Plagiarizing, thieving, and copying from others has always been a bothersome matter for people of all occupations, be it artists and writers or successful brands and products, no one is safe. All the time and effort put into the process of bringing your idea into reality is exploited by another without credit to the original. In business, this action can cause quite a trouble for the original brand that has been gathering loyal customers throughout the years through hard work and dedication. It breaks the trust of clients and ruins your business reputations.
Here are a few reasons as to why you should protect your brand and avoid being leeched by the fakes and imitators:
A brand’s name and image can easily be exploited and abused. A survey shows 91% of clients tend to buy from established and well-recognized brands. This can lead to others using your brand’s identity for scams and fake duplicates. The exploitation can be in the form of a fake website, social media impersonation and packaging design theft, etc. Since the fakes are using your brand name they can scam clients, sell unoriginal products, or carry out other blunders that can ruin the good image of your business. Companies need to be on the lookout for such attempts and fight back with proper countermeasures.
Customers are bound by the trust they invest in brands and their products. Since they regularly buy from their trusted brands, they need confidence and assurance for changing their seller and choosing your brand. This feat can be difficult once your brand’s reputation has been harmed by impersonators. A few bad experiences of consumers with the bogus duplicate of your business can lead to their dissatisfaction which can lead to clients warning others not to shop with you.
Your business partners and collaborators can break ties with you because of the mismanagement of the situation at hand. Businesses and brands work hard for years to gain more followers and collaborations with other popular brands. Both sides get featured and recognition through connecting their audiences. Certainly, any business would not be willing to be related to any fraudulent and scam brands, which leaves you all by yourself. As for customers, they get the fake products at a considerably low price and after realizing they have been scammed they cannot help but blame your brand.
Besides losing business partners, clients, and their trust, it takes a great deal of time, money, effort, and resources to fight against counterfeiters. Hiring expensive lawyers to fight the scammers and taking the time out for arrangements are avoidable through taking countermeasures beforehand.
Fakers are insistent and always go for businesses that can easily be used as a disguise. The first solution can be the registration of your brand and business. This gives you total ownership of your products and resources. Staying active on social media can also be of help in fighting counterfeiters, through actively identifying your page and brand to your customers. This also builds customer awareness, where people can realize the unique features of your products.