::Wednesday, May 26, 2004::
THE FALL OF U.S. BRANDS
..It is simplistic to attribute what is happening in Iraq to the flagging popularity of U.S. brands. Globalization changed the calculus of Free Trade and forced local and indigenous companies to be competitive in order to beat the corporate behemoths that have become symbols of American economic dominance such as McDonalds. The sagging sales reflect smart marketing and positioning by local companies in going after their market and serving their wants and needs. Globalization has never been about improving markets and helping less developed countries. It is about getting access to foreign markets in order to tap into cheap sources of raw materials and labor capital. This first-world country strategy championed by the U.S. has backfired and is the beginning of the end of Free Trade as we know it.
