webinar: a winning anti- counterfeiting strategy – …...webinar: a winning anti-counterfeiting...

Webinar: A Winning Anti-

Counterfeiting Strategy –

The Red Wing Shoes StoryThursday, June 26, 2014

AAFA Snapshot

Representing more than 1,000 world famous name brands, the

American Apparel & Footwear Association (AAFA) is the trusted

public policy and political voice of the apparel and footwear

industry, its management and shareholders, its four million U.S.

workers, and its contribution of $350 billion in annual U.S. retail

sales.

AAFA stands at the forefront as a leader of positive change for the

apparel and footwear industry. With integrity and purpose, AAFA

delivers a unified voice on key legislative and regulatory issues.

AAFA enables a collaborative forum to promote best practices and

innovation. AAFA’s comprehensive work ensures the continued

success and growth of the apparel and footwear industry, its

suppliers, and its customers.

Learn more about how AAFA wears our mission at wewear.org >

Today’s Speakers

Michael McDonaldManager, Government RelationsAAFA

Bill RoginaMarketing Specialist,Red Wing Shoes

Shane WintersBrand Protection, Client Engagement ManagerMarkMonitor

Agenda

� The Red Wing Shoes Story• Counterfeiting Challenge

• The Business Impact

• Scoping the Problem

• A Winning Anti-counterfeiting Strategy

• Measuring Success

• Scaling Our Anti-counterfeiting Strategy

� Anti-counterfeiting Best Practices

� Anti-counterfeiting Trends

The Red Wing Shoes Story

Bill Rogina

Red Wing Shoes

� Red Wing Shoes History• American footwear company established in 1905

• Specializes in work boots and shoes for industries like mining, logging and farming

• Maintains the highest standard of excellence

� Red Wing Shoes Products • Work boots, hunting boots and hiking footwear

� Global Presence with International Distributors

� Leading Brands• Heritage Collection, Irish Setter, WORX, Vasque

Counterfeiting Challenge

� Customer service team began receiving an influx of

product complaint calls

• Quality issues: Boots purchased online were falling apart

• However, we ONLY sell through retail stores – not online

� Further investigation revealed a significant online

counterfeit problem

The Business Impact

� Quality control and consumer safety issues

� Risk of brand erosion, protecting a 100 year-old premium

brand

� Damaging effects could harm business reputation,

particularly as we expand into new markets

Taking Action

� Marketing takes the lead, but fighting counterfeits is a

combined effort between Marketing and Legal

� Lack of internal bandwidth was an issue, one person is

focused on anti-counterfeiting

� Automated technology combined with 3rd party expertise

and support was the answer

Scoping the Problem

� Large-scale, global problem across multiple channels:• Rogue Websites

• Marketplaces

• B2B Exchanges

• Paid Search

• Social Media

� Problems were especially prevalent in Asia and Russia

� Discovered fraudulent coupons and paid search scams in

addition to counterfeit goods

What We Found: Rogue Websites

What We Found: Asian Marketplaces

What We Found: Promotions on Social Media

A Winning Anti-Counterfeiting Strategy

Monitor, Prioritize and Enforce

� Continuously monitor distribution and promotional

channels in relevant regions

� Prioritize the worst offenders and automatically enforce in

bulk

• Focus on volume sellers, highly-trafficked websites and marketplaces – follow the traffic

� Be persistent with repeat offenders, escalate enforcement

measures as necessary

� Remain vigilant, become a hard target

� Significant reduction in the number of customer

complaints

� Safeguarding integrity of the Red Wing Shoes brand

� Dramatic and steady decline in the number of counterfeit

listings and rogue websites

Measuring Success

Measuring Success: Before and After

Number of domains needing review that abuse Red Wing and other brands

has significantly declined due to aggressive enforcement efforts.

� Rolling out proven anti-counterfeiting strategy company-

wide—across all brands

� Educating internal stakeholders to raise awareness about

issues

� Making minor modifications to proven tactics to account for

regional differences

� Continuous corporate effort to protect the legacy of the Red

Wing Shoes brand

Scaling Our Anti-Counterfeiting Strategy

Anti-counterfeiting Best Practices and Trends

Shane Winters

� Attain Global Visibility

• Monitor major distribution and promotional channels

• Monitor regional marketplaces and B2B exchange sites

• Register your brand across these sites

� Be Proactive

• Watch for cyber squatters

• Become a difficult target by using all your weapons

� Act Swiftly—and Globally

• Infringement is more likely to removed the quicker you act

• Register trademarks internationally, bridging language hurdles

• Leverage local expertise

Anti-counterfeiting Best Practices

� Develop a Cross-functional Team

� Educate Your Customers

• Make it easy for your brand loyalists to find your policy

and report counterfeits

• Seek out information from industry and trade

organizations

Anti-counterfeiting Best Practices (continued)

Anti-counterfeiting Trends

� Advanced Anti-counterfeiting Technology and Rogue

Website Litigation

• Technology identifies ‘networks’ of rogue websites

• Understand scope and prioritize litigation targets

� Enables the timely and cost-effective removal of

rogue websites in high volume

� Has proven to be a highly successful strategy for

fashion brands

Thank You

•Bill RoginaMarketing SpecialistThe Red Wing Shoe [email protected]

•Shane WintersBrand Protection, Client Engagement [email protected]

•Michael McDonaldManager, Government [email protected]

• www.markmonitor.com

• www.wewear.org

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