Press Release

• Comprehensive study shows how European companies can take effective action against counterfeiting and IP misuse

(Arvato Systems) Gütersloh – Looking for powerful ways to protect their businesses and brands against counterfeiting, many companies are successfully turning to special marketing communications as well as track-&-trace technologies. This is a result of the comprehensive Brand Protection Study 2022, which has now been published by the anti-counterfeiting experts of the IT specialist Arvato Systems and the communications agency Karg und Petersen.

The results of the large-scale Brand Protection Study 2022 – Innovative Strategies for Tackling Counterfeiting are now available online. „The survey among European companies confirms a trend that we have been observing in the markets for several years,“ explains Steffen Baumhauer, head of anti-piracy communications at the agency Karg und Petersen. „Traditional anti-counterfeiting approaches, such as legal means, are increasingly being supplemented or even partially replaced by new, innovative measures.“ After all, counterfeiting is now a global problem worth billions, and dealing with it demands a high level of efficiency and flexibility from affected companies.

Special brand protection communications seen as particularly effective by companies

More than nine out of ten companies value the opportunities offered by special brand protection communications to raise awareness of counterfeiting and piracy. Companies place particularly high value on such special communications if they are heavily affected by counterfeiting, as the study shows. Many businesses also emphasize that the right communications can effectively involve key stakeholders such as employees, partners, customers, and dealers in anti-counterfeiting efforts. About 90 percent of companies also see communications on brand protection as a way to spread the word about the risks of fake products – and this can even minimize the demand for counterfeits in the long run. „The fact that companies are so satisfied with special anti-counterfeiting communications shows how exceptionally effective such special measures from advertising and PR can be,“ Baumhauer concludes.

Technical solutions enable digital monitoring along the distribution chain

Technological brand protection tools, such as serialization and track & trace, score highly with respondents, with e.g. 96 percent commending the possibility to easily check the authenticity of products. Companies also place a high value on the availability of real-time information and the opportunity to integrate brand protection and aftersales. „Technical solutions are an excellent add-on to increase the effectiveness of brand protection measures – the Brand Protection Study shows that such innovative measures are being used successfully. In many cases by companies that have already gained a lot of experiences with illegal imitations,“ says Pauline Poppensieker, anti-counterfeiting expert at Arvato Systems. Around half of the companies surveyed are “fully satisfied” with their technical measures, the study shows.

Large-scale survey provides a broad picture
The cross-industry survey was supported by various business associations and anti‑counterfeiting organizations from Germany, Austria, and Switzerland. The large number of participants from a wide range of industries in 15 European countries provides a comprehensive picture of the current situation in Europe.

The full results report of the brand protection study, featuring numerous further insights, is now available for download on the websites of Arvato Systems and Karg und Petersen.

Study was launched by renowned anti-counterfeiting service providers

The anti-counterfeiting study was conducted by two distinguished experts in the fields of brand protection communications and corresponding IT solutions. Karg und Petersen has been developing specialized advertising and PR campaigns for more than 20 years, helping companies to reduce demand for counterfeiting goods, deter counterfeiters, or involve key stakeholders such as authorities and retailers, for example. IT specialist Arvato Systems offers serialization and track & trace solutions to track products within the supply chain in real time and identify counterfeits from originals.

Effective measures to tackle counterfeiting have become an essential success factor for many companies. Current studies, e.g. by EUIPO and OECD, estimate the annual cross-border trade in counterfeit goods at a staggering 464 billion US dollars. German customs recently reported a rapid increase in counterfeit goods seized in 2021: Customs investigators pulled a total of around 315 million euros worth of counterfeits out of circulation in Germany alone last year.