Opening Lines: The Last Line of Defense
Involve customers in the fight against counterfeiting.
By Jennifer Kwok, EditorA few weeks ago, I had an unpleasant shopping experience. I needed to buy new razors, and I was in a rush. I quickly ducked into a store and grabbed a bag of what looked like my favorite brand of razors. The packaging looked pretty similar, right down to the pink outer bag and the pink razors. Of course, when I got home and tried shaving, I discovered that the razor was actually the store’s private-label version, which unfortunately did not work as well. Now I am stuck with a bag of razors that
I don’t like.
This experience drove home to me how much consumers rely on a brand’s packaging to tell them what they are purchasing. Brand identity is so important. This is why brands protect their trademarks so fiercely. In the case of my razors, the packaging wasn’t mislabeled or an exact replica. And while intentionally blurring the line a bit between brands may be misleading, in this case, it wasn’t a crime.
Counterfeiting, however, is a crime. According to a Vandagraf International January 2008 report, the counterfeit beauty product market is now worth $22 billion, or 10% of the total market for fragrances and cosmetics. As a result, there is healthy demand for anticounterfeiting technologies. If your brand does not currently take advantage of such devices, I strongly suggest that you get on board.
One particular device caught my attention recently. It’s a new anticounterfeiting feature that carton supplier Chesapeake Corp. (Lake Success, NY) introduced, called Pro-tex. What makes Pro-tex unique is that it allows customers to verify the authenticity of a product.
According to the system, product cartons are each assigned a unique alphanumeric identification code. Using a cell phone, consumers can then text-message a database to register the code. Soon after, customers would receive a text message confirming either that the code is authentic, or, if a code has already been registered by someone else or is not recognized by the database, a text message would be sent to alert the consumer to that fact.
This type of authentication system is the last line of defense in the product-tracking chain because until a package is in a customer’s hands, there is no guarantee that the package has not been counterfeited or tampered with during its journey.
I am not sure that I would go through the trouble of text-messaging for a product as inexpensive as a razor. However, for a big-ticket item, such as a very expensive perfume, I might. So might other consumers.
To brands, I suggest taking good anticounterfeiting measures. To consumers, I advise: Read your packaging labels in the store.