Counterfeiting affects your business in many ways. It can harm your brand and your reputation. It can also jeopardize the safety of your customers or patients. Protecting your brand not only allows you to prevent these problems but, depending on your industry, it also allows you to comply with new governmental regulations.
Legal initiatives have encouraged the implementation of anti-counterfeiting measures. Since protecting products is not free, brand owners need to select the best compromise in terms of security versus cost, which requires the creation of an in house brand protection team.
A good brand protection program should be holistic and include anti-counterfeiting, track and trace and other solutions depending on market needs. In this combined case, the implemented anti-counterfeiting feature will tell the user that the tracking codes can be trusted.
To answer the question “why is brand protection important?”, it suffices to have a look at the repercussions counterfeiting has on businesses and people.
Legal enforcements and fines
Legal initiatives have been set up to force manufacturers to adopt anti-counterfeiting solutions for their products. Failure to do so can expose these manufacturers to legal actions and fines, resulting in a decrease in share value due to the impact on public opinion.
Brand value and firm reputation
When consumers unknowingly buy a counterfeit of a product and are disappointed with the purchase, they will likely blame the manufacturer. If consumers never discover that they bought a fake product, they could be reluctant to purchase other products from that manufacturer. They will eventually pass on their disappointment in the brand to other potential consumers. This will harm the reputation of the company in the long run. Announcing publicly that a brand protection strategy is in place, although the details are being kept secret, will reassure public opinion.
Health and safety
In some domains, counterfeits can become a threat to the safety and health of the consumer. Typical such domains are
- Electrical components: fake circuit breakers can cause fire or deadly electrical shocks
- Automotive parts: fake brake pads or suspension parts can cause deadly accidents
- Pharmaceutical products: fake medication can kill patients
Harm done to consumers/patients due to counterfeits affects the confidence people have in the counterfeited brand.
Don’t let counterfeiters damage your reputation and harm your consumers!
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