FIGHTING AGAINST THE FAKES

 

With around 6% of global branded revenue stolen by counterfeiters, companies who take protective measures are not just acting for the consumers benefit.

 

Brands have a unique market position: they can penetrate third party sales channels through wholesale and licensing but still maintain a direct consumer relationship. This relationship is crucial in the fight against fakes.

 

To a consumer, the most important element of a brand is trust. Fakes erode that trust.

 

Your brand fan trusts you to help them portray their desired image and they trust that what you stand for is special. Think about your brand as a very personal possession and take some protective steps in your processes. If you need to justify this to yourself, see these steps as building an internal insurance policy against future losses.

 

Know your supply chain.
Don't assume that everyone you deal with is only loyal to you. Check and double check activities around production and sampling.

 

Guard your labelling and packaging.
Who manufactures, stores or distributes your labels and packaging? Do you know how many were sent and used?

 

Establish product development agreements.
Ensure that suppliers who regularly work on new developments have automatic penalty clauses (enforceable commercially as events unfold rather than only after legal action) if styles that have not been released yet are found outside the process.

 

Use a PLM system or other method of tracking access to your product details.

Create a logged audit trail, showing who accessed what and when.

 

Evaluate interactive anti-counterfeit methods.

Can your consumer check before they buy? With mobile internet access consumers can engage directly with a brand to interactively verify authenticity, whilst leaving a useful location trail. You can see which product was verified where. This opens up the opportunity to move in on counterfeiters whilst building a relationship with your brand fans.

 

The market around us is continuously focusing on direct relationships with consumers throughout the whole customer lifecycle. We are told to not only obtain customers, but to create engaged brand fans. Consuming is starting to mean something different in that respect.

 

In summary, do not leave brand security to chance. Jobs are precious and protection should be in place. Just imagine handing 6% of your revenue to criminals. Don't make it easy for counterfeiters to steal your brand and your jobs.

 

By Ben Muis, Fashion Industry Consultant and creator of Authicode