In a world where everything seems to be moving faster, where we lose control of our surroundings and nothing is what it seems, human beings long to find confidence in authenticity. Product counterfeiting and unauthorized replication are on the rise while the demand for robust and effective security measures is reaching unprecedented levels.
Due to the popularity of online marketplaces, consumers are no longer confined to traditional retailers, but free to search for bargains through hashtags on Instagram or TikTok advertising luxury brands. But this virtual window-shopping that tempts us with great deals is often not legitimate. A recent study by the World Economic Forum, “Social Media and Luxury Goods Counterfeit,” shows that close to a fifth of all items tagged as luxury goods on Instagram are fakes.
Whether it’s facial cream to hydrate our skin, parts that help us safely travel the roadways and traverse the skies, or medicines that heal us, products we trust may be faked, posing a risk to our health, safety and well-being. All our purchases are anchored by trust, and as consumers our reliance on brands is being challenged by new ways of buying and selling.
According to the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office, counterfeiting is the largest criminal enterprise in the world, with domestic and international estimated sales of counterfeit and pirated goods totaling between $1.7 and a whopping $4.5 trillion a year.
Brands not actively protecting their intellectual property, products and consumers, will face an uphill battle.
Solutions for a Better Future
At Crane, we exist to offer brands an opportunity to build stronger, more truthful and lasting connections with their consumers, by seamlessly providing the most advanced, smart and engaging micro-optic security labels. Our state-of the-art security solutions, PROFOUND™ labels and films, combine robustness and usability, from the design itself, to adaptability and manufacturing, with the highest level of precision. With compelling visual effects, PROFOUND™ security labels are intuitive to authenticate and difficult to replicate.
To allow brand owners to detect and prevent counterfeits, and to empower their consumers to recognize a genuine product, Crane Authentication recently launched three new products, including PROFOUND™ Eco – a new security label for the environmentally conscious – at the International Anti-Counterfeiting Coalition (IACC) 2024 Annual Conference.
The industry knows Crane Authentication as a Crane NXT company, which recently acquired OpSec Security. Crane’s secure label technology PROFOUND™ is a variant of the MOTION® micro-optic technology employed to protect banknotes in over fifty nations. PROFOUND™ labels provide a wide range of secure, engaging visual effects that increase the level of security and trust in products and brands that matter most to consumers worldwide.
The three new products added to the PROFOUND™ family each address a distinct market need.
PROFOUND™ Connect is a secure label with a physical-digital link and serialization options, enabling consumer engagement, cloud services and traceability. As the European Union is getting closer to implementing the Digital Product Passport (DPP), PROFOUND™ Connect can be a strong tool for compliance with DPP regulations, while protecting, engaging, and communicating with consumers making decisions in the moments that matter most.
PROFOUND™ Eco contains 70% post-consumer recycled PET in its inner layer, complying with industry standards for sustainable products. PROFOUND™ Eco contributes to a circular economy that aims to minimize waste and maximize resource efficiency. By choosing eco-friendly materials and promoting circularity, brands can protect their products and customers while contributing to a healthier planet.
PROFOUND™ Air provides the opportunity for enhanced secure, fluid 3D visual effects as with half the thickness. This allows for applications where thinner labels are critical, while also using less material.
The Trust Anchors of the Industry
“We are a key player of the trust economy. At Crane, it is our job to provide brand protection solutions that give people trust in the moments that matter. The new PROFOUND™ family of products solve specific issues for our clients,” says Yann Ischi, Vice President of Product Authentication at Crane. With over 20 years of expertise in the brand protection and product authentication markets, Yann joined Crane in 2023 and hit the ground running.
“We wanted to put forth a product-centric strategy for our business because this is how we can really focus on solving our customers’ problems. And, after listening to the market’s needs, our teams worked hard to create PROFOUND™ Connect, PROFOUND™ Eco, and PROFOUND™ Air. Our customers are already showing great interest in these products as well as some groundbreaking new products we will reveal in the future,” Yann adds.
Top brands and companies that are focusing on the global markets and exporting products in multiple regions of the world via complex supply chains are the primary target of criminal organizations. These are the types of brands and industries that work with Crane to provide proof of authenticity and integrity to their customers.
With the counterfeiting epidemic still growing across a multitude of global industries, brands are incurring financial and brand value losses, and more importantly, added risk to consumer health and safety. No longer able to rationalize these risks as a cost of doing business, holistic approaches to brand protection are finding traction. Thanks to new label solutions such as PROFOUND™, brands have a new means to protect their brands and deter counterfeits.