Whitepaper
Downlod PDF Version

The Measure of a Brand: The Online Challenge

Setting the precedent

Policing a brand is not simply a matter of addressing the obvious threats such as Internet fraud or phishing attacks however. Ignoring what seem like minor nuisances – such as widespread unauthorized use of logos – can also lead to loss of rights to the brand. When challenging a brand violation in court, enterprises must demonstrate due diligence in protecting their logos and brand. If a company has not done that, courts will typically rule that the mark is no longer meaningful and has become ubiquitous. For some that could translate into the loss of tens of millions of dollars in brand equity. This turned out to be the fate for such brands as escalator and aspirin, simply because there was not enough effort put into protecting them – and this was long before the Internet came into play.

A growing need

It has become obvious to those that are close to the task of managing their brands that brand protection is a vital component for any corporate strategy. However, industry observers report that brand protection online in fact represents a major area of weakness for many enterprises today.

Gartner’s October 2007 report, “Managing online reputation is becoming a business imperative” says that businesses need to become more proactive in managing their reputation online in the face of rising crime and reputational persistence. As the Internet evolves and the level of sophistication of online crime increases, it is becoming ever riskier to participate on the Internet.”

It also predicts that by the end of 2010, criminals will routinely use the Internet to extort funds, which will damage corporate reputations by ensuring that routine online search activities return negative or libelous results. This leads to the inevitable conclusion that there is a compelling need for organizations to “get to grips” with Internet reputation management.

Brand Finance in its report notes, “Many companies continue to regard the recognition of brand values as tedious compliance rather than as an opportunity to better manage the business. This will have to change as competition increases in all sectors and countries.” It also states that brand valuation and analysis tends to be conducted under duress or for short-term reasons rather than as a management process.

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | Next