“So, I got this letter…”
As brand strategists there are certain conversation starters with potential clients that simply scream “Commercial imperative!”. When it starts with, “So I got this letter telling me to cease and desist using my brand name,” you can usually see a serious face-palm coming on.
At that point you have to focus on the “Where to from here?” and not on the “How they got there” conversation, but the stories have a common theme – lack of proper brand governance.
Failing to adequately protect the asset that is your brand is a very large commercial risk. It is also a risk that grows the more successful you become. Once you grow to the point that you poke your head above the radar you suddenly become a target.
The Courier Mail today reported on a battle between My Kitchen Rules celebrity chef Pete Evans’ brand Raw C coconut water and its competitor C coconut water. Raw C won the right to trademark their brand despite their opponent having been in the marketplace for three years longer – governance can be tricky.
The battle was no doubt expensive for both brands, and the result a sizeable loss for C. For some businesses an action like this is too much to recover from.
In a recent podcast (link), DAIS Creative Director Jack Perlinski and I discussed proper brand governance. There are effective ways to protect yourself while also turning your brand into a quantifiable asset on your balance sheet.
If you aren’t sure about your brand governance, please have a listen to the podcast or give us a call.
We would much rather hear you say, “How can I secure my brand?” than, “So I got this letter…”
You can read the article below!
Image via pressreader.com
Paul Martyna – DAIS Brand Marketing Strategist
