The first annual Brand-Protection Packaging Forum, produced by Packaging World Magazine and supported by BPCouncil.com, gets a thumbs up for superior content – such as these strategies from leading brand owner Johnson & Johnson Medical Device and Diagnostics.

Recently, more than 115 brand protection professionals – working for leading brands such as Intel Corp., HP, Liz Claiborne, Lexmark, Johnson & Johnson Medical Device and Diagnostics, and Purdue Pharmaceuticals – came together to share strategies for securing brand image and product integrity through the latest packaging materials and technologies.

Among the experts who spoke at the first-time educational and networking event held at the Chicago Marriott Schaumburg was David Howard, director of product protection, global brand integrity, at Johnson & Johnson. During his session, he gave the attendees a framework and step-by-step process for implementing a brand-protection program.

Howard's dos of brand protection strategy include:

• Do know thy self. This, according to Howard, is step one. Before establishing a program, brand owners must first answer the following questions: Where are your products made? How do you distribute them? Where do you market? Are you local, regional, global? Who touches your products? Without detailed answers to such questions, he continued, solutions being considered or the ones already being implemented may be misguided.
• Do look upstream and downstream when it comes to distribution channels. Howard explained, “Equally vulnerable is the downstream activity. Know your channel customers and discuss your findings with them. You need boots on the ground, so go talk with your channel partners.”
• Do develop and use a risk assessment tool. At J&J, this was central to the brand-protection strategy, helping its operating companies – all 235 of them in 57 countries – get the information they need. Taking three years to develop and demonstrably proactive, it uses a scoring grid to determine the impact of counterfeiting – irritation, sickness, death, etc. “Having been through some counterfeit issues where rapid response was crucial, I can assure you it’s amazing how favorably the federal government views a proactive stance,” said Howard.
• Do examine the information gained in your consumer complaint program. “We’ve received good information through our complaint program, information that should have alerted us to brand-protection indicators or issues. But we didn’t always pay close enough attention. Now we do.”
• Do realize that one size dos not fit all. Not every product requires the same approach when it comes to brand protection. Analyze each product on its own and tailor your solution to that product’s needs.
• Do remember that packaging plays a pivotal role in product protection. Sound package design and development will enhance brand-protection efforts. Likewise, poorly designed packaging may make it easier than ever for someone to compromise your brands.
• Do take the time to really know what you need before you come anywhere near implementation of a brand-protection solution. Even if you’ve already started in on a program, it wouldn’t hurt to circle back and see how clearly you’ve defined your needs.

The don'ts are just as important:

• Don't do nothing if, upon putting a risk assessment tool in place, you determine that your products are at risk. You'll be making a big mistake.
• Don't put off carefully monitoring your returned goods. It’s astonishing to see how many companies put returned products back on the shelf with little or no scrutiny or investigation.
• Don't forget to check (in the field) the brand protection features you've put on your packs. If you do, you can’t know if they’re being effective.
• Don't deploy brand-protection technology that you can’t update at a moment’s notice.
• Don't think that there is only one best technology in the fight against counterfeiting, tampering, and diversion. Technologies continue to evolve.

Note: BPCouncil was a supporting association of the 2008 Brand-Protection Packaging Forum.