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The Measure of a Brand: The Online Challenge

The starting point

Tracking all of these efficiently and effectively requires highly sophisticated technology tools, as well as relationships with global Internet service providers (ISPs) and regulatory authorities. In our experience, searches can turn up hundreds – or even thousands - of infractions a day. However, it is estimated that 90% of improper usage is harmless (e.g. a charitable organization posting a sponsoring company’s logo on their Web site).

To avoid being overwhelmed with mountains of data, it is essential to have the processes in place to prioritize infractions according to their level of risk. Overall, brand concerns are the same for most companies. However, priorities can vary depending on a company’s market. For example, a consumer-products company would consider tracking counterfeit products and channel partner brand usage as top priorities, while a company marketing to family values would be suffer greater damage if their brand was linked to pornographic sites. A financial institution would place a higher priority on phishing and spoofing activities, since these activities would quickly erode consumer confidence.

Dealing with the aftermath

In situations where an infraction is detected and action required, engaging in the proper follow up processes is equally critical. In a majority of cases, issuing a cease and desist letter will be sufficient to remove sites that are misusing a logo or brand or have registered an inappropriate domain name.

Conceptual impact of an online infraction on a brand (e.g. a phishing attack):

source: Source: Brand Finance

An online brand infraction can have a significant impact on a brand’s value. This chart conceptually illustrates the potential damages and costs associated with an incident if proper policing measures are not put in place.

However, larger scale infractions can require extensive knowledge of - and connections with - international regulatory providers, jurisdictional authorities and regional ISPs. For those that do not have the infrastructure to deal in matters on this scale, it can be an extremely labor-intensive and costly process. In many cases it has taken companies months to implement the appropriate measures to take down offending sites or stop fraudulent activities, whereas an experienced specialist can escalate mitigation procedures and deliver actionable results within a matter of days.

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