When it comes to personal brands, President Donald Trump has one that’s strong and well-defined. For the last four decades—as Trump has been a key figure in business, media and politics—his brash, domineering, elitist, controversial and often intolerant personality has been a large part of who the public knows him to be.

In his second term, the president brought that personal brand to the White House and infused it throughout policy, which means that brand has become largely associated with the U.S. And many American brands that do business around the globe have had a difficult time in the last year simply by association.

A new report from the American Marketing Association-New York Future of Marketing Project shows that anti-Americanism around the world is hurting U.S. brands, with 62% of U.S. international marketers reporting that the sentiment is hurting their sales prospects—especially iconic brands that had previously identified themselves with more positive American ideals, including Netflix, Disney, Apple, Ford, Amazon, Coke and McDonald’s.

The research found that on average, only 42% of people in other countries see the U.S. favorably today, a drop of 17% in just one year. The study found that international consumers see U.S. companies with the qualities of apex predators: aggressive and dominant. They also see higher prices, market domination and a sense of “America first” arrogance.

Marketers for U.S. companies have been adjusting their strategies for the past year, the study said, focusing on community partnerships, sustainability, and localizing their content. They’re also emphasizing brand value. Only 30% continue to stick with “American imagery.” But international consumers often only see the big “American” company, not what they’re doing locally. The report suggests that marketers should make more of an effort to decouple from association with the U.S., and instead double down on universal values like family, community and sustainability, and become more active in country-specific causes. They should also be more receptive to consumers in international markets. After all, the study shows, the anti-American sentiment is likely to stick around for a while.

Regardless of where they are from, consumers today place a lot of trust in online reviews. Trustpilot CEO Adrian Blair told me that 86% of people regularly check reviews before making purchase decisions. I talked to Blair about the best ways marketers can use consumer reviews, and how to maintain trust in them—even when, as recently happened with Trustpilot, activist investors target the system. An excerpt from our conversation is later in this newsletter.

During the 2025 holiday shopping season, it seems that Santa got a lot of help from AI. Last year’s holiday saw a record $257.8 billion spent online, according to Adobe, and much of that was enhanced by AI. Adobe found that AI referrals to retail increased 693% year-over-year between November 1 and December 31. And those referrals often led to purchases, with a conversion rate nearly a third better than more traditional referrals. Consumers that were referred to sites by AI showed 14% more engagement, spent 45% more time there, and viewed 13% more pages on a site.

Shoppers who used AI during the holiday were enthusiastic about the experience, with 81% saying AI assistants improved CX. And consumers are becoming more........

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