Management Forum Blog

The International Authentication Association (IAA), an international trade organization, urges businesses not be distracted from brand protection efforts in spite of the economic downturn.

* Many companies are cutting down on time and resources invested on brand protection.
* Economic uncertainty makes it even more critical to have a comprehensive and ongoing anti-counterfeiting strategy in place.
* Authentication technologies provided by IAA member-companies protects global products valued in the hundreds of billions.

The economic slowdown and poor business climate may have caused companies to cut down on efforts that must continue precisely because of today’s uncertainties.  According to a recent survey by the intellectual property firm Marks & Clerk*, as much as 80 percent of managers said that they were ‘too busy’ to spend more time on brand protection or get involved only when a counterfeiting or competitive threat has emerged. Just a fifth of the respondents are spending more time on brand protection.

Against this backdrop, the International Authentication Association (IAA), a global organization that fights counterfeiting, has stressed the need for brand and product owners to have a comprehensive and ongoing anti-counterfeiting strategy in place, warning them against reducing the time and resources invested in brand protection.

It’s easy to see why. The survey results come at a time when the threats of counterfeiting and piracy are spiraling and brand protection has never been more urgent. The latest report by the Organisation of Economic Development (OECD) estimates that the global counterfeiting market has now topped $200 billion, while the Counterfeiting and Intelligence Bureau (CIB) predicts fake goods will make up to seven percent of world trade.

David Howard, IAA Chair, explains: “There’s no doubt that budgets are under threat in the current climate but not protecting your brand correctly is not an option…Counterfeiters need little excuse [during] the best of times and economic hardship is likely to be a recipe for increased criminality. If companies are cutting back on their anti-counterfeiting efforts, the market will be more attractive for fakes.”

While companies must inevitably take a hard look at their costs, combating counterfeits has proven to be an effective way to maintain revenues and market share. Howard added: “The costs of protecting your products are low compared to the problems and financial headaches that counterfeiting and infringement [bring to] a business …”

IAA – A Leading Voice for Brand Protection
The IAA comprises 20 of the world’s leading brand owners and suppliers of authentication technologies, including flagship brands Johnson & Johnson, Honeywell, 3M Brand and Asset Protection, Authentix, Dupont Authentication and Hologram Industries, to name a few.

The organization’s raison d’etre is to promote the use of authentication technologies as an integral part of an effective anti-counterfeiting strategy. Education is a key element of this agenda, with the IAA playing a prominent role in educating government agencies, inter-government organizations and brand owners about the roles and uses of authentication.

Howard, who is also director of product protection at Johnson & Johnson, explains: “While counterfeiting and piracy are age-old problems, the globalization of world trade has seen an exponential increase in the [problems'] scale and [impact] …Increased trade, new technologies and ‘grey’ markets, particularly the internet, have intensified [an] already acute [situation].
“The International Authentication Association is an important voice for the authentication community. It will promote and explain the uses of authentication in a climate when the potential to benefit from these technologies has never been greater,” Howard concluded.

A Range of Authentication Technologies from IAA Member Companies
To combat threat of counterfeiting worldwide, brand owners use an array of authentication technologies to protect their products as part of anti-counterfeiting strategies. Today, technology provided by members of the IAA protects global products valued in the hundreds of billions, including the majority of the world’s currencies, numerous passports, ID cards and other vital documents as well as everyday items such as jewelry, mobile phones, computers and clothing. Authentication solutions include:

* Overt devices visible to the naked eye such as a hologram or color-changing ink
* Hidden devices such as ultraviolet inks or scrambled images, often revealed to the human eye through handheld inspection devices to increase the level of security
* More sophisticated covert devices such as chemical tags in packaging or electronic and embedded codes
*  Forensic devices requiring laboratory analysis

A combination of these components is often incorporated into a single device for greater efficacy.

Increasing Awareness and Appreciation of the Value of Authentication
According to David Howard, “Authentication technologies are on the front line of the war against counterfeiting every day …Unfortunately the role that they play and the impact that they have are not fully appreciated. One of the key aims of the IAA will be to change this and build a better appreciation of the value of authentication in an anti-counterfeiting and brand protection strategy.”
With this goal in mind, the IAA is developing a new Authentication Framework – expected to be completed in late 2009 – that will help to develop a common understanding of authentication, its value and, most significantly, assist brand owners in making the case for authentication and how they should go about it.

For more information about the IAA, visit its website at: www.internationalauthenticationassociation.org

Article provided by the: