Many experts believe U.S. manufacturing is experiencing a resurgence after years of downsizing, layoffs, factory shutdowns, off-shoring and other not-so-positive news. Scott Paul, president of Washington, D.C.-based Alliance for Manufacturing believes that for the “first time in a generation there will be a fair number of new job openings.” In fact, many believe that has already happened since there are 600,000 unfilled manufacturing jobs today. With the manufacturing industry strengthening, U.S. companies have an opportunity to tell their “Made in America” stories to attract future talent, boost their brand and strongly position themselves as heroes in the evolving story about American manufacturing. 
In a recent interview with the Buffalo News, Paul references The Made in America store located in upstate New York and its growing popularity with consumers eager to support American-made products. The store itself has an incredible story about the drive and determination of its owner and founder, Mark Andol. In his early career, Andol was owner of a manufacturing company and had to lay off half his workforce after losing its largest clients in one weekend. After much research, he found the product he had worked so hard to produce, was being made cheaper in China and shipped to a port in Florida. The Chinese product did not have to meet the same quality standards and regulations his did, and thus began his crusade to promote all American-made products in one location. His Made in America store opened in 2010 and has since become a destination for bus tours coming from all over the country. The store has also been featured on ABC World News Tonight and reporters from as far away as Russia and Japan have visited.
You may recall I’ve written about storytelling for manufacturers before. In that blog post I suggested manufacturers consider using video to tell the powerful story of how the industry has transformed itself from dusty, dirty and unsafe shop floors to state-of-the-art facilities looking for sophisticated talent. The Made in America story is an easy one to tell but so few companies are actually doing it. Why aren’t more companies shouting it from the rooftops that their products are made right here—in the good ‘ole U S of A? I don’t really know for sure, but have some theories.
- Even if a product is produced almost exclusively in the U.S., the company may have global operations and fears offending its own employees or international customers.
- They are hesitant to take what they believe to be too much of a political stance.
- The company doesn’t have a clear understanding of its own story, let alone how to begin telling it.
- They are short-staffed and their main focus is on company operations, not marketing or public relations.
Whatever the reason, too many companies are missing out on a chance to tell their Made in America story. People are ready to hear it. They need and want to hear it. While price may have been the deciding factor in choosing one product over another, that is no longer the case. People make buying decisions differently today than they did 15 or 20 years ago. One significant difference is that consumers, clients and others use Google to find out more about a company or a product. They read reviews, news articles and blog posts. They may check out a company’s website, but the reality is, that website may not even show up in Google rankings if it isn’t regularly updated with fresh content. Blogs and social media posts can help boost rankings as well as a search optimized website, but content is the real key here.
Consumers also make decisions based on recollection of a message or an emotion triggered when hearing about the product or service. Concise, well-told stories help information resonate with decision-makers. When it comes down to a brochure or advertisement touting the benefits of a product made in unknown factories oversees versus the same product made in a factory in Small Town USA by families with a long history of quality workmanship, it’s a no-brainer. Most people want to make a difference and if they can say they support American-made products that help communities grow and thrive, it’s an easy decision. Sometimes numbers are just a small consideration—it’s the story and the feelings evoked that matter.
Our passion at WordWrite is helping companies develop and share their great, untold stories. Widget-making isn’t the story—it’s who is making the product and the why and how behind it. Most importantly, how is it different than the product made elsewhere?
What do you think about Made in America products? Are you more likely to buy something made domestically? Why? Tell me your story. Or, let me know if we can help you tell your manufacturing story.
Learn more about how we approach storytelling at WordWrite in ways that deliver powerful results, download our whitepaper here.
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Hollie Geitner is vice president, client services for WordWrite Communications. You can find her on Twitter @JustHollieG.
