You can’t turn around these days without someone making an announcement. And I’ve got one of my own: I AM NO LONGER THE POLLYANNA OF BRAND PROTECTION; the Pollyanna who believes that brand owners absolutely must provide for consumer-level authentication in their product packaging.
For many years I fought the good and thorough fight. Consumers could and would be warriors against counterfeiting, a million sets of eyes, on high alert for counterfeit products. If you build it, Mr. Brand Owner, we have your back! Just tell us what to look for, we’re on the case!
With a nod to the Chicago-area sports radio broadcast segment that coined the phrase….Who you crappin’?
Consider the last time you were in a store (grocery, drug, hardware, etc.). Now, consider:
- Did you stop to question the authenticity of any of your purchases?
- Did you look for any identifying brand or security features?
- Did you whip out your smartphone and scan a QR code?
- Did you research any of your products online, either before or after the store visit, to find out the manufacturers’ anti-counterfeiting policies and practices?
Working in the area of brand protection and anti-counterfeiting, these types of questions are a bit more front-of-mind for me than probably many consumers wandering the typical store aisle. A few days ago I found myself in a national retail chain drugstore and, as I reached for my brand of shampoo, it did occur to me to wonder if the particular brand’s product I wanted to buy was “authentic”. After all, health and beauty products are high on the list of targets for counterfeiters.
My epiphany went something like this: “How the heck do I know? I’m not versed in every brand’s packaging efforts and besides, I don’t have time….places to go, people to see.” This was immediately followed by: “it’s not my job, that’s for the retailer and the manufacturer to figure out”. I was a little embarrassed at these thoughts given my Pollyanna view of the relationship between brands and their consumers. But it did give me pause.
Next I conducted a very unscientific poll of friends and family. None of them could answer any of those same questions in the affirmative (although I did get an earful about QR codes which I’ll save for another time!). Most of them were at least aware of counterfeit products but mostly by virtue of knowing me and hearing me wax poetic on the subject! Typically human was the perception that “it wouldn’t happen to them”.
So where DOES the responsibility for authentication of products lie? While I firmly believe more education and public awareness of the massive counterfeiting problem is needed, trying to engage the consumer to proactively engage in the fight against it is an uphill battle. It isn’t that we don’t care but, as consumers, we tend to think someone has our back. In the grand scheme of our day-to-day lives, we just aren’t up to the task of helping you police your product.
If you’re a brand owner looking to hire those million sets of eyes….be afraid, be very afraid. For we have seen the enemy and the enemy is us.