The rise of protectionism as a governing principle among major economies is creating a new layer of complexity for organisations building or maintaining brands across multiple markets. Country of origin — historically a background fact about a business — has become a strategic variable that affects how brands are received, trusted, and commercially valued in international markets.
This is not a theoretical risk. Organisations with strong associations with specific national identities are finding that those associations carry different weight in different markets depending on the current state of trade relationships. What reads as heritage and credibility in one market reads as foreign or politically complicated in another.
For organisations operating across borders, the trade environment creates several specific challenges for brand strategy.
The origin question. Where a brand is perceived to come from affects how it is received. Organisations headquartered in countries with strained trade relationships in target markets need to consider how they communicate their identity — whether to emphasise global operations, local presence, or international credentials rather than national origin.
The credibility question. In some sectors and markets, association with specific national identities carries a premium. In others, the same association creates friction. Understanding which dynamic applies in each target market is a prerequisite for brand strategy, not a refinement of it.
The consistency question. Organisations that adapt their positioning too aggressively to local political conditions risk creating a brand that is incoherent across its markets. The goal is not to appear as a different organisation in every country, but to present the same organisation in a way that is relevant and credible in each context.
The relationship between national brand and organisational brand is not one-directional. Just as country-of-origin affects how an organisation is perceived, the cumulative reputation of the organisations operating within a country contributes to its national brand. Saudi Arabia's Vision 2030 and the UAE's diversification agenda are attempting to reshape national brand positioning through exactly this logic — creating conditions for internationally credible organisations to develop and associate the country's brand with innovation, openness, and performance rather than resource dependency.
For organisations operating in or from these markets, this creates a genuine opportunity: to be part of a national brand that is in active construction, rather than inheriting the limitations of an established one.
Brand strategy for internationally operating organisations needs to account for geopolitical context more deliberately than it has historically. This means building positioning that is grounded in what the organisation does, not where it comes from. It means developing a credible international narrative — based on track record, client relationships, and demonstrated capability — that holds across markets regardless of the current state of trade relationships between countries.
It also means understanding which elements of national identity are genuinely part of the brand's value proposition, and which are incidental associations that can be de-emphasised without loss of credibility.
Jpd works with organisations navigating exactly this kind of complexity — building brands that are coherent, credible, and commercially effective across multiple markets and geopolitical contexts.
