Counterfeiting: why pre-launch leaks speed up fakes to market

Brands and consumers are increasingly helpless with fakes

Just type “how to spot a fake” on Google and see the extent of the problem : thousands of blogs and brands sites explain how to recognize a fake product and how to report it.

As more and more consumers are e-shoppers, their purchasing decision is based entirely on the product's image, so shopping on the internet presents more risks to buy a fake without even knowing it. This is how you may find out that this Gucci bag bought on Ebay is a fake, or you may be surprized to learn that the Black Friday Pandora Store was a scam and was selling copies.

Indeed, regardless of their counterfeiting ability, gray marketers only need to reuse the official product images to capture a substantial part of a brand's market.

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The speed race with counterfeiters

Scammers and counterfeiters know that the closer a product is sold to official launch, the less customers will think it is fake. But how can they reproduce and industrialize a product so quickly? It's impressive!

In fact, the key is more in anticipation than in speed. Product visuals are available long before the product itself. During an embargo period or well before the preparation of the launch, designs, renderings, photos of the product will go from hand to hand to produce all the necessary visuals (packaging, ads, catalogs, loan to ambassadors or influencers, marketing research, marketing material for point of sale resellers ...).

Brands often ignore the value of these visuals or struggle to protect them from leaks. Yet it is these images that will be used to produce early fakes!

Do not let leaked photos of your next product speed up fakes to market

IMATAG's advice: watch who uses your visuals and detect who is at the origin of their leak, this will help to clean up your production and sales process.

Some good readings linked to the topic:

The role of photography in counterfeiting

Fighting Piracy and Counterfeiting with Digital Watermarking

Tech Leaks : how serial leakers operate, how to fight as a brand

How To Protect Your Brand From Costly Product Leaks

More on IMATAG Leaks

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