Change is needed for all online outreach brands to succeed

With the influx of online shopping in the modern age, many jewelry brands are starting to branch out and are establishing dedicated e-commerce web sites to provide easy access for their brand on the internet. The ease of access for customers around the globe has also made many pay attention to the online reputation management, as any negative feedback may break the brand’s image and lose customers. Another issue that has come into the fray, is the lack of any check on counterfeit brands which may take away potential customers. Charlie Abrahams of global brand protection company Mark Monitor sketches the changes to the digital landscape which are necessary for the brands to grasp in order to prevent their online presence being hijacked.

Big names in the business such as, Links of London, achieved success through the hard way. The bigger the brand the higher the risk of it being replicated by someone online and using fallacy adverts on the internet’s search portals to take away the online traffic that may have otherwise come to the original brand’s website. In this case, for Links of London as the brand grew, closing down counterfeit websites became imperative for its e-commerce ambitions. The reason being that the counterfeit websites were hindering the revenue generated by the original brand and also harming the goodwill of the brand.

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Links of London sought help of the web experts, and that lead them to find that more than 200 illegal websites were acquiring exclusive keywords and producing a surprising one million annual visits to their counterfeit sites. This traffic should have been reaching the official Links of London website. In addition, more than 750 sites were uncovered, diverting traffic from the luxury jewelry retailer. Action had to be taken and the company found that it was vital for it to work with online brand protection experts and online marketing professionals to develop a brand protection strategy robust enough to combat the online brand-jackers.

This is not an uncommon happening in the world of online shopping. Sadly though, it is a story which is bound to repeat itself over the course of time, with no sign of stopping soon that is why the brands have to come up with concrete steps to tackle this issue head on. The companies need solid online brand strategies to safeguard their brand name and the revenues generated from the online business. The internet is currently going through one of the biggest changes since its inception. There is a massive expansion of the Domain Name System (DNS) underway, and this will certainly impact the way brands do business online. The introduction of hundreds of new generic top level domains (gTLDs) means the portion of domain names located to the right of the dot that we have all become accustomed to, such as .com, .net or .org, will now include far more consumer targeted names. The ones that are likely to have the biggest impact on the jewelry industry are those gTLDs whose launches are imminent and eye-catching, such as .luxury, .gift and .diamonds.

Many jewelers around the world have a massive portion of their business on the web. Then, as the internet continues to go through evolution and expansion, the need for all brands to protect their digital presence increases significantly. The effect of any brand abuse therefor is telling for the business, as it becomes hard to recover from the snowballing which follows. As experts on protection of global online brand, we have put together our six top tips to help brands be prepared:

The New Gtld Reality

The new gTLDs represents new business opportunities. However, in order to defend yourself, a brand needs to create a complete scheme. Companies will need to make a decision on whether to register, quit, or protect their brands in the new domains. Businesses should involve colleagues across the company to balance threats, opportunities and constraints in the budget to develop a strategy.

Rethinking Defence

There are over 40 new gTLDs have been registered in the last month alone and this is set to accelerate. Companies will have to juggle around with their defensive registrations to adjust to a place that is up-to-date and responsive and efficiently monitors all brand abuse. Policies should be developed to detect and moderate domains that forge or copy trademarks or steal a brand’s traffic.

Efficient Enforcement

Companies such as Links of London and many luxury brands like them use technology successfully to combat counterfeit websites. The right technology allows companies to scale their efforts and gain greater efficiencies. It can uncover crucial data that charts the relationship between rogue websites, identifying entire networks of rogue sites rather than targeting them one by one individually. This technology-centric strategy speeds up investigations and produces greater ROI from any litigation investments.

Prioritise Domain Security

Hackers are responsible for taking over domains frequently and even shutting down entire websites. Domains are the property of businesses, therefore a high level of security, including the highest possible security from the domain-name registrar, should be adopted to maintain business continuity and brand reputation.

Social Media Savvy

Brandjackers take advantage of social media and mobile apps by impersonating brands. As both markets are fluid, a brand protection plan should reflect this to stay ahead of brandjackers. A global monitoring strategy is required to fend off brand issues on social sites in specific markets, such as China, which has fast become a hotbed for brand abuse.

Tailor Your Strategies Geographically

Successfully addressing brand abuse in markets like Asia requires a tailored brand protection strategy that will account for local differences. Businesses need to ensure their trademark registrations account for the requirements of different jurisdictions. In addition, it is important to monitor the wide variety of promotional and distribution channels serving Asian markets.