Study shows: "Swissness" is losing its international reputation

The luster of the "Swiss Made" brand is fading. This is confirmed by a new survey by the international consultancy Globeone on the strengths and weaknesses of Swiss brands, in which 1,500 consumers in Germany, the USA and China were questioned.According to the survey, the erosion of the Swiss country-of-origin image has not only affected leading brands, but has also led to Switzerland's financial center having to relinquish its top position in consumer perception to the USA. Confidence in the innovative strength of the Swiss location has also deteriorated further in the past two years.

Taking the pulse of the 19 leading Swiss brands

Globeone again took the pulse of the 19 leading Swiss brands with its biennial representative survey at the end of 2017. While the results confirm the overall excellent image of "Swiss Made", they also reveal visible weaknesses: In terms of consumer favorability, the "Swissness" label falls by eight percentage points to 66% compared to 2015. In China in particular, where products from Switzerland have a very solid standing, popularity is declining (-12%). Individual image dimensions such as quality (-11%), prestige (-9%) and reliability (-8%) are losing particularly strongly.Carina Hauswald, Managing Partner of Globeone in Zurich, sees the core of "Swiss Made" crumbling against this backdrop: "The image erosion of Switzerland as a country of origin is hitting the brand 'Swiss Made' right in the heart, because it is above all those image dimensions that are noticeably affected, which make up the core promise of 'Swiss Made'. It is only a matter of time before this image loss also affects the price premium of the Swissness label, which can be very considerable," she warns in view of these findings.

Switzerland is not perceived as an innovative country of origin

It also fits in with this that Switzerland as a country of origin is not perceived as particularly innovative. Consumers attest Swiss brands only moderate innovative strength. Although 44% of the consumers surveyed still expect groundbreaking innovations from Switzerland in the next few years, this is not reflected in Switzerland's image as a country of origin. Here, the country has deteriorated further in the corresponding dimension by five percentage points since 2015 to 11% and now ranks behind China (22%). Carina Hauswald attributes this primarily to the lack of innovation communication by Swiss companies: "Swiss manufacturers, especially the large industrial groups, are innovative and they also invest a lot in research and development - no question about that. But they don't manage to anchor this in the consumer's consciousness through appropriate positioning and communication," says Hauswald.It is also striking that Swiss brands have a veritable image problem, especially in their neighboring country of Germany. In Germany, Swiss brands are unable to convert their comparatively high average awareness of around 62% into a positive image (average around 38%).The situation is different in the USA and China: although the average awareness of Swiss brands is lower here (USA: 42%, China: 41%), Swiss products are generally held in much higher esteem in these markets than in Germany (USA: 60%, China: 59%). About Globeone: Globeone is a consultancy specializing in strategy, brand and communication and is one of the leading owner-managed providers in the German-speaking region. With offices in Germany, Switzerland and China, the agency supports clients in international brand and transformation projects. Globeone's clients include many major listed companies, including stakeholders such as ABB, Volkswagen and Covestro (formerly Bayer MaterialScience).