measure their interest in travel to the U.S. and attitudes toward the U.S. government and U.S. people before and after watching the “Land of Dreams” commercial to evaluate if it would change their views. “While we were interested in whether the ‘Land of Dreams’ commercial increased desire to travel to the United States, we also wanted to know if Australians expressed more positive views about America after seeing the spot,” says Fullerton. “We found the commercial appeared to do double duty for government and industry, both in terms of piquing interest in travel to the U.S. and as a catalyst for goodwill.” This latest research is an extension of the work Fullerton has been doing for over a decade. Following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, she became interested in understanding how the strategic use of global media could play a role in changing international opinions of the U.S. “One of the big topics after 9/11 was why do they hate us so much and what can we do to change that,” says Fullerton. “It seemed to me that there was an opportunity for America to improve its image abroad through some good strategic communications efforts. Secretary of State Colin Powell agreed and brought a famous advertising executive, Charlotte Beers, to Washington to serve as undersecretary of public diplomacy. Powell says that he wanted to ‘re-brand’ America.” Soon after the 9/11 attacks, under Beers’ oversight, the U.S. Department of State launched the Shared Values Initiative, a campaign meant to dispel myths about the treatment of Muslims in America. The campaign, containing a series of ads featuring real American Muslims leading happy and productive lives in the U.S., was briefly broadcast in several Middle Eastern and Asian countries before being disbanded. “People in the media, in Congress and elsewhere were saying this was a terrible idea, this would never work, but nobody seemed to have any data to prove it,” says Fullerton. “Since we are in the business of testing communications messages, we decided to conduct the research.”
USA will not only impact the economy She and Kendrick conducted and thus achieve the objectives of a series of tests among internathe Commerce Department, but also tional college students and ultiaddress strategies at the State Departmately found the ads worked in ment, whose goal it is to win the hearts improving attitudes toward the U.S. and minds of people overseas. In that within their experimental study. way, the communications program is “I was a skeptic at first because benefitting our country on two fronts.” the idea was so unorthodox, but we Fullerton plans to expand her found that the advertising campaign research on Brand USA to other counmoved the needle in regards to opintries targeted by the tourism promoions of the U.S.,” says Fullerton. “It tional campaign to see if her findimproved favorability scores by a statisings in Australia hold up elsewhere. tically significant amount. That doesn’t She also wants to expand into other mean that they went from hating us aspects of public diplomacy and nation to loving us, but they went from really branding, examining how governhating us to only kind of hating us.” ment messages can be disseminated Fullerton and Kendrick published their findings in a number of peerreviewed research journals and in their 2006 book, Advertising’s War on Terrorism: The Story of the U.S. State Department’s Shared Values Initiative. Fullerton has received numerous awards for her research, including the national Headliner Award in 2007 from the Association of Women in Communications and the 2008 Tulsa Newsmaker award. Recently, she received the 2013 Dr. Jami Fullerton takes to National Public Radio airwaves to discuss her research on nation branding. OSU-Tulsa President’s Outstanding Faculty Research Award and was honored by the Assoto international audiences using new ciation for Education in Journalism media, and the effects that exported and Mass Communication at its 2013 media such as movies, videogames and annual conference in Washington, D.C. music have on perceptions of the U.S. Ultimately it’s being able to “This research is an opportupresent useful research that motivates nity to use the knowledge we have Fullerton. She hopes that lawmakers about marketing communications will utilize her findings to influto impact global relations,” says ence policy decisions and implement Fullerton. “Working in this research strategies that will benefit the U.S. area makes me feel like I’m really “If you don’t have good data, how making a difference in the world, can you make good decisions?” she even if it is just in a small way.” SEAN KENNEDY asked. “We have suggested to the U.S. government that programs like Brand
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