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MOTORINDIA
l
July 2012
Several studies have been done to
measure the impact of the problem,
but the suggested solution has been
mainly to enhance effectiveness of
law enforcement. It is important that
a holistic solution is developed in
this fight. The solution to this ever-
growing menace lies at the very core
of the product, i.e., a dire need to
create an end-to-end holistic brand
protection strategy. This strategy
can be broken into various stages
(Figure 3).
As a first step, every CEO or brand
owner should take the responsibility
of brand attack and make Brand Risk
Management (BRM) an intrinsic
part of his business plan, review and
report. The team may comprise the
CEO/brand owner, brand managers,
head of marketing, product devel-
opment, sales, logistic, packaging,
manufacturing or outside consultant
accountable for the brand. The idea
is to curb the penetration of coun-
terfeits across levels. The team can
periodically review the BRM by an-
alyzing various issues like product
categories and markets, buyer pro-
files and supply chain management
and SWOT analysis of the counter-
feiters.
Making customized and integrated
solution can be done by enhancing
the participation of co-opting con-
sumers or channel partners and by
conducting verification, raids or en-
suring strong law enforcement. For
emphatic use of technology (Figure
4), have a secure, anti-counterfeiting
device comprising overt, covert and
forensic security features like se-
curity hologram seals and labels,
tamper evident security films and
light-sensitive ink designs.
While there are a number of tech-
nologies available in the market, it
is advisable to choose the smart one
and at the right time while keeping
track of some basic guidelines like:
• Finding a vendor who can pro-
vide you overt as well as covert
technologies as it is important to se-
lect a solution using multiple tech-
nologies.
• Seeking help from an established
trade association to select ethical
vendor, best practices and resources
to fight counterfeiting.
• Selecting the technology in
terms of the difficulty to copy/
tamper evidence posed by it (pref-
erably patented), uniqueness, avail-
ability of suppliers, identifiable and
user-friendliness.
• Solutions should also have feasi-
bility of being integrated
with the automated pro-
duction/packaging line,
if required, especially
where the volumes are
very large
• Try to combine low
and high security ele-
ments to enhance pro-
tection, for example, by
integrating sequential or
unique numbers in the
solution.
“Brand Risk Manage-
ment” should be treated
as a crucial part of risk
management under the
Fig. 3: Integrated holistic brand protection strategy
Fig. 4: Emphatic use of technology by Bosch and Mercedes-Benz
focus on aftermarket