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ACTIU Berbegal y Formas, S.A.
What are the values of Spanish brands?

What are the values of Spanish brands?

JULY 2017 | 3 minutes

Cultural heritage, creativity and product quality are the most striking international endorsements of Leading Spanish Brands.

Outside of Spain, people recognise the key values of Spanish companies as being creativity, high-quality products and cultural heritage. Spanish companies, and especially internationalised Spanish companies, understand that it is extremely important to add a differential factor to products or services. They aim to enable potential clients to recognise the “Made in Spain” stamp, thus strengthening our distinguishing features outside of our own borders.

Since the Marca España ['Brand Spain'] brand was created in 2012, kick-starting the process of increasing the visibility of Spanish brands abroad, many other actions have also been added. These have produced a significant increase in the wealth and socio-economic development of the country.

Spain
Everywhere

This initiative has also been successfully implemented in other countries such as the United Kingdom, with the Great Britain brand, in Germany, with the Land of Ideas brand, in France, which launched its Marque France brand, and also in Canada and Finland, among other examples. Marca España was established as a state project which would outlive successive governments, and its aim is to improve the image of Spain, creating an intangible asset which will help to strengthen the country's international position in political, economic, cultural, social, scientific and technological terms.

According to El País newspaper, “an analysis of Marca España shows that almost seven in ten Spanish exporting companies (68.9%) trust in Marca España and 56.6% are satisfied with it. This is a proportion which has risen significantly in recent years after a lacklustre response in 2012. Overseas, where trust has risen from 46.8% to 56.5%, Spain presents the image of a country with friendly, outgoing, creative and qualified people”.

Though it is true that until relatively recently, the fashion, food and tourism sectors, which have the greatest growth and consolidation abroad, were those that benefited most from belonging to Marca España, now the focus is on working to consolidate the image of Spain as an industrial and technologically-aware country. Spanish companies are leaders in innovative sectors such as infra-structure, high speed, management of infrastructure, renewable energy, automobiles, biotechnology, the environment, information and communication technology, health, and the aerospace and naval industries.

In this sense, the Board of Directors of the ‘Foro de Marcas Renombradas Españolas’ [‘Leading Brands of Spain Forum’] has unanimously approved the incorporation of ACTIU as a full partner of this organisation.  The Leading Brands of Spain Forum encompasses 100 leading companies from their respective sectors which have recognised, well-known brands and a significant international presence. At the same time, the Association of Brands is integrated in the Leading Brands of Spain Forum Foundation, together with the Ministry for the Economy, Industry and Competitiveness; the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation; the Spanish Office for Patents and Brands and ICEX Spain Exportation and Investments.

In order to be accepted as a member, each candidate must be a Spanish company of recognised prestige and a leader in its field, with a high level of internationalisation (71 countries on average and more than 50% of business taking place internationally). Actiu currently has a presence in more than 90 countries across five continents and almost 60% of its turnover comes from international markets.

The joint turnover of the Forum's companies equates to 40% of the national GDP. The Leading Brands of Spain Forum, which was founded in 1999, has recognised 52 Honorary Ambassadors of Marca España which make a significant contribution to the prestige of a positive image of Spain overseas. The constituent companies of the Forum employ more than a million and a half people in Spain.