Today, it is more common to see counterfeit branded products. As more consumers look for ways to save money today, there are predatory people who develop ways to counterfeit products from reputable brands to make a dishonest profit. Analysis from the Frost and Sullivan firm showed that counterfeiting could be costing vehicle suppliers a cumulative total of more than $45 billion around the world. In the electronics industry, the cost may be as high as $75 billion annually. In addition to costing reputable companies money, brand counterfeiting can also cost them in other ways. A strong brand protection strategy that incorporates digital brand protection solutions is essential today.
Understanding Brand Counterfeiting
Dishonest people know which brands consumers like, and they produce fake products that look similar to the brand. Many also use the brand logo or copy everything about the product to make it look authentic. For example, consider one popular smartphone provider that sells its own brand of earbuds, which have been known for quality sound and longevity. However, there are many products advertised online for less money or even the same price that are counterfeit. The counterfeit products do not last as long and have poorer sound quality. That is just one of many examples of a common type of counterfeit product. Although the practice is especially common with electronics, it can even happen with products that people do not suspect. For instance, some people have bought toothpaste, dish soap or other household products that are counterfeit. Companies in any market can be a target for brand counterfeiting today with so many ecommerce sites in existence.
The Added Costs of Brand Counterfeiting
When a reputable business becomes the target of brand counterfeiting, it can cost the entity even more in lost business. Customers who buy counterfeit products and do not realize that they are fake may think that the company is now sacrificing quality to make money, and they may start looking for a different brand. If smaller businesses buy the company’s products and unknowingly buy from counterfeit suppliers, they may lose faith in the brand as their customers start returning defective or low-quality products. Those dissatisfied consumers may start talking negatively about the brand online, which will lead to a damaged reputation for the company. As sales decline, the brand suffers. With a smart digital brand protection plan in place, companies can mitigate these risks and protect a good reputation.
How Brand Protection Solutions Help
While technology may make it easier for dishonest people to try to tarnish good brands, it can also help companies that are proactive about brand protection prevent losses from counterfeiters. Today, there are brand protection software programs that can help businesses. A robust program should address four key areas to provide ample digital brand protection.
Searching for Infringements
Many of today’s businesses have products or services that are offered online and in the real world. Thorough detection is an important strategic step to find infringements that exist in the real world and virtually. A brand protection software program that is designed to regularly search for illegal sellers or counterfeiting factories that may be producing fake replications is a valuable asset.
Discerning True Infringements
The laws concerning brands, patents and what actions constitute infringements can be complex. Sometimes, a company may accuse another entity of infringement without realizing that the activity of that entity is not a violation of intellectual property. Doing that can garner negative attention and hurt a company’s reputation. A good brand protection service can help companies validate infringements and understand intellectual property violations.
Enforcing Infringement Penalties
Using brand protection software to find out that counterfeiters exist and are stealing intellectual property does not help companies unless they can do something about it. This is why a digital brand protection strategy must also include an action plan for stopping the illegal activity. This may include shutting down counterfeiting factories, halting shipments of fake goods and having product listings removed from online stores.
Reporting Vulnerabilities
Dealing with brand counterfeiting through detection and action can help remove active problems. However, a strategy should also have a dimension of prevention to be optimal. A good brand protection software should also have analytic capabilities to show companies where their biggest vulnerabilities exist in terms of potential infringements. Additionally, they should provide useful brand protection solutions for improvement.
Implementing a Brand Protection Strategy
In today’s fast-paced world, it is hard for companies to keep up with all the potential threats from brand counterfeiters. Some modern tech companies are developing solutions that address both current and potential future security issues for brands. Authena is one of those entities that helps brands in preventing counterfeiting proactively, using several methods of digital brand protection. Authena developed a solution that utilizes active and passive IoT devices to be applied on each single product sold, backed by a blockchain network. The IoT devices are immune to tampering, and the blockchain network holds important product information that cannot be changed. For instance, state of integrity, location and other pieces of information can be included. By combining leading technologies and applying them to protecting the integrity of brands, companies that design innovative brand protection solutions give brands more effective tools for building long-term strategies. Learn more about Authena at https://authena.io/brand-protection-technology/.
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