Examining and Evaluating the Effect of Brand Protection Strategies On Product Counterfeiting

The manufacture and distribution of counterfeit versions of genuine brands present a growing financial risk to the stability and success of victimized manufacturers. Counterfeiters represent a criminal enterprise engaged in intellectual property theft operating in direct competition with legitimate manufacturers. At the corporate level anti-counterfeit strategies considered for implementation must deliver the greatest degree of efficiency and effectiveness possible if the successful reduction of counterfeit product is the desired result. The purpose of the study was to examine the effectiveness and efficiency of proactive, reactive, and combined anti-counterfeit strategies implemented by brand owners victimized by counterfeiting. A qualitative multiple case study design was applied to investigate the perceptions of corporate brand protection managers charged with implementing, managing, and evaluating the effectiveness and efficiency of anti-counterfeit strategies. The research was conducted in two phases. Phase one consisted of a survey distributed to brand protection managers in 36 corporations identified by the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition as corporations that (a) had been or currently were victims of counterfeiting of their brands and (b) had implemented some version of anti-counterfeit strategy. In Phase two, 12 survey respondents were selected to participate in an in-depth interview conducted telephonically that examined interviewee confidence in determining the success of selected anti-counterfeit strategies, corporate definition for strategy success or failure, whether a formal process existed for assessing anti-counterfeit strategy effectiveness and efficiency, and what the managers perceived was needed to enhance confidence in assessing the effectiveness and efficiency of the anti-counterfeit strategy chosen to implement. The research results indicated brand protection managers perceived proactive strategies to be slightly more effective and reactive strategies slightly more efficient. Participants were confident in their reported perceptions of effectiveness and efficiency, concluding a combination of strategies may represent the most effective and efficient strategic approach to product counterfeiting. Opportunities are suggested for further studies, examining the effectiveness and efficiency of anti-counterfeiting strategies from the perspectives of product counterfeiters or quantitative studies seeking a more specific determination of counterfeit growth after strategy implementation.