2. MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
COUNTERFEITING
3. MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
Online channels are the new
frontier of brand protection. There,
protection methods play a high-
stakes game of cat and mouse
with fraudsters, who are constantly
evolving their evasion methods and
operate across national boundaries.
Online multi-channel marketing is on
the rise, as recent studies suggest
that 63% of marketing budgets
in 2015 were invested in online
channels.
4. Brand abusers and counterfeiters
now leverage all digital channels
to promote fraudulent activities.
Just like legitimate businesses,
brand abusers now utilise
marketing & promotion techniques
such as paid search advertising,
social media and SEO, diminishing
the return on marketing investment
(ROMI) of legitimate brands.
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
5. WHAT ARE THE MOST
COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS
FOR COUNTERFEITERS?
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
6. E-COMMERCE SITES
Also called rogue sites, these are set
up by 3rd parties with the intent to sell
branded goods. Sometimes these sites
will use general names but they can
also use brand specific names like, for
example, cheapnike.com.
In case of using a trademarked domain
name, counterfeiters try to deceive
people by impersonating the brand in
question, acting as the official site or as
an affiliated vendor.
In the case of generic domains, the
site might offer goods that infringe the
rights of a number of different brands,
acting not as an impersonator, but as an
authorized reseller or distributor.
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
7. ONLINE MARKETPLACES
These are websites that provide
an environment in which
organizations or individuals are
able to trade goods, either at a
set price or by auctioning.
Marketplaces are distinct from
standalone ecommerce sites, due
to the fact that on a marketplace,
multiple sellers are represented,
selling different products and
brands.
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
8. Marketplaces can be:
NOTE: Although this categorization exist, many
marketplaces include elements of more than one of these
different types of trades.
B2B
(Business to Business)
sites on which the
majority of the trade
is in high volume by
businesses to other
businesses.
B2C
(Business to Consumers)
sites on which the sales
are primarily to individual
consumers.
C2C
(Consumers to Consumers)
sites where consumers can
trade with each other.
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
9. Some of the biggest online marketplaces have fallen victim to counterfeits.
Had more than 400
million products listed
on the site in 2016. After
a string of negative
news reports about
counterfeits, it decided
to develop new brand
protection processes and
tools.
After complaints from
brands and consumers,
they developed new
initiatives such as their
VeRO program, to help
brands control their IP on
the site.
Alibaba, AliExpress,
and TaoBao have also
fallen victim to online
counterfeiters. In 2017
Taobao was even included
in a list of notorious markets
by the US
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
10. SOCIAL MEDIA
Includes websites, networks, and
apps that promote the creation
and sharing of generated content.
Social media users can:
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
Create customizable
online presence (like a
profile page, a handle or
a username).
Share content in a variety
of forms (including videos,
photos, blog entries and
tweets).
Connect with and
follow other people to
communicate directly with
them.
11. Nowadays the majority of
successful brands have a
presence on social media and
its easy to know why. 74% of
consumers rely on social media
to guide their purchases.
Researchers believe that by 2020
over 3 billion people will use some
form of social media, over a third
of the world’s population.
Counterfeiters have become
adept at intercepting social con-
versations and impersonating
brands for their own benefit. They
may generate links to unauthori-
sed sellers to divert traffic to their
URLs or promote false online cou-
pons, discount offers, gift cards
and outlet promotions. The
unauthorised use of copyrighted
images, photos or trademarked
brand names or slogans, deceive
consumers into thinking an offer is
legitimate and can easily interrupt
a brand’s attempts to develop and
foster engagement with consu-
mers.
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
12. MOBILE APPS
Mobile apps may be obtained
either from official marketplaces
or from a variety of other third-
party websites. They can be free
to download, or may be available
for purchase.
In 2014, the total global number
of app downloads was predicted
to exceed $179 billion by the
end of the year, a figure that was
projected to rise to almost $270
billion for 2017.
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
13. The app market is a huge one for
counterfeiters, which may make use of
the name of a legitimate brand to build
trust and generate revenue.
Between June and December of 2013,
the number of malicious Android
applications that were designed to steal
financial data increased by almost 400%.
That same year, 4 individuals were
prosecuted for their involvement
in running the app download site
Appbucket, dedicated to the distribution
of counterfeit apps, which generated a
profit of US $ 700,000.
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
14. Keeping an eye and monitoring
each of these channels is a
challenge, but it can be of great
advantage for brand owners to
protect their online presence.
By doing so, they prevent
counterfeiters and brand
impersonators from profiting off
their legitimate business.
MODULE 2. THE ONLINE WORLD.
LESSON 4. COMMON ONLINE CHANNELS.
