Advanced technology brought us many great things. With it, we can find the latest news in the world, stay informed, do our job more easily, have fun, or even relax. However, technology also found its use in some things that aren’t as great.
For example, more and more companies are coming across copies of their products. These, usually much cheaper, alternatives can cause a great deal of damage to brands and their customers. Unfortunately, with fast worldwide shipping, and numerous blogs, articles, and pictures, companies can easily get access to the desired product and make a perfect copy.
Now more than ever, companies need to take serious steps in protecting their brands and minimize the risks of infringement. In this article, we’ll discuss why and how you need to improve your brand protection.
Understanding the need for brand protection
Although most brands think they’re safe from counterfeiting just because they’re a starter company or a small business, that can’t be further away from the truth.
Namely, counterfeiters are intentionally looking for any brand that may have weak protection, target them, and use everything in their power to gain financial benefit out of their products. They use all kinds of techniques and methods to get to their goal, so it’s never too early to protect your brand.
Furthermore, most companies make a mistake by dealing with protection only when they come across their counterfeited products, but then it’s much harder to get legal protection and trace the location of the fake products.
Protection is important for the following reasons:
1. Improves sales
With protected brands and products, your potential customers won’t have the chance to go for counterfeited versions. This step instantly increases your total sales since all the customers buy original products and participate in your company’s income.
2. Maintains reputation
Guaranteed quality of every product and no available fake products on the market participate in a higher and better brand reputation. Everyone will know your brand for what you made it to be, and no outside factors will decrease it.
3. Increases partnership opportunities
Higher brand reputation and protection instantly increase opportunities for collaborations, partnerships, and investments. Everyone wants to work with a highly reputable and authentic brand, so company protection can also influence the future chances your brand might have.
4. Legal power
Brand protection comes with a certain degree of legal power over anyone who copies your products or ideas. In this way, companies can take legal action if their products happen to be counterfeited. Additionally, infringers are much less likely to go for companies with modern protection.
What’s the modern approach to brand protection?
Although it’s around us for some time now, the contemporary approach to brand protection differs from the one in the past.
With new laws, mediums, and technologies, companies need to pay close attention to the following things to successfully protect their brand:
- Register intellectual property – by using a trademark, copyright, or patent registration, you’ll protect your brand from any possible infringement tactics.
- Sign an NDA – by signing a non-disclosure agreement, you’ll protect any sensitive and confidential information when working with partners, investors, or anyone outside of the company.
- Use protection software – all kinds of online software and applications are available for tracking and tracing any harmful activities connected to your brand.
What you stand to lose if you ignore this need
Ignoring the much-needed protection can have extreme consequences. In many ways, your brand and business will suffer, and you’re putting the entire company at stake. However, let’s take a closer look at how the lack of protection affects your assets.
1. Sales
The counterfeiters lure your potential customers with great prices and deals, and unfortunately, many clients fall for the affordable price and go for the fake products without even realizing it. That way, the infringers take the money from the sales, which would be yours instead.
2. Customers
It’s no secret that the main aim of counterfeiters and infringers is to trick people into buying products that aren’t original. However, this can cost you many customers since they’ll often go for the more approachable and cheaper version.
3. Visibility
Over time, the counterfeiters gain more money and produce more goods, making their products available in new areas. Their increased visibility will decrease yours, so your customers won’t be able to make a distinction where to buy their goods.
4. Reputation
Finally, everything mentioned above results in a bad brand reputation. Customers will complain about bad quality, the difference between pictures and actual products, which will all negatively affect your company’s success.
Conclusion
It’s never too early to protect your brand and business from negative impacts. Infringers are always lurking to find new goods they can copy and sell, so maintaining the highest level of protection is a crucial step towards a successful business. You can easily do this by combining the three necessary steps towards achieving modern company protection.
Related: 7 Ways to Increase Your Startup’s Branding on a Limited Budget
Cover Photo by Franck on Unsplash