The fact that the Swiss government is wrestling with revising its intellectual property laws says something: This is a country that clearly understands the value of branding. In fact, Switzerland’s Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (FDFA) publishes a comprehensive corporate identity manual for Brand Switzerland because “a focused and strong brand definition is necessary for successful positioning in the international market.” The FDFA sees Switzerland’s values and character as moving from the present characteristics, “reliable, precise, exclusive, rich, beautiful, and neutral,” to the future characteristics, “trustworthy, premium quality, and authentic.”

Switzerland’s reputation for high quality, precision and design is legendary, so it follows that the perception of Swiss brands and products is strongly positive. The “Swissness Worldwide Report,” presented at the Swiss Brands 08 conference in Zurich, surveyed some 8,000 foreign consumers. According to swissinfo.ch, “Respondents from 66 countries strongly associated Swiss products with high quality, reliability and luxury. An international comparison of goods and services saw Switzerland ranked highest of 12 countries, including Japan, Germany and the United States” (“Swiss brand still stands for quality,” June 19, 2008). However, consumers rated Swiss products poorly when it came to “price competitiveness” and “innovation.”

Despite an overall positive brand perception, Switzerland has not been untainted by recent controversy.

Perhaps the most damaging blow to Swiss brand credibility of late has been the country’s role in the world’s financial problems. UBS, Switzerland’s largest bank and a prominent global institution, was fined almost US$ 800 million in early 2009, charged with helping wealthy Americans evade income taxes. Credit Suisse, Switzerland’s second-largest bank, narrowly avoided the tax evasion scandal but suffered financially during the banking meltdown.

This has not been the only sticky issue swirling around Switzerland: “… Switzerland’s image has been battered abroad with accusations of xenophobia during the general election two years ago…This comes on top of negative press in the past decade over dormant Holocaust-era bank accounts and money laundering” (“‘Made in Switzerland’ brand retains its appeal,” swissinfo.ch, June 12, 2009).

It seems, though, that it would take a lot to undermine a Swiss brand. Many are steeped in a tradition that extends for more than a century, and most have represented stability, quality and dependability for decades, recent economic problems notwithstanding.

In the financial market, for example, UBS, Credit Suisse and Zurich are legitimate long-standing global brands. UBS originated as Union Bank of Switzerland in 1852. The distinct UBS logo, with three keys and the red letters “UBS,” is recognized in 50 countries. Credit Suisse was born in 1856 as SKA and didn’t become widely known by its current name until the 1970s. The company says it became an “integrated global bank” in 2006.

Barry Silverstein has been a frequent brandchannel contributor since 2007. He has thirty years of advertising and marketing experience and is currently a freelance writer and marketing consultant. He founded and ran his own direct marketing agency and held executive positions with Epsilon, a leading database marketing firm and Arnold, a major ad agency. Silverstein is the author of three marketing books, including the McGraw-Hill book, The Breakaway Brand, which he co-authored with Arnold CEO Fran Kelly.