Countries are among the most powerful brands on the global marketplace. Love it or loathe it, never has there been a bigger or stronger brand than the United States of America. More than any other country, America has been blessed with a huge range of positive brand attributes. The country is associated with the definitive youth lifestyle (Coke, MTV, Levi s); with sporting prowess (Nike, NBA, Timberland); and with technological supermacy (Microsoft, Dell, IBM). America is well-informed (CNN, Time, Newsweek) and, naturally, wealthy (American Express, Merrill Lynch, Goldman Sachs). Of the top 100 international brands, 64 of them are American-owned. The core of America s potency lies in it being the country of origin for the world s three most valuable and profitable business sectors: entertainment, merchant banking and IT. This makes America the world s most powerful public domain brand. American brands simply hitch themselves onto this powerful national brand, and a cultural and commercial trail is instantly blazed for them around the world. This book traces American history up to and including Obama, the values of Brand America and the growth of anti-Americanism. America is truly the greatest branding story of them all, and this fully updated book tells it for the first time.