According to the Counterfeiting intelligence Bureau of the International room of Commerce®, counterfeiting is one of the fastest growing economic crimes of contemporary time. Once a cottage industry, counterfeiting has become a sophisticated network of organized crime, accounting for 5 to 7 percent of world trade, worth an estimated 0 billion a year.
Until relatively recently, the black and grey market economies did not pose a important threat to brand owners. The black market operates illegally surface government-sanctioned channels with the buying and selling of goods and services, while commodities in the grey market are distributed legally, but straight through channels that are unauthorized by the original manufacturer-commonly referred to as diversion. Customers who would frequently shop in one of these two markets now have the quality to browse the Internet for the same products, posing an even deeper threat to a brand's prestige and integrity, impacting the world's biggest brands and smaller brands alike.
Microscope
With the growth of global brands and the Internet, brand owners face threats from counterfeiters and brand pirates who are attempting to create large profits by illegally producing credible look-a-like products to sell at deeply discounted prices. Brand owners are being forced to take a closer look at their supply chains and police the whereabouts and authenticity of their products at all times.
In the past, such luxury and high-end goods as designer clothes and accessories, spirits and perfumes, were most likely to be counterfeited. However, times have changed with technological advancements in digital imaging, cameras, scanners, artwork software, color and inkjet printers, aiding counterfeiters and brand pirates to create a behalf from any branded item-pharmaceuticals, electronics, software, cigarettes, hardware and food items like baby formula. Even automobile and aircraft parts are being counterfeited. It has been reported that the majority of counterfeited goods are arrival from China, North Korea, Taiwan, India, Russia and parts of Africa.
Pharmaceutical counterfeiting has led to greatest outcomes, together with consumer fatalities, which illustrates the point of brand security. The Food and Drug administration saw an 800 percent growth in the number of new pharmaceutical counterfeit cases in the middle of 2000 and 2006. According to The Lancet*, the world's foremost general curative journal, counterfeit pharmaceuticals will create billion in revenues in 2011, a 92-percent growth from 2005.
Taking a Defensive Stand
Diversion, pirating and counterfeiting not only have a negative impact on the revenues and profitability of legitimate companies, but they also impact the credibility and prestige of a brand. Counter measures against these practices must be taken throughout the supply chain-from the brand owner, supplier and wholesaler to the wholesaler, retailer and ultimately, the consumer.
It's crucial that brand owners stay attuned to brand security in today's market and become customary with the array of available anti-counterfeiting solutions. Ignoring the point of brand security is not an option, because once the damage is done, the cost to heal it can be far in excess of what it would have cost to forestall it from happening in the first place.
To ensure their customers only receive the highest quality and safest products, brand owners have a broad range of anti-counterfeiting solutions at their disposal to protect their brand positioning and brand promise.
It's recommended that brand owners ask themselves the following questions before implementing a brand security strategy:
1. What level of security-low, medium or high-do we want to build into our containers design?
2. Do we want to check for counterfeiting at the shelf or at the warehouse? Do we want our customers to be able to check for counterfeiting at the point-of-purchase by using a descriptive authentication feature?
3. How much do we want to spend in brand security?
4. How are we going to ensure consistency of our brand security on a global level?
Pressure-sensitive technology is versatile. It enables intricate designs and complicated die-cuts, creating labels that jump from the shelf. But even more so, the array of materials, when combined with extra printing techniques, can become a metaphor for the product itself.
Layered Protection
With threats to brand security rapidly growing, the need to differentiate fake products from genuine ones is increasing, as well as the need for more advanced authentication technologies that thwart counterfeiters. However, it's foremost that brand owners understand that even the most sophisticated anti-counterfeiting solutions on their own cannot forestall counterfeiting 100 percent, but can signal an alert when a threat exists and thereby encourage operation to be taken.
In up-to-date years, anti-counterfeiting measures have become increasingly complicated and bolstered by the installment of separate layers of security. Many of today's technologies are used in conjunction with other security features that work in concert to improve the unabridged level of protection. For example, a low-level of anti-counterfeit technology that is descriptive to the consumer is combined with a high-level security highlight containing a covert or forensic technology. The more layers of security a brand owner applies, the more difficult it becomes for their brand to fall victim to counterfeiting, pirating or diversion.
The most tasteless anti-counterfeiting technologies employed by brand owners include:
1. Overt technology: This level of security is descriptive to the naked eye, and allows the brand to be authenticated without the need of a extra inspection tool. Overt technology offers only basic security against counterfeiting, whereby:
a. Devices can include, but are not exiguous to:
i. Customized security papers-watermarks, paper color or descriptive fibers embedded in the paper.
ii. security threads-threads are embedded in the paper and are made of a film, manufacture a label hard to copy.
iii. Two- or three-dimensional holograms-standard holograms are used generally for attractive purposes, but customized holograms can be qualified tools in security applications.
iv. Tamper-evident films, paper and voids-destructible/frangible films, papers and void materials show destruction upon tampering. Void labels leave a customized "Void" alpha numeric or geometrical-shape message on the substrate when the label is removed.
2. Covert technology: The security expedient is not descriptive to the naked eye, but can be detected by a low-cost inspection tool, such as an Uv light, magnifying glass or plastic film overlay. The type of tool depends on the definite security technology used. Covert technology is an advanced level of security with hard-to-copy security features and some level of personalization:
a. Devices can include, but are not exiguous to:
i. Customized security papers-Uv luminescent fibers embedded in the paper, chemical security or verification with a extra reactant pen.
ii. Non-visible security threads. Customized security threads can consist of ultraviolet (Uv) reflection and microprints.
iii. Uv prints-various colors and designs can be printed in the laminate of a facestock or liner. Appropriate and customized Uv prints are available.
iv. Infrared (Ir) taggants-can be applied randomly in the paper, a self-adhesive laminate or in a institution spectrum that works as a unique signature. Ir readers can be tailored to match the institution spectrum, giving off a signal when the right taggant percentages are detected. Uniquely encoded, Ir taggants are virtually impossible to duplicate.
v. Inorganic taggants-can be added to inks, coatings, varnishes, adhesives, plastics, etc. Authenticity is confirmed using a extra reader that gives off signals when a single taggant is detected.
3. Forensic technology: These security devices are not descriptive to the naked eye, are private within the product and wish laboratory pathology for authentication. Forensic technology is the highest level of security from unique and personalized security features:
a. Devices can include, but are not exiguous to:
i. Dna taggants-microscopic or nano materials that are uniquely encoded for a brand. Provides a forensic chain of evidence that is trusted by police and recognized by courts globally. Large botanical Dna is acquired and then segmented, shuffled and reassembled to form a unique secure signature Dna ticket that becomes patented technology. Dna taggants cannot be counterfeited, digitally copied, scanned or re-engineered.
To effectively deploy one of these technologies requires close collaboration in the middle of the brand owner and technology supplier.
Brand security is an investment that directly impacts the bottom-line for a consumer packaged goods company. It does this by protecting the brand from counterfeiting and diversion. And it also protects the brand owner from potential liabilities should a counterfeit product succeed in a consumer injury. Due diligence to protect your brand is a vital strategy that cannot be overlooked.
*Source: The Lancet, Volume 371, Issue 9624, page 1,551
With Counterfeiting on the Rise, Brand security Plays a Vital Role to Both Large and Small Brands
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