| ign="center"> | | | | it is a legitimately branded website in order to attract |
| Establishing a brand using online marketing is the way | | | | visitors, but in fact it is selling forged items such as |
| forward for today's entrepreneur. This has many | | | | toiletries and perfumes or something entirely |
| advantages over the often ponderous ways in which | | | | different such as pharmaceuticals. |
| we had to do it in the past and it is to be welcomed. | | | | Pirating and distributing copyrighted material - Many |
| We must beware however of dangers that lurk | | | | companies distribute their products online. For |
| within this world of online marketing. There are | | | | instance, software, music, literature and games are |
| thieves out there that are all too willing to steal our | | | | typically purchased and downloaded from branded |
| brand and divert our revenues to themselves. Typical | | | | websites. This type of material is often pirated and |
| of the ways in which this is achieved are as follows: | | | | pirated copies sold as genuine material. |
| Direct forgery or passing off - This is when a web | | | | Brand defacement - This can be thought of as an |
| site is effectively a direct copy of a legitimate | | | | exercise in anti-branding. It is when a competitor or |
| website. Such a website will use the copy, graphics | | | | disgruntled person or group mount a campaign that |
| and logo of the website they are emulating. | | | | often involves distributing malicious lies and rumours in |
| Cyber-squatting - This means registering a domain | | | | order to discredit their targeted company. |
| name that includes the intellectual property of brand | | | | Luckily people have become wise to these illegitimate |
| of another organisation or individual. There have been | | | | activities and scams, and as a result policing of these |
| numerous high profile court cases involving | | | | activities is becoming easier. In particular we are now |
| cyber-squatting. | | | | able to use online brand protection software to |
| Logo theft - There have been many instances of | | | | automatically detect these activities, and once |
| logos that belong to companies with a highly visible | | | | detected there are numerous measures we can take |
| brand being slightly modified and misused with the | | | | to halt them and prevent them in the future. |
| intention to deceive potential customers into believing | | | | For more information on how you can protect your |
| that the organisation is in fact the one, or at least | | | | business using online brand protection software or |
| affiliated to the one, from which they stole the logo. | | | | any other internet marketing tools, visit the experts |
| Brand forgery - This is when a website pretends that | | | | at today. |