counterfeit products are excellent copies of the original which at most times cannot be distinguished from the consumer and at times by the manufacturer also. Providing high profit margins, these counterfeit products, have today turned into a lucrative business and an organized crime, damaging the brand reputation and image of the original products manufacturers.
1. Safeguarding Brand Reputation from Counterfeits
Today the marketplace is filled with millions of counterfeit items. These can be found around the
world in flea markets, with street vendors, small shops, and today in online shopping portals.
Counterfeit products such as medicines, pharmaceuticals and electrical devices pose life risk to the
consumers. This further leads to financial loss and loss of brand image for enterprises worldwide.
The counterfeit products are excellent copies of the original which at most times cannot be
distinguished from the consumer and at times by the manufacturer also. Providing high profit
margins, these counterfeit products, have today turned into a lucrative business and an organized
crime, damaging the brand reputation and image of the original products manufacturers. Besides
losing their revenue, most small businesses are also forced to close down due to brand erosion and
financial losses. On the other hand, counterfeiters thrive with counterfeit and gray market sales
mounting up to billions of dollars.
With consumers associating products and business with brand names, enterprises must take robust
measures to protect their brands. With technology evolving, businesses are utilizing eCommerce
to expand their sales channels. This digital presence has made large and medium enterprises
susceptible to cyber threats. The top management thus needs to realize the importance of brand
management and its impact on short and long term revenue goals. This will help them allocate
resources to solve the overpowering problem of counterfeiting.
Leading service providers make use of enterprise risk management and brand management
techniques to locate the counterfeits in the online markets. Using such brand intelligence helps
enterprises to shorten the process of identifying counterfeit by prioritizing violators who damages
the brand reputation. Further, enterprises that incorporate anti-counterfeiting solutions as part of
their brand protection efforts are proactively protecting their customers too.
As low quality and inexpensive goods flood the markets, loss of revenue, enterprise brand status
and intellectual property rights has become a serious concern. Since counterfeiting is not confined
to any particular industry sector, the leading service providers have developed online brand
reputation management solutions that can help in reducing the impact of product counterfeiting.
2. These solutions besides locating the online counterfeits, also help to shut down any illegal
operations.
Further, with globalization playing a major role in business expansion, enterprises need to have
effective anti-counterfeiting and brand management solutions that can ensure protection in case
of infringements. The anti-counterfeiting solutions developed by the leading service providers are
based on innovative techniques and high-end research methodologies that facilitate enterprises to
monitor activities for a number of products across the globe. All the information gathered by the
search engines are displayed through dashboards and charts along with a risk index of the suspects.
Such detailed analysis provides enterprises the in-depth visibility to take on effective steps to
protect their brand reputation.