Communicating a Made-in-America Brand: Country-of-Origin Messaging Strategies in the US Home Furnishings Industry

Abstract

This case study looked at multiple sources of evidence to explore how a US furniture brand communicates its country-of-origin. The findings demonstrate that product-country and, in particular, product-place images remain relevant in both domestic and international brand marketing contexts. Although the brand does not tailor its communications for the global market, with its international audiences it relies on America’s reputation for status rather than on its domestic reputation of a heritage brand. While the recent made-in-America messages targeting domestic audiences subtly associate the brand with bringing jobs back to the United States, they primarily reinforce the ideas of local craft and quality. Narratives about heirloom-quality furniture handmade by craftspeople in a small town of North Carolina communicate a product-place imagery that not only sets the brand apart from its competition, but also appeals to craft consumers, at home and abroad, who express themselves by collecting or creatively using brands with unambiguous origin identities.