Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat? “As Australian brands become more active in the online space, they are more exposed to attacks by brand abusers...”

White Paper Prepared by Edward Seaford:

The Internet is revolutionising the way brands engage and communicate with customers; however it is also opening the door to brand abuse, resulting in costly implications. In fact, the very elements that make the web so attractive to brands also make it extremely easy for brand abusers to damage online reputations. There is a general lack of understanding of the threats Australian brands are exposed to on the internet. Currently, the majority of businesses are ill equipped to identify and counteract brand abuse.

(03) 9820 0466 | [email protected] | www.webip.com.au

Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

The Internet is revolutionising the way brands engage and communicate with customers; however it is also opening the door to brand abuse, resulting in costly implications. In fact, the very elements that make the web so attractive to brands also make it extremely easy for brand abusers to damage online reputations.

Contents Executive Summary

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The Situation: Australian brands under threat

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1. Online Brand Infringements

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2. Reputation Damaging Content

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3. Poor Online Brand Compliance

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4. Online Fraud

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How Web IP can help with Online Brand Monitoring

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

The Internet is revolutionising the way brands engage and communicate with customers; however it is also opening the door to brand abuse, resulting in costly implications. In fact, the very elements that make the web so attractive to brands also make it extremely easy

Executive Summary As Australian brands become more active in the online space, they are more exposed to attacks by brand abusers. The Internet is revolutionising the way brands engage and communicate with customers; however it is also opening the door to brand abuse, resulting in costly implications. In fact, the very elements that make the web so attractive to brands also make it extremely easy for brand abusers to damage online reputations. There is a general lack of understanding of the threats Australian brands are exposed to on the internet. Currently, the majority of businesses are ill equipped to identify and counteract brand abuse. Emboldened by brands’ lack of monitoring and protection, brand abusers are becoming more pervasive and sophisticated in their techniques and attacks. The channels available for brand abusers to damage online reputations is growing quicker than most business can keep up: facebook, twitter, linkedin, youtube, instagram, over 2000 other social media sites, hundreds of thousands of blogs, email, online advertising, ecommerce, and the list goes on. Threats vary from industry to industry, and brand to brand. They include online brand infringements, reputation damaging content, poor online brand compliance, and online fraud. A single brand can be subject to one or all of these attacks at any time. Moreover, as the complexity of online brand abuse grows, the challenge to identify them in a timely manner becomes an increasingly difficult task.

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

The Internet is revolutionising the way brands engage and communicate with customers; however it is also opening the door to brand abuse, resulting in costly

By having a comprehensive understanding of the threats in the context of their organisation, backed up by a comprehensive brand protection and monitoring strategy, senior managers and marketing executives can be more confident their brand will be able to withstand incidences of brand abuse. This whitepaper aims to first provide insight into the threats Australian brands are facing online, and then identify the brand protection strategies to help marketers stay one step ahead when it comes to protecting their brands and mitigating the impact of online brand abuse.

implications. In fact, the very elements that make the web so attractive to brands also make it extremely easy

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

The Internet has become essential to the global economy in a very short period of time. Australian brands of all sizes, across all industries are fast recognising that online activity opens a whole world of business opportunities. It is more efficient, faster and cheaper, in addition to providing an exciting venue for connecting with customers.

The Situation: Australian brands under threat The Internet has become essential to the global economy in a very short period of time. Australian brands of all sizes, across all industries are fast recognising that online activity opens a whole world of business opportunities. It is more efficient, faster and cheaper, in addition to providing an exciting venue for connecting with customers. The top Australian brands have made the successful transition to online and are prospering, along with many smaller brands you may never have heard of. Consider Qantas, Woolworths, Commonwealth Bank, QBE Insurance, 1300 Flowers and Telstra. These innovative brands are leading the way when it comes to embracing the Internet’s boundless opportunities. Ecommerce sales in Australia grew to AUD $33 Billion in 2012 and are projected to grow to $37 Billion in 2013i. Compared to the UK and the US, Australia has proven to be an online retail oasis. With a population of over 22 million, over 19.5 million are onlineii spending on average $190 per annum via online retail aloneiii. Many international brands are now targeting Australian online consumers; as a result Australian brands need to be proactive in their approach to online activity. However, while Australian brands are taking advantage of the opportunities online, are they protecting themselves against the threats? In many cases, the answer is no. In contrast with Western Europe or the US, Australian businesses are largely unaware of the threats that cause significant harm, embarrassment and loss of revenue in the online sphere. In many

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

Without the strategies, tools or expertise to prevent online attacks, all the hard work that goes into getting an Australian brand thriving online can be ruined in a matter of

companies, marketing directors and risk managers do not conduct any online monitoring. While about six in 10 brands track their brand online on a daily basis in the USiv, Web IP estimates that less than 10 per cent manage to do so in Australia. It is no wonder Australian brands have caught the attention of brand abusers. After so many years focusing on the US and Western European markets, Australia is now becoming a perfect hunting ground for foreign and domestic brand abusers. We boast a prospering economy, a thriving online retail sector and strong brands with limited online monitoring or protective mechanisms in place.

minutes. Without the strategies, tools or expertise to prevent online attacks, all the hard work that goes into getting an Australian brand thriving online can be ruined in a matter of minutes.

The Threats Brands rarely limit their online activities to one place and as such, brand abusers have evolved their attacks to take advantage of different online venues: search engines, social networking, ecommerce, auction sites, email and blogs are just a few of the places targeted by brand abusers. A single legitimate brand can be victim to an array of attacks, from online fraud and phishing to domain squatters, counterfeiters fake goods online, disgruntled employees and lobby groups creating damaging websites to encourage boycotts. The list is endless, and it’s growing. The massive growth of social media has also impacted online brand abuse in a big way. Social media penetration in Australia ranks fourth worldwidev, behind the US, Canada and South Korea,

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

Naturally, the threats vary from industry to industry and brand to brand. While the methods of abuse are always evolving, the most common threats can be identified and brands can implement strategies to stay one step ahead.

but ahead of Russia, the UK and Spain. As a result, brands face exposure to a global audience of critics and opinions via Facebook, Twitter, blogs, and so on. Viral reactions to poor product performance, bad customer service, trolls and other issues can have a profound effect on the bottom line and bring a brand to its knees. You only need to look at the Just Jeans hoax in facebook to see the impact brand abusers can have on customers. A fake social media profile was registered as “Just Jeans” and contained the store’s logo as its profile image. Visitors who posted comments to the page received responses from the hoaxer in a game that lasted for 12 hours. As a result, Just Jeans needed to apologise for a swathe of offensive, unauthorised posts by a troll who wasn’t even associated with their business. Naturally, the threats vary from industry to industry and brand to brand. While the methods of abuse are always evolving, the most common threats can be identified and brands can implement strategies to stay one step ahead. The key threats can be categorised into: 1. 2. 3. 4.

Online brand infringements Reputation damaging content Poor online brand compliance Online fraud

Let’s look at these in more detail.  

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

Obtaining a domain name that is closely associated with a particular brand is imperative. However, the activities of Cyber

1. Online Brand Infringements With its openness, global reach and versatility, the Internet has created massive opportunities for marketers to communicate their brand messages. However, these same qualities have created a fertile ground for online brand infringements, such as cybersquatting and social media registration infringements.

Squatters means an increasing number of organisations are struggling to register the domain name they want to trade under.

Domain Names – Cybersquatting The Problem Obtaining a domain name that is closely associated with a particular brand is imperative. However, the activities of Cybersquatting means an increasing number of organisations are struggling to register the domain name they want to trade under. Cybersquatting set out to register the names of web domains linked to recognised brands in order to either direct traffic to their own sites, sell counterfeit goods or try to sell the domain name back to the brand owner or one of its competitors for an inflated price. A common type of cybersquatting is typosquatting, where brand abusers deliberately register a misspelling of a trademark to confuse customers. Another type is doppelganger domains, which sees brand abusers place a dot or hyphen in the domain name to make it look similar to a legitimate domain name, for example austpost.com.au can become aust.post.com.au. These domain names are often used as platforms for phishing attacks and email fraud. The Impact Cybersquatting is not new. The bad faith registration of domain names is big business for brand abusers and a huge problem for

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

Globally, the growth of online shopping is causing an alltime high in legal challenges over web domain ownership. Armani, Burberry, Cartier and Dior have defended their brands and taken up cases with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which is responsible for the promotion of the protection of intellectual property throughout the world.

brand and trademark owners. Approximately 25 per cent of website traffic can come from users typing in the exact domain name of a company into their browser’s address field, known as ‘direct navigation’. This means a company can lose a significant amount of traffic through misdirection caused by cybersquatting. According to research conducted by CADNA and FairWinds Partners, the economic impact of cybersquatting is significant. Their research states that “the practice of cybersquatting costs brand owners worldwide over $1 billion U.S. dollars every year as a result of diverted traffic, the loss of hard-earned trust and goodwill, and the increasing enforcement expense of protecting consumers from Internet-based fraud. These figures include the estimated increase in search engine keyword click fees due to PPC sites and the enforcement costs associated with addressing just 5% of the domains secured by cyber squatters.” iv Take the retail industry. Globally, the growth of online shopping is causing an all-time high in legal challenges over web domain ownership. Armani, Burberry, Cartier and Dior have defended their brands and taken up cases with the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO), which is responsible for the promotion of the protection of intellectual property throughout the world. Gucci has also brought six cases before WIPO to win control of more than 100 domain names, such as cheapguccionsale.com and guccishoppingonline.org. Every brand is under threat, no matter their size or business area. The global search engine brand, Google, recently pushed one cybersquatter off 763 Google-related domain names. Facebook filed and won a dispute at WIPO over facebook.info and Apple won a dispute over aplestore.com.

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

When a company uses or copies the trademark of another company, it results in the confusion of deception of consumers. This is called trademark infringement. With the rise of online marketing in Australia, this is

Tourism Australia has also had its fair share of threats. The master brand uses the domain name www.tourism.australia.com; however for its 2010 marketing campaign ‘There’s nothing like Australia’, it launched a micro-site www.nothinglikeaustralia.com inviting consumers to share their local secrets with the world. Within hours, the first post appeared on a satirical website www.nothinglikeaustralia.net with mock ads featuring the likes of Lindy Chamberlain and Steve Irwin. A photograph of Ms Chamberlain and her daughter is depicted with the official Tourism Australia logo and the words ‘‘There’s nothing like a dingo taking your baby’’. There is also speculation that the move to add new general-toplevel (gTLD) domain names – such as .play or .melbourne – will see a rise in cybersquatting. It is critical that Australian brands are ready to deal with the rising threat of cybersquatting by considering which trademarks need to be registered in ICANN’s Trademark Clearinghouse and developing a domain registration strategy.

a growing online threat.

Trademark Infringements The Problem When a company uses or copies the trademark of another company, it results in the confusion of deception of consumers. This is called trademark infringement. With the rise of online marketing in Australia, this is a growing online threat. The Impact Trademark infringement can take place between competitors, with one brand using keywords on the basis of the competitor’s brand name for search engine optimisation (SEO) or pay-per-click advertising. The search traffic is therefore directed to the infringer’s website.

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

The challenge for brands is that it is still unclear whether Google’s AdWords services constitute trademark infringement in Australia. Therefore, it is critical that companies have a complete online marketing strategy to protect registered trademarks from competitors and

Online marketing services like Google’s AdWords have triggered a rise in legal cases worldwide, including in Australia. AdWords is a search engine feature which allows a company to bid for keywords that trigger a sponsored link to the company’s website when used as search terms in Google searches. However, it has been argued by a number of companies that Google is infringing their trademark by selling the company’s registered trademarks as search keywords to their competitors. Recently, AAPT complained to Google that Telstra had purchased its trademark “AAPT” from Google AdWords. When a user searched for “AAPT” on Google, a sponsored link for Telstra would appear. The challenge for brands is that it is still unclear whether Google’s AdWords services constitute trademark infringement in Australia. Therefore, it is critical that companies have a complete online marketing strategy to protect registered trademarks from competitors and brand abusers.

brand abusers.

Social Media Registration Infringements The Problem Australian brands are simply not meeting the requirements of brand security on social media. The number of Facebook and Twitter accounts that are not controlled by the actual brand owner is alarming. Instead these pages are controlled by opportunists, fans, staff members or third parties who claim to have similar named brands or products. The Impact By failing to secure your brand through social media, there are at least two major implications. First, there is brand confusion. Take

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

The aforementioned Just Jeans hoax was a result of Just Jeans not monitoring their own page’s activity at the time. One of the exchanges between the hoaxer and a customer tool place at 6pm. Another post was added at 3am and were not responded to by the real Just Jeans until 1.23pm the following day.

the iconic Australia chocolate milk drink, Milo (now a Nestlé brand). There are two Milo pages, one of which has over 364,000 fans, while the other has only 40,000. As a consumer, it is difficult to work out which one is the official Milo (Nestlé) pagevii. This means when customers want to engage with Milo, they are not necessarily interacting through the correct channel. Likewise, when Nestle want to communicate to its Milo customers, it is not necessarily reaching the full scale. Secondly, inadequate brand security in the online space can cause irreparable brand damage. A number of Australian brands have already been subject to what are perhaps the worse case scenarios: hate pages, the use of unauthorised logos and content being uploaded to purposefully damage a brand’s reputation. The aforementioned Just Jeans hoax was a result of Just Jeans not monitoring their own page’s activity at the time. One of the exchanges between the hoaxer and a customer tool place at 6pm. Another post was added at 3am and were not responded to by the real Just Jeans until 1.23pm the following day. This case highlights that Facebook is a 24-hour site and monitoring should not be restricted to Australian office hours.

This case highlights that Facebook is a 24-hour site and monitoring should not be restricted to Australian office hours.

2. Reputation Damaging Content Warren Buffet said, “It takes 20 years to build a reputation and five minutes to ruin it.” Thanks to the Internet and social media, this has never been truer. The web gives malicious competitors and disgruntled parties the unparalleled ability to smear the reputation of legitimate businesses. The Internet is increasingly the first stop for consumers wanting to find information about a brand, company or product. This means, more than ever, Australian companies

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

With billions of conversations occurring daily, for brand owners to find and manage negative

need to rise to the challenge to ensure that malicious online content does not unfairly detract from the brand equity they’ve worked so hard to build. The result of a negative online reputation can be as simple as the consumer clicking on the competitor’s search result instead of yours, or as serious as an industry-wide boycott of your products.

conversations before they go viral is a difficult, if not impossible, task. The key challenge businesses face online is navigating through reams of content to quickly identify issues that can affect their online reputation, and deal with them effectively.

Social Media and Blogs The Problem Social media is growing at a phenomenal rate, and it shows no signs of slowing. There are over 2,000 popular channels, millions of blogs and micro blogs, and a million new users signing up to mainstream social media every day. There are more opportunities than ever before to quickly rank negative or slanderous content on the search engines. If you don’t protect your brand, someone can easily post a comment, promote your competition, make a video, develop a hate site, create a blog post, and more. With billions of conversations occurring daily, for brand owners to find and manage negative conversations before they go viral is a difficult, if not impossible, task. The key challenge businesses face online is navigating through reams of content to quickly identify issues that can affect their online reputation, and deal with them effectively. The Impact You only need to look at the Dell Hell crisis to see the potential impact of a single blog post on your brand. In the 2005 crisis, Dell became the poster child for poor reputation management, when a blogger posted a single negative comment about its customer service, calling it “Dell Hell”. The lengthy post attracted computer buyers globally and produced a domino effect that caused drastic

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

According to Wikipedia, there are 519 newspapers in Australia and thousands more magazines and niche publications – and that’s just the print media. Add to that the broadcast (television and radio) and online (news sites, blogs and social media) – most of which are broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week – it’s no wonder that organisations find it impossible to keep track of it all.

declines in Dell’s success. Dell Inc. became “Dell Hell”, and the company quickly learned that bloggers could make a difference; comments can have an actual impact on your brand’s reputation and profits.

Online Media The Problem According to Wikipedia, there are 519 newspapers in Australia and thousands more magazines and niche publications – and that’s just the print media. Add to that the broadcast (television and radio) and online (news sites, blogs and social media) – most of which are broadcasting 24 hours a day, seven days a week – it’s no wonder that organisations find it impossible to keep track of it all. The Impact Online news stories – good and bad – are permanent mark on the brand. A bad story can be cemented in search results for months, even years after the issue is resolved, and cause damage to the brand’s reputation.

3. Poor Online Brand Compliance Consistent online branding provides companies with a strong online presence and is a powerful way to communicate brand messages to customers. Branding experts estimate that a company’s brand is equivalent to 35-40 per cent of the company’s market capitalisation. When online brand compliance is not enforced or encouraged consistently, it can create a gap between how customers perceive your company and how you want to be perceived. The wider this gap, the more confusion occurs among your online customers and potential customers. Inconsistent messages will result in poor sales.

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

Companies have always had to tackle the threat of fraud, however now technology is playing a bigger part in fraud cases as hackers become more adept at attacking company networks. The very channels a business relies on to interact with its customers can just a quickly damage the brand’s reputation and integrity.

Effective management of your online brand yields tangible results. However, online brand compliance is more than just fonts and colour. A website is an immersive experience of your brand and your standards should cover everything which contributes to that experience, such as content presentation, code standards, usability, SEO and legal issues such as data protection.  

4. Online Fraud Companies have always had to tackle the threat of fraud, however now technology is playing a bigger part in fraud cases as hackers become more adept at attacking company networks. The very channels a business relies on to interact with its customers can just a quickly damage the brand’s reputation and integrity. One sector where brands suffer major implications from online fraud is banking. The likes of NAB, CBA and Westpac are constantly being subject to various email scams designed to compromise customers’ online user credentials or personal information in order to illegally obtain and transfer funds overseas. As a result, the victims lose trust with the brand. It is critical for brand owners to understand the different types of online fraud in order to protect their customers and their reputation. And it’s not just the banks. In 2010 airlines across the world lost $1.4 billion to online fraud. So who pays for the online fraud? You do. Your brand doesn’t just suffer direct financial loss from the fraud incident but customers are less likely choose your brand for future transactions if they think you are pose a risk to their security.

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

The Internet is revolutionising the way brands engage and communicate with customers; however it is also opening the door to brand abuse, resulting in costly implications.

Counterfeit sites The Problem The anonymity of the Internet has empowered its users to transfer large data files or share information seamlessly across the world. While being a powerful tool for brand owners, this is also opening doors for brand abuse. Counterfeiting is a multi-billion dollar industry and is causing massive damage to brands around the world, including those in Australia. The Impact Australian shoppers lured online to buy discounted designer brand name goods are increasingly falling victim to international counterfeiting operations, according to the head of the Australian School of Security and Investigations1 . The proliferation of online shopping sites has resulted in Australia being swamped with fake goods. In many cases, brands don’t even know that these counterfeit websites exist, which makes it impossible to counteract them. A proliferation of counterfeit sites selling fake ‘UGG’ product has forced the UGG brand to action. It is now educating its customers on how to find genuine UGG products and invites customers to check the name of the website or retailer on the UGG site to find out if it is a genuine reseller.

Phishing Platforms The Problem Phishing is one of the top online threats today and these cyber criminals are fast extending their reach in Australia. Phishing refers to any attempt to criminally and fraudulently acquire sensitive information such as user names, passwords and credit card details.

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

On 30 August 2012, an attack on the ATO resulted in around 70 million emails sent out – more than one in 25 of all emails sent in Australia that day. Approximately 8,000 Australians visited the phishing website.

This typically happens by masquerading as a trustworthy electronic entity, such as a brand’s website, and sending an email with a link to that site. In its extreme, phishing schemes are identity theft with the perpetrators taking over all the personal information related to an individual. Phishing sites hosted on fraudulent domains have traditionally targeted commercial banking platforms, major online services and job search providers, leading to stolen account passwords and credit card numbers, and ultimately, unrecoverable financial loss. Cyber criminals continue to gain from phishing sites because they are remarkably easy to launch and online users still click on malicious links, fall for scams and get drawn in by enticing phishing emails. The Impact The damage phishing attacks causes brands is significant. Not only does it erode brand trust among consumers, it also represents millions of dollars in lost revenue every year. On 30 August 2012, an attack on the ATO resulted in around 70 million emails sent out – more than one in 25 of all emails sent in Australia that day. Approximately 8,000 Australians visited the phishing websitexiii. This has dire consequences for a brand. For example, if a customer logs on to an unauthorised phishing website that falsely uses the name, logo and branding belonging to that institution, it can mislead consumers and expose an organisation to new forms of liability. The company’s reputation can be undermined and misled customers may lose trust in the brand. Brand owners need to take proactive steps to preserve their online reputation, which differ depending on the industry. The

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

From music and movies to cookery books, copyright owners are constantly battling to have their property protected from thieves on the Internet. Online piracy has proliferated with the use of file-sharing websites used to download large files.

NAB website, for example, warns its customers of the dangers of hoax emails, telling them to be wary of emails that have links to a fraudulent websites that look identical to the actual NAB website and ask for account information.

Piracy The Problem From music and movies to cookery books, copyright owners are constantly battling to have their property protected from thieves on the Internet. Online piracy has proliferated with the use of filesharing websites used to download large files. The Impact Piracy, like counterfeit goods, diminishes the value of legitimate brand names, erode profits and damage a brand reputation. Worse still, it has huge financial implications. The piracy battle costs the Australian economy $1.3 billion a year on video downloads alone. A study conducted by the Australian Federation Against Copyright Theft found that piracy over a 12-month period killed the equivalent of 6,100 full time jobsix. It’s a similar story for the music, software and video game industries. While brands cannot track every instance of online piracy, it is possible to find the hotspots where most of the damage is being done.

Protecting your brand: Brand Protection Measures for Australian Brands As the complexity of online brand abuse methods grows, ensuring a brand is fully protected becomes an increasingly complex task.

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

One thing is for sure; prevention is better than the cure. The consequences of leaving the problem unchecked can be extremely damaging both for the brand’s reputation and popularity. Companies need to act fast to protect their brands.

Techniques, policies and tools that have worked in the past will struggle to meet the challenges raised by trends such as ecommerce and social networking. One thing is for sure; prevention is better than the cure. The consequences of leaving the problem unchecked can be extremely damaging both for the brand’s reputation and popularity. Companies need to act fast to protect their brands. It’s important for companies to realise that the impact of brand abuse is felt across the entire business, spanning beyond legal and IT departments into marketing and customer service. Therefore any company department that has an interest in the reputation of the brand needs to be involved in protecting the brand online. Brand protection measures will provide long-term gains for the brand. With a total picture of your brand’s health, you can successfully manage your brand and build its strength both online and offline. Good brand monitoring identifies the channels in which the brand is strong and weak. It tells you which negative sites and third party blogs are damaging your brand’s success. It reveals if your brand is being targeted by individuals or sophisticated syndicates. It enables a brand manager to develop strategy from a place of knowledge rather than one of ignorance. However, because brand protection is still emerging in the digital world, it’s not uncommon, even for the bigger brands, to lack dedicated, expert resources internally. That’s where external experts come in. To help ensure an effective brand protection measures are in place, growing numbers of organisations are turning to external trusted parties for assistance. It is important that these specialists are able to not just act as consultants but also act as partners in providing an in-depth approach to brand protection.

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

The amount of online abuse targeting a brand can be overwhelming. Manually trawling

They must know how to prevent the loss of revenue, reputation and customer trust resulting from online brand abuse, and have the best-in-class tools to protect your brand now, and as new threats emerge. The following are just a few ways companies can protect their brands online.

through the Internet looking for threats and potential issues is a virtually impossible task. The best way to get full visibility of brand integrity online is by implementing a brand monitoring program into your

1. Brand Monitoring The amount of online abuse targeting a brand can be overwhelming. Manually trawling through the Internet looking for threats and potential issues is a virtually impossible task. The best way to get full visibility of brand integrity online is by implementing a brand monitoring program into your organisation. Numerous monitoring mechanisms are now available to detect online threats, but it is important that your organisation chooses a tool that best meets your needs and has the intelligence and depth to specifically target the threats your brand is exposed to.

organisation. Brand monitoring solutions need to be tailored to organisations specific needs. In order to achieve this, the provider needs to have a clear understanding of the issues, threats and requirements for that company and their wider industry as a whole. Brands also need to decide the level of detail required and the frequency of notifications. Do you want daily, weekly or monthly formats? Do you want the results in raw format or filtered and analysed? Expert providers such as Web IP can help you make the right decision based on your internal requirements.

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

There is no fee for registering a user name with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, so it is a cost-effective way to protect your online brand. Providers such as Web IP have the ability to reserve up to 2,000 social media channels per brand.

2. Social media monitoring There is no specific social media law or regulation in Australia yet, which makes it all the more critical for brands to continuously monitor and respond to infringing content and suspicious links. Social media monitoring is used by organisations to gain intelligence into issues that can have an impact on their online reputation, while also providing a quick alert system to impending issues or threats. As well as guarding against threats, it can also be a valuable tool to gain important insight about emerging trends and what your customers think about specific issues or campaigns, and identifying conversation opportunities. Brands can also pre-empt brank jacking and cyber squatters by registering social networking accounts and user names for your brands and products across all the major social media platforms. There is no fee for registering a user name with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, so it is a cost-effective way to protect your online brand. Providers such as Web IP have the ability to reserve up to 2,000 social media channels per brand.

3. Enforcement It is certainly easier to implement defensive mechanisms, including a strong brand protection strategy, than it is to deal with brand infringements and issues when – not if – they occur. However, there are remedies available for organisations where issues are detected. For example, the Dispute Resolution Procedure can help when cybersquatting is detected and social media policies can provide guidance on litigation when it comes to fraudulent activity. It is important that organisations that fall victim to attacks are seen

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

There is no fee for registering a user name with social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn, so it is a cost-effective way to protect your online brand. Providers such as

to be pursuing the perpetrators. Failure to do so may invite the brand abusers to increase the scale of the attack. There are many tactics organisations can deploy to attack the perpetrators head on, such as cease and desist (C&D) letters, complaints to the domain name registrars where domain names are being hosted, and messages to your customers about third party infringements and issues. Partnering with an expert agency in online enforcement can significantly increase the success rate of enforcement efforts. Some agencies, such as Web IP, provide access to specialist online enforcement tools that automatically create, send and track C&D letters to infringing parties.

Web IP have the ability to reserve up to 2,000 social media channels per brand.

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Online Brand Abuse in Australia: Is your brand under threat?

Since 2008, many Australian brands have been relying on Web IP to protect their revenues, intellectual property right and reputation. Web IP is the only company that has designed proprietary solutions for a local market and can sit face-to-face to understand brands business needs and develop solutions that specifically address their threats.

How Web IP can help with Online Brand Monitoring Web IP is an Australian-based accredited registrar providing online brand monitoring and protections solutions to corporate and government organisations. Since 2008, many Australian brands have been relying on Web IP to protect their revenues, intellectual property right and reputation. Web IP is the only company that has designed proprietary solutions for a local market and can sit faceto-face to understand brands business needs and develop solutions that specifically address their threats. Web IP services include: • • • • • • •

Rapid response services for incident management Online reputational risk monitoring Counterfeit monitoring Domain management Enforcement services Hosting services New gTLDs services

To learn more about online brand protection solutions, visit www.webip.com.au www.ecommercereport.com.au www.internetworldstats.com/stats.htm iii Based on online stats from www.internetworldstats.com and www.ecommercereport. com.au iv econsultancy.com v eMarketer, www.newmediatrendwatch.com/markets-by-country/11-long-haul/40australia?showall=1 vi www.cadna.org/en/issues/cadna-analysis/real-cost-of-cybersquatting vii thesocialskinny.com/how-to-claim-back-your-brand-on-facebook-and-twitter/ viii www.news.com.au/technology/australians-caught-in-ato-phishing-scam/storye6frfrnr-1226476444364 ix www.gizmodo.com.au/2011/02/movie-piracy-costs-australian-economy-1-3-billionaccording-to-afact/ i

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