F. Fukuyama, J. Mettern, I.
Parmar, S. Walt, M. Fraser, Josef Joffe, Robert Kagan, Ken Waltz, Giulio Gallarotti ,Janice
Bially Mattern, Jacques Hymans, Alexander Vuving, Jan Mellisen
made a significant
contribution to the study of soft power strategy issues. Despite significant research, in-depth
analysis is important for the matter of evaluating the influence of businesses on the modern
strategies of foreign expansion of countries, in particular the strategies of soft power.
The purpose of the study is to systematize theoretical approaches and methodical tools
for implementing the soft power policies of the states and assess the practice of their
application and effectiveness in the field of international business through analyzing the
performance of global brands.
The following main tasks are defined for realization of the set goal:
- reveal the evolution of theoretical approaches and factors of the request for a strategy
of "soft power";
- define the role of corporations in the implementation of SPS as an instrument for
improving the international competitiveness of countries;
- analyze the status and trends of the development of the international business taking
into account its geospatial structure; to identify the competitive situation in the global market;
- determine the connection between corporate social responsibility strategy and methods
of soft power;
- study the dependence between the level of corporation performance and country’s
growth.
The object of research is the competitive relationship in the field of international
business. The subject of the study is the theoretical foundations and methodical tools for the
country's implementation of the strategies of the "SP" in the international business.
2.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Today mankind lives in a complex, multidimensional and interdependent world. The
use of coercion through military force against other countries is virtually impossible or at least
complicated by the review of institutional, financial, economic, environmental, etc.
restrictions. "Hard power," which we identify as "military coercion", can no longer affect the
will of individual states to achieve their goals in the struggle for strategic resources and
products. Instead, the ability to encourage, cooperate and build effective networks of relations
between states turns into a new currency in the context of global relations (Public Diplomacy,
2017).
4
In analyzing the historical dynamics of the ratio of resources of "soft" and "hard power"
in modern literature it is accepted to emphasize such a trend as reducing the importance in
international communications of "hard force" and increasing the importance of "soft power".
This is due to the fact that after the Second World War, a system of regulation of international
relations - the UN, whose main purpose - the deprivation of future generations from the
scourge of war. Since then, the priority of the state's development has been increasing its own
competitiveness with the use of mostly non-military methods. Growing value of soft power,
according to D.M. Gallarotti is also determined by circumstances such as: globalization
(characterized by the interdependence of states, the enormous speed of the transfer of
information); democratization and the spread of liberal principles (not only they themselves
are committed to "soft principles", but also limit leaders to use force, bribery); huge costs
when using nuclear weapons; the attraction to the prosperity and stability of modern Western
societies; increasing the role of international organizations, the priority of multilateralism
towards a one-way approach (Rusakova, 2013).
In the late 1980s, American political scientist Joseph Nye introduced the term soft
power as the ability of a country to persuade others to do what they do not want without force
or coercion (Nye, 2004). Today in the scientific literature there is no clarity about the meaning
of "soft power". According to Nye's concept, "soft power" can be considered as a derivative
of the three resources of the state: its culture, political ideology and foreign policy. One of the
most up-to-date variants of definitions of soft power is the consideration of this concept as a
complex multilevel system that allows the state to solve its tactical and strategic tasks in the
international arena in an official and informal direction (Sobchenko, 2017).
It is worthwhile to state that there are many variants of interpretation of "soft power" by
representatives of the world expert community. Such large nations as the People's Republic of
China, France and the United Kingdom claim that the main function of "soft power" is
enshrined in their own historical development. The shortest definition of the term "soft
power" sounds like "the ability to attract" - the ability to capture. In other words, the political
use of force, based on cultural influence and deserves trust in proposals for interstate
cooperation.
Various ways of influencing consciousness, methods of non-violent realization of power
have long been known: N. Machiavelli and French encyclopedists G. Toro and M. Gandhi, T.
Leary and R. Wilson wrote about them at various times. The achievements of J. Nye is that he
was able not only to concentrate on revealing the nature, the role and nature of "soft power,"
which played a role in the Cold War, but also to determine its truly unlimited opportunities in
the 21st century. And this work continues: as is well known, J. Nye is currently developing
5
the order of "reasonable power" for the current administration of the White House,
understanding it as "the ability to combine hard and soft power resources into successful
strategies in different contexts in successful strategies" (Rusakova, 2013).
The basis of the concept of "soft power" is the concept of "power". Attempts to explain
the relationship between people from the standpoint of force existed, probably, from the time
of the primitive order. Modern trends in world development contribute to the emergence of
new parameters of force, which earlier researchers have not focused attention. Indeed, the
modern theory and practice of international relations offers different approaches to the
definition of "power", but for the most part, "force" means the ability to strengthen its will
more weakly, thereby changing the nature of the relationship in its favor. Proponents of the
concept of political realism (R. Gilpin, D. Singer, G. Kissinger, G. Morgenthau, A. Organsky,
B. Russet, A. Wallfers, etc.) try to depict power as a certain amount that can be calculated.
Critics of realism believe that such characteristics as culture, national morality, or the quality
of diplomacy, in particular state leadership, cannot be taken into account reliably, and
calculations will be based on subjective assessments, rather than on objective, mathematically
grounded results (Nye 2004).
Leading American political analysts J. Nye and R. Kohohin explore the essence of
"force" already in the context of the structuralist approach and deduce it on the basis of ideas
developed within the framework of the theory of interdependence. They believe that the
power of the state cannot be equated to military power alone, because it constantly shifts from
one sphere.
Regardless of which strategy the state chooses to implement interstate interaction in the
political space, any of them is based on the notion of "force". Looking closer to the concept of
"soft power" and its essence, it is important to conclude that this tendency in policy-making at
the level of international life is relevant today, and its use is explained by the fact that the state,
caring for the realization of its own national interests and strengthening of competitiveness,
always conducts a search for qualitatively new resources of influence on other participants in
international economic relations.
3.
GLOBAL COROPRATIONS IN THE REALIZATION OF SOFT POWER
STRATEGY
A country’s soft power can be anything which is internationally recognized by wide
range of people on global scale. The most notable examples are tourist sites or sights that
reflect the values and culture of a particular country. Paris is famous for its romantic
6
atmosphere, fashion and Eiffel Tower. America has Hollywood as well London speaks about
Shakespeare.
But recently, the term soft power has also taken its place in the business world. Rapid
development of technology industry changed the consumer mindset. Nowadays customers can
easily get necessary information about any products and make comparison due to the power
of the Internet. Customer’s evaluation cycle has modified a lot; any potential buyer is able to
make his decision for minutes or seconds. Lately ecommerce is growing fast, user penetration
in 2018 hits 54.9% 2018 and is expected to reach 60.9% by 2022. Revenue in the ecommerce
market amounts to 1,785,733 million dollars in 2018 (US$636,087m in 2018 is generated in
China), when average revenue per user currently amounts to US$633.69 (The Statistical
Portal, 2018). If your product is not attractive for the customer right now, it means you have
lost your potential client forever. Retailers and brands realize that customer satisfaction is a
short-term benefit when customer loyalty is the core value of company’s success that matters.
That is why only soft power knows how to cope with that problem. Transparency, empathy,
trust, loyalty, service, value for money and care & concern for one’s community are one of
the main points which make a consumer be loyal to any brand.
Branded products require a certain level of customer loyalty, expressed in the fact that
consumers are more likely refuse to buy or postpone it, than agree to purchase unbranded
counterpart. A brand is a trademark, but not every trademark is a brand, since only that brand
becomes the brand and that trademark a sign that are highlighted by the public consciousness
and secured in it.
Some companies demonstrate their empathy, social intelligence and care a bit more than
others and there are companies that appear to use force, deception and terror as business
strategies. These days, as consumers become increasingly socially mindful of the products
they buy, companies with less socially empathic reputations are being forced to re-evaluate
the very basis of their business operations (Hall G, 2015). Customers love companies who
show they care. In 2017 company «CustomerThermometr» conveyed research about the main
reasons why customers choose to stay connected with their favorite brands. All of the top 5
reasons customers gave for feeling a connection with a brand are to do with caring. Caring
about me, caring about the world, understanding me, being like me, being made to feel
special. Brands are crucial in keeping connection and establish communication with their
consumers. As we can see, soft power mostly concerns the emotional constituent of a brand
(like personality, identity), as opposed to its functional part.
Enlarging and developing connection with customers for brands is equally as important
as developing the product or service proposed to them. With help of soft power tools, it’s far
7
cheaper, faster and simpler to do. A company can only develop this “soft power” by creating
and strengthening two-way communication with them by consumers. Through this
communication, it will be able to take into account individual requests of each. Thus, a
modern organization there is a need to create information and communication structure, which
turns into one of the links of the business process. The latest communication technologies
facilitate and accelerate the process of interaction between people and increase labor
productivity, create additional socio-economic effects. Speaking about communication, the
core element of reaching any of target audiences is using broadcasting which is the highlight
of competitive advantages of respective brands. It is trust that is the “soft power” that
encourages and create confidence in it consumers to make a choice in favor of a product
known reputable company.
We see that soft power can create a favorable image for company which is serious about
its performance and operates according to established communication with its clients when
meeting their need and wants.
What about role of global brands on a global scale? With huge soft power in the form of
global brands, multinational corporations can make an enormous contribution to promoting a
nation’s image. For example, a single company can often speak of its country: Japan is Sony,
Germany is Mercedes, Sweden is IKEA, Finland is Nokia, and so on. IKEA's colors, yellow
and blue, are the colors of the Swedish flag. Humorous ads feature Swedes, and almost every
advertisement includes a reindeer as a reminder of the origin of the campaign. IKEA stores
serve Swedish meatballs and sell books about Sweden. Stores incorporate Swedish culture
and traditions. In this case corporate brand is considered to be a brand of the nation, it’s
believed that any powerful brand is the ambassador for a country’s image in the world, hence
a country’s soft power tool (Candace, 2012). In the book «Trading Identities» by Wally Olins
was mentioned that firms should act like companies, whereas global companies, companies
that function in foreign markets, represent a state within a state, so they have to take on
different responsibilities. Company’s brands also have their obligations, if they produce goods
or provide services which create a negative image of its country, this will also reflect in the
perception of the brands originating from there, irrespective of their true quality. There is a
so-called feedback, when a brand is associated with a country that enjoys a positive image, it
will gain acceptance more easily. A quality cultural product and a number of powerful
multinational brands are decisive in generating a long lasting effect in nation branding. Soft
power and nation branding are two tightly related conceptions .Well-known international
brands can have a huge impact on the consciousness and culture of consumers. Google, Apple,
McDonald’s, Microsoft, clothes of different famous fashion brands become both
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representatives of their countries of origin and create history by their own definitions of
company missions and corporate culture. Quality products are the material embodiment of
spiritual potential of country of its origin. Compared with Nye’s notion of soft power through
public diplomacy, nation branding provides a more focused, culturally unbiased and more
useful approach to creating international influence in the world.
4. METHODOLOGY
By research methodology used for writing the article, it can be said that the it is mainly
based on summing up all suitable methods and techniques used for collecting and processing
empirical data and information, respectively to comparing, observing, sorting, and analyzing
data. Based on the fact that both of examined concepts are hard to be judged due to the lack of
exact statistic information, it is worthy saying that it is extremely difficult to evaluate both the
effectiveness of "soft power" and brand influence. However this does not reduce the
importance of studying this issue. In virtue of their nature, the phenomenon of the brand and
soft power respectively is investigated in different ways. In this work, we use our own
approach based on the following research methods used: observation and inference,
combination of logical and historical, analysis and synthesis, comparative analyses etc. In the
center of the documentary research addressed in the present article lie general elements
belonging to global branding and country soft power strategy. Informational base of the
present paper is represented by the research results, by the performed studies and by other
editorial sources exhibited in periodicals.
4.1 SOFT POWER
To assess the prospects of SPS implementation in order to increase the international
competitiveness of countries from prospect of global branding concept, we will first analyze
the results of international ratings of the respective direction.
It is advisable to appeal to The Soft Power methodological tool developed by the
Portland Strategic Advisory Service, which cooperates with governments, foundations and
non-governmental organizations to effectively communicate with them in the global audience.
"Soft Power" now combines over 75 indicators, including objective data and international
surveys. If J. Nye defines culture, political ideals and politics as the three pillows of the soft
power of the country, Portland's representatives, based on Nye's assumption, in addition to
these three main areas, include more diversified statistics (Public Diplomacy, 2018).
Objective data of soft power research consists of a number of different sources and is
divided into the following: government, culture, global engagement, education, digital
9
technologies and entrepreneurship. Taking into account the information, we emphasize that
among these indexes the achievements and the volume of global brands has its own
importance for building soft power. The indexes as Enterprise sub-index and Digital subindex are believed to be most related to the influence of global brands on the image of the
country in general. According to the methodology, this sub-indexes aim to capture the relative
attractiveness of a country’s economic model in terms of its competitiveness, capacity for
innovation, and ability to foster enterprise and commerce. Economic might is more associated
with hard power, but a country’s economic attributes can make a significant contribution to its
soft power as well. Core elements of a nation’s economy like ease of doing business,
corruption levels, and start up costs for a new business all play a role in how a country is seen
from outside. The Digital sub-index brings an important new component to the measure of
soft power. The ways that technology has transformed everyday life over the last two decades
is hard to over-exaggerate. Media, commerce, government, politics, and our daily social
interaction have all changed with technology. The inclusion of a Digital sub-index aims to
capture the extent to which countries have embraced technology, how well they are connected
to the digital world, and their use of digital diplomacy through social media platforms (Public
Diplomacy, 2018). Except objective data, there is subjective data which is measured. The
polling provides data on international perceptions based on the most common "touch points"
through which people interface with foreign countries. The survey consists of a series of
questions translated into the main language of each country by native speakers, using numeric
answering scale (0 to 10). Among the list of questions, two of them have direct connection
with the performance of global brands: 1) perceptions of technology products of foreign
countries; 2) perceptions of luxury goods produced by foreign countries. As we mentioned
before, the global brands have power to form the consumer’s mind, so that they will transfer
its attributes to the brands emerging from that specific territory. Soft Power Ranking
calculates the level of favorability of foreign countries and we assume that the global brands
have their own contribution to the final results.
We will analyze the results of international ratings of the respective direction.
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Figure 1.
Year by year comparison of Soft Power Strategy by top 30 countries
UP W A RD M O VE R
DO W N W A R D M O V E R
NO MO V E R
NEW E NT RY
R
E- E N T R Y
Note. Reprinted from «The Soft Power 30», 2018, A global ranking of Soft Power 2018,
retrieved from: https://softpower30.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/The-Soft-Power-30-Report2018.pdf
As we can see the top 5 list of countries with most successful Soft Power Strategy in
2018 consists of UK, France, Germany, USA and Japan respectively. The leading positions
of UK, France and Germany is mostly explained by Engagement, Culture, Education l subindices, in particular spreading f their influence and cultivating soft power, through cultural
and educational engagement. Independent from the government art, film, music, fashion, and
sport continue to flourish in highly competitive global markets. Importantly, the UK had a
major soft power event in 2018 the Royal Wedding of Prince Harry to Meghan Markle.
Nearly two billion people around the world tuned in to watch the wedding, a testament to the
royal family’s enduring appeal and international reach.
France continues to find its greatest soft power strength in global engagement, due to its
vast diplomatic network and Germany is the main player and maintaining power for European
Union.
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Speaking about the performance of USA in this ranking, we must admit that America is
a home to some of the largest tech companies in the world, including Amazon, Apple,
Facebook, Google, and Microsoft, as well as numerous start-ups in Silicon Valley and tech
hubs across the country. The US also saw an improved performance in the Enterprise subindex, a testament to its innovative culture. With the emergence of newer players such as
Netflix, who have leveraged the intersection between media and tech, we are likely to see US
culture, innovation, and technology continue to thrive for years to come.
The household names such as Toyota and Sony, continue to serve as daily reminders of
Japan’s pervasive influence worldwide. This is very much reflected in the polling results,
where Japan performs consistently well across all categories (Public Diplomacy, 2018).
Some of the countries listed above have bigger dependence on the role of global brands
in their soft power strategy than others due to the possession of different resources which can
make their soft power thrive. The biggest influence is observed by the brands which present
technology industry or innovative sectors.
4.2 GLOBAL BRANDING
In order to analyze global brands in terms of global influence, we turn to the Forbes
rating for 2018. Forbes is one of the most influential and respected modern magazines, which
publishes an objective assessment of the business environment and various ratings, including
the rating of global brands that are popular throughout the world. This rating is based on the
financial performance of each brand and highlights the information of a brand by country,
industry, gains. Forbes rating also contains important information in terms of the financial
costs of maintaining the “soft power” of brands, namely digital data on advertising budgets.
Top - 100 Global Brands Ranking by Forbes, 2018
Table 1.
№
Brand Name
Brand Value
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
Apple
Google
Microsoft
Facebook
Amazon
Coca-Cola
Samsung
Disney
Toyota
AT&T
McDonald's
GE
Mercedes-Benz
Intel
Louis Vuitton
Cisco
IBM
$182.8 B
$132.1 B
$104.9 B
$94.8 B
$70.9 B
$57.3 B
$47.6 B
$47.5 B
$44.7 B
$41.9 B
$41.4 B
$37.2 B
$34.4 B
$34.1 B
$33.6 B
$32.4 B
$32.1 B
Brand
Revenue
$228.6 B
$97.2 B
$98.4 B
$35.7 B
$169.3 B
$23.4 B
$203.4 B
$30.4 B
$176.4 B
$160.5 B
$90.9 B
$104.9 B
$116.9 B
$62.8 B
$12.9 B
$48.1 B
$79.1 B
Company
Advertising
$5.1 B
$1.5 B
$324 M
$6.3 B
$4 B
$4.5 B
$2.6
$3.8 B
$3.8 B
$533 M
$1.4 B
$5.4 B
$209 M
$1.4 B
Countries
Industry
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
South Korea
USA
Japan
USA
USA
USA
Germany
USA
France
USA
USA
Technology
Technology
Technology
Technology
Technology
Beverages
Technology
Leisure
Automotive
Telecom
Restaurants
Diversified
Automotive
Technology
Luxury
Technology
Technology
12
Table 1 (continued).
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
NIKE
Verizon
BMW
Oracle
Marlboro
SAP
Honda
Budweiser
Walmart
Visa
American Express
Pepsi
L'Oréal
Nescafé
Gillette
The Home Depot
Starbucks
Hermes Paris
Gucci
Audi
Accenture
ESPN
IKEA
Frito-Lay
Ford
Wells Fargo
UPS
CVS Pharmacy
ZARA
H&M
Siemens
MasterCard
HP
J.P. Morgan
HSBC
Nestlé
Fox Broadcasting Company
Netflix
Chevrolet
Pampers
Porsche
Cartier
Bank of America
Red Bull
eBay
Sony
Chase
Citigroup
Colgate
Danone
Adidas
Lexus
Nissan
Rolex
T-Mobile
Kraft
Corona
Hyundai
Santander
BASF
Lowe's
Huawei
Adobe
FedEx
Heineken
Goldman Sachs
Kellogg's
Boeing
Costco
$32 B
$31.4 B
$31.4 B
$30.8 B
$26.6 B
$26.2 B
$25.5 B
$25.5 B
$24.9 B
$24.5 B
$23.1 B
$18.4 B
$17.2 B
$17.1 B
$17.1 B
$16.4 B
$16.2 B
$15.3 B
$14.9 B
$14.8 B
$14.8 B
$14.6 B
$14.5 B
$14.4 B
$14.1 B
$13.5 B
$13.3 B
$13.2 B
$13 B
$13 B
$12.8 B
$12.4 B
$12.4 B
$11.9 B
$11.9 B
$11.7 B
$11.7 B
$11.5 B
$11.5 B
$11.4 B
$11B
$10.6 B
$10.4 B
$10.4 B
$10.3 B
$10.2 B
$10.2 B
$10.1 B
$10 B
$10 B
$9.5 B
$9.5 B
$9.4 B
$9.3 B
$9 B
$8.8 B
$8.8 B
$8.7 B
$8.7 B
$8.6 B
$8.5 B
$8.4 B
$8.3 B
$8.3 B
$8.2 B
$8.2 B
$8.2 B
$8.1 B
$8 B
$33.3 B
$126 B
$86.8 B
$39.5 B
$25.4 B
$120.4 B
$11.6 B
$335.5 B
$18.4 B
$35.6 B
$9.7 B
$10.1 B
$9.1 B
$6.6 B
$100.9 B
$21.9 B
$6 B
$6.7 B
$59.1 B
39.1 B
$11.4 B
$39.3 B
$11.4 B
$149.3 B
$97.7 B
$65.9 B
$184.8 B
$18.9 B
$22.5 B
$90 B
$12.5 B
$80.9 B
$47.4 B
$76.6 B
$8.6 B
$16.3 B
$11.7 B
$81 B
$8.5 B
$25.5 B
$6.3 B
$81.7 B
$6.8 B
$8.6 B
$62.8 B
$55.1 B
$88 B
$5.3 B
$10.6 B
$20.6 B
$20.7 B
$95.2 B
$4.6 B
$38.7 B
$6.5 B
$5.7 B
$81.8 B
$49.5 B
$69.9 B
$68.6 B
$85.9 B
$7.3 B
$63.9 B
$5.6 B
$42.3 B
$5.8 B
$93.4 B
$136 B
$3.3 B
$2.6 B
$95 M
$859 M
$3.1 B
$3.2 B
$2.4 B
$8 B
$7.1 B
$797 M
$283 M
$298 M
$80 M
$2.6 B
$2.4 B
$4.1 B
$614 M
$230 M
$898 M
$544 M
$2.9 B
$2.2 B
$1.1 B
$4.3 B
$7.1 B
$1.7 B
$1.3 B
$3.1 B
$2.9 B
$1.6 B
$1.6 B
$2.3 B
$3.8 B
$2.6 B
$1.8 B
$629 M
$2.1 B
$820 M
$968 M
$142 M
$458 M
$731 M
-
USA
USA
Germany
USA
USA
Germany
Japan
USA
USA
USA
USA
USA
France
Switzerland
USA
USA
USA
France
Italy
Germany
USA
USA
Sweden
USA
USA
USA
USA
Spain
Sweden
Sweden
Germany
Usa
Usa
Usa
UK
Switzerland
USA
USA
USA
USA
Germany
France
USA
Austria
USA
Japan
Japan
USA
USA
France
Germany
Japan
Japan
Switzerland
Germany
USA
Belgium
South Korea
Spain
Germany
USA
China
USA
USA
Netherlands
USA
USA
USA
USA
Apparel
Telecom
Automotive
Technology
Tobacco
Technology
Automotive
Alcohol
Retail
Financial Services
Financial Services
Beverages
Consumer Packaged Goods
Beverages
Consumer Packaged Goods
Retail
Restaurants
Luxury
Luxury
Automotive
Business Services
Media
Retail
Consumer Packaged Goods
Automotive
Financial Services
Transportation
Retail
Retail
Retail
Diversified
Financial Services
Technology
Financial Services
Financial Services
Consumer Packaged Goods
Media
Technology
Automotive
Consumer Packaged Goods
Automotive
Luxury
Financial Services
Beverages
Technology
Technology
Financial Services
Financial Services
Consumer Packaged Goods
Consumer Packaged Goods
Apparel
Automotive
Automotive
Luxury
Telecom
Consumer Packaged Goods
Alcohol
Automotive
Financial Services
Diversified
Retail
Technology
Technology
Transportation
Alcohol
Financial Services
Consumer Packaged Goods
Aerospace
Retail
13
Table 1 (continued).
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
Chanel
Lancome
Nivea
Volkswagen
LEGO
Panasonic
Philips
RBC
Allianz
Uniqlo
Walgreens
PayPal
Dell
KFC
Cumulative value
$8 B
$8 B
$7.9 B
$7.9 B
$7.8 B
$7.8 B
$7.7 B
$7.7 B
$7.6 B
$7.5 B
$7.5 B
$7.5 B
$7.5 B
$7.4 B
$2.15 TN
$5.6 B
$5.3 B
$4.7 B
$99.6 B
$5.1 B
$68.4 B
$26.8 B
$37.4 B
$37.4 B
$13 B
$84.7 B
$13.1 B
$76.8 B
$24.5 B
$5.6 TN
$8 B
$1.6 B
$1 B
$608 M
$571 M
$438 M
$245 M
$142,9 B*
France
France
Germany
Germany
Denmark
Japan
Netherlands
Canada
Germany
Japan
USA
USA
USA
USA
Luxury
Consumer Packaged Goods
Consumer Packaged Goods
Automotive
Leisure
Technology
Diversified
Financial Services
Financial Services
Apparel
Retail
Technology
Technology
Restaurants
Note. Retrieved from: https://www.roberthalf.com.au/blog/employers/3-awesome-csr-initiativestop-tech-companies
Figure 2.
The geographical structure of global brands leaders in 2018
3
2
2
1
3
7
54
8
12
USA
Germany
Japan
France
Switzerland
Sweden
Korea
Netherlands
Spain
UK
Denmark
Austria
Belgium
China
Canada
Italy
The total advertising costs of 63 global brands are about 142,9 billion dollars. The
actual costs are a few times higher, as some companies do not disclose the information about
the amount of money used for advertising purpose. The total value of the global brands of the
Forbes rating for 2018, according to the publication, reaches 2,15 trillion dollars, and the
profit generated by them is 5.6 trillion dollars. The costs listed above prove that brands put
efforts to maintain their globality, success and "soft power". The 100 most expensive brands
cover 16 countries of origin, divided into 20 sectors of the economy: consumer goods,
beverages, alcohol, tobacco, restaurants, diversified business, automotive, heavy engineering,
oil and gas sector, aerospace, luxury goods, entertainment, retail, clothing, technology,
communications, media, financial services, transportation services, business services. 20% of
the companies offered in this rating list operate in the technology industry, 15 out of 20 are
represented by American brands. At least one American company is represented in each of the
industry listed in the rating.
14
Brands from the USA form more than half of the list – 54 out of 100, then follow:
Germany - 12, Japan – 8, France -7 , Great Britain, Sweden, Switzerland - 3, South Korea,
Netherlands, Spain - 2 global brands each; UK, Denmark, Austria, Belgium, China, Canada,
Italy- 1 brand respectively. Thus one hundred of the most expensive and successful global
brands belong only to 16 countries of the world, which means that these countries unique
influence and additional sources of “soft” strategy to the rest of the world.
5.
RESULTS
In order to determine if there is any connection between the status of the brand in the
world and the country it represents, it makes sense to combine the indicators of two ratings,
namely the Forbes rating and the Soft Power rating for 2018. Since global brands are mainly
represented by 16 countries from around the world, we decided to analyze their positions in
the Soft Power 30 Rating. The countries from Forbes Ranking are listed in descending order
based on the quantity of brands each country possesses when Soft Power General represents
the place of each country in top 30.
Table 2.
The comparison table of lead countries ranking in Forbes and Soft Power 30
№ in
Forbes
Forbes ranking
Soft Power General
Ranking 2018
№ in Soft
Power 30
1
2
3
4
5
5
6
6
6
7
7
7
7
7
7
7
USA
Germany
Japan
France
Switzerland
Sweden
Korea
Netherlands
Spain
UK
Denmark
Austria
Belgium
China
Canada
Italy
UK
France
Germany
USA
Japan
Canada
Switzerland
Sweden
Netherlands
Denmark
Italy
Spain
Belgium
Austria
Korea
China
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
11
12
14
16
17
20
27
In particular, in table1it is indicated that all of the leading global brands distributed by
country by Forbes were identified in Soft Power General Rating. Each representative, to be
exact, 16 countries of 30, took the leading positions and entered top 30 in terms of the "Soft
Power 2018" ranking. Relying on information we obtained, 100% of countries covered in
brand value evaluation are considered to be the most powerful «soft» countries. In our opinion,
this analysis is proof of the importance of the contribution of global brands to the
15
development of "soft power" as a strategy and in overall determining of the impact of
countries through the usage "soft" tools. Hence we assume that global branding, along with
others tools of soft power, creates opportunities for fair competition between countries for a
place in the global arena.
VIII. GLOBAL BRANDS, SOFT POWER AND CSR
The 21st century makes its own changes in aspects of the development of the global
economy, which is reflected in consumer behavior and the company's strategy as a whole. It is
important to note that the buyer fulfills his requirements for the product offered by the seller
with the pass of time. A recent Cone Communications survey found that 87% of consumers
are apt to purchase a product if the company supports something it cares about. People began
expecting companies to address social problems which are linked to what the produce and
how they sell their product. Consumers are about engaging with brands which are able to
make differences and answer the issues people concern about. Hence it has a tight connection
with Corporate Strategy Responsibility or CSR. CSR is usually associated with big companies,
not small businesses, as bigger ones have all the opportunities to make changes. Consumers
don’t demand that local companies to cope with global warming, but they expect global giants
like Google, Shell and others to contribute to the world sustainability.
Corporate responsibility is a chance to show the world that a company cares about
environmental and social problems while building loyalty among the consumers. Brand
loyalty is directly connected with establishing of stable client base that purchase more often,
make your business profitable and advocates for your brand. As customers, we understand
that people make a particular purchase because they like the way that purchase makes them
feel. The findings by Ching-Wei Ho showed that when consumers evaluate whether to
patronize a retailer again, and pay a premium price for a CSR retailer, the path of CSR
associations via C-R love play a more important role than other paths. Therefore, at the store
level and the product level, managers should focus on developing their retailer’s CSR
activities, with regard to the protection of the consumers’ society, and help customers who
shop at their store recognize who they are as people, to satisfy self-definitional and selfexpressive needs, ultimately achieving re-patronage of the store and willingness to pay for
premium priced products. A strategically developed CSR program is a way to increase
brand’s authority among consumers and a possible way to establish an emotional connection
between the customer and company (Ching-Wei Ho, 2017). Regarding to the CSR as a tool of
creating attractiveness and making consumers voluntary contribute to a particular brand, we
can also speak of Corporate Responsibility as an instrument of Soft Power Strategy whether it
16
is the power on the framework of country’s or company’s image. Deloitte Global Human
Capital Trends 2018 Report mentions: “Organizations are no longer assessed based only on
traditional metrics such as financial performance, or even the quality of their products or
services. Rather, organizations today are increasingly judged on the basis of their
relationships with their workers, their customers, and their communities, as well as their
impact on society at large—transforming them from business enterprises into social
enterprises.” According to Cone Global CSR Study 2015: “Global consumers consider a
company’s CSR commitments when they look to which companies they want doing business
in their communities (84%), where to seek employment (79%) and what investments to make
(67%).” “52% of consumers assume a company is not acting responsibly until they see or hear
evidence to prove otherwise. This only further demonstrates that companies should not take
anything for granted. Organizations must put key CSR efforts front and center through
communication, or else more than half of consumers globally will assume the worst. An
example of successful CSR campaign is Google’s “doing good”. According to Forbes
Ranking, Google is the second most valuable brand in the world in 2018. Google has CSR at
the centre of their corporate principles, and they also have an active corporate philanthropy
program to boot. From a business perspective, there’s Google Green and Google Energy,
which have committed more than $1 billion towards renewable energy projects. The company
also claims that it uses only 50 per cent of the energy of most other data centres. Except that,
the company claims that it is able to deliver socially-beneficial technologies such as Google
Person Finder, which helps reconnect people in the wake of major disasters.
CSR has a bigger power if it’s directly connected to the corporate brand. Brands can be
influential in prospects of making differences in understanding how to use products, what
motivations and values impact this use. All of the three concepts, CSR, global brands and soft
power, attempt to improve their relationship with the public using all the possible methods to
create an attractive image. This is why they have the similar roots and purposes and this is
what unites and complements three of them.
CONCLUSION
In the late 1980s, American political scientist Joseph Nye introduced the term soft
power as the ability of a country to persuade others to do what they do not want without force
or coercion. Lately this concept turned into the strategy and found its explanation in the
development of global economical and social processes.
As stated in this article, with such tools as a global brand, soft power acquires new
forms of development, which plays a certain role in creating a country's reputation as of a
17
powerful and independent structure. Multinational companies can play a key role in
promoting a nations image. Such powerful brands are the contributors to a country’s
economic and politic stability as their impact isn’t anyhow limited and can reach the
representatives of different cultures and nations.
Each country uses the advantages of soft power differently, as each has diverse
resources that can enable the increasing of its chances of gaining recognition from the world
community. This article presented an approach that connects the concept of the existence of
global brands and their possible impact on the implementation of the soft power strategy of a
country. Soft power and global brands are two closely linked concepts, as all countries which
are one of the most successful within the framework of using the advantages of the strategy of
soft power, are leaders in the number of the most influential global brands in the world. Based
on that fact, we also can assume that the strategy of soft power, as well as the concept of a
global brand, can be maintained only by developed countries, since they have more resources
and opportunities to support their image with help of such a method of competition as soft
power.
In closing, several important key areas for further research are identified which are not
only suggested by the findings but also address limitations inherent in the research presented
in the course of this thesis.
Because of the unique nature of two concepts, global brands and soft power strategy, the
findings should be treated with caution. As there is no precise statistical information
according to this topic, the results we have are based on the assumption that there is a positive
correlation between the success of the global brand as well as the positive image of the
country. Further research should investigate various ways to proof the link between these
ideas. As soft power is a rather new form of expressing the country’s uniqueness and its own
method of soft war for a place in the global arena, only experience can show which
components will dominate the future of SPS and will have a lasting impact on the
development of any country.
18
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