Is your brand protection plan ready for the biggest shopping day of the year?
The Chinese shopping event known as Double 11 Day is fast approaching. 11 November 2018 will be the tenth annual sales event, as always, the Alibaba Group platforms will lead in terms of discounts, celebrity endorsements and total revenue generated over the period. The enormity of the opportunity is a double-edged sword for brands and their IP – with hundreds of merchants generating millions in revenue over the 24-hour period, it is vital to prevent knockoffs stealing sales and damaging brand equity.
Double 11 Day Brand Protection Action Plan
Prepare early
Your brand protection plan should be ready and start being implemented. Processing time to remove infringing products is drastically slower during the Double Eleven period, as the increased load stretches the Alibaba team.
Prepare Alibaba
Communicate with the platform, providing information that will enable them to proactively remove products. Provide a list of keywords infringers use to promote their knock-offs and monitor these closely.
Prepare meticulously
Pay close attention to the wholesale market as merchants build up their stock levels. Monitor merchants who have previously infringed your intellectual property closely, utilise a case management system to track. Record sales data displayed on Taobao ie volume of stock sold and the discount rate.
Think like a consumer
Browse social media WeChat, forums, and even offline marketing channels in the build up to the event. Heavy marketing is undertaken by merchants to gain visibility. Taobao generates revenue selling advertising space to merchants, this can be expensive for some who choose to develop their visibility using WeChat or social media. Short video apps have surged in usage over the last year and should be a key area to monitor. Clean social media channels enable brands to execute their marketing plan and prevents infringements ever seeing the light on online marketplaces.
Full coverage
Have sufficient coverage during the entire sales period. Alibaba has extended the day to a ‘period’, with launch events starting as early as October. Other platforms, including JD also count the shopping event as a ‘period’ now, which spans weeks.
Double Eleven goes global
Double Eleven goes global – Alibaba-owned Lazada operates across Southeast Asia, with Singles’ Day being pushed heavily in Malaysia, Singapore and the other countries. Marketplaces in other countries have also jumped on the opportunity, hosting their own sales event.
Plan & Enjoy
High volume sale periods have long been at the forefront of brand protection planning – Double 11 Day has become the biggest shopping day of them all. With a methodical approach and the right expertise in place, brand owners can look forward to the shopping extravaganza.
