Connect with us

Marketing

What is The Gray Market, and How to Protect Against it?

The gray market, gray economy, and gray securities. Here we are talking about gray market products rather than gray securities or the gray economy.

mm

Published

on

5 Things To Learn Immediately To Succeed As An Online Marketer

Three things could be confused with one another: the gray market, gray economy, and gray securities. Here we are talking about gray market products rather than gray securities or the gray economy. Gray securities are shares of a corporation traded before being publicly distributed. At the same time, the gray economy is made of assets and services that elude state taxation.

1. So, what is the gray market?

Anti-counterfeit items that are sold legitimately but outside sanctioned distribution ways are called gray market goods. It hurts the brand and violates the intellectual property protection of any business. The gray market includes everything from vehicles and cameras to software and medicines. The gray market has been running for a long time. To quickly explain it, let’s take a more straightforward example.

The first thing that a manufacturer or brand does is sell a product to a distributor. After that, the distributor sells it to accredited retail shops. Subsequently, those outlets sell the product to buyers. Although this might be a way to sell anti-counterfeit items, it still hurts a brand. In a perfect system, the precise quantity of products would be produced and put up for retail, hoping that the public would purchase all of it.

Nevertheless, the reality is a bit different. If a merchant or retailer is left with surplus or old stock, they can sell it at slashed rates to other traders. This violates intellectual property protection, but some merchants still chose to sell surplus stock to such dealers.

These traders later market the store to the public at further discounted prices. And it is way easier to fool the public because unauthorized sellers often look the same to customers as authorized sellers. The only noticeable contrast is lower costs. But these traders can’t provide company warranties. And some of the products might not satisfy regulatory criteria for the country in which they are being sold.

Gray Market

Sometimes the brands or distributors supply the gray market themselves. However, brands usually refrain from doing so as it hurts their reputation and helps those retailers who sell counterfeit items.

2. How to protect against the gray market?

The first step is to identify unapproved dealers. Knowing who is running the gray market is the key to stopping them. And the best way to monitor the gray market dealers is to look for the products at lower prices than the official retailers or sites. For brands, they must watch the MAP of the products. Most of the MAP violators are often connected to the gray market.

Secondly, the brands must educate their consumers about the official stores’ sites. While advertising and marketing products, the brands can easily throw in the knowledge and importance of buying the products from original and authorized stores and locations. Consumer education helps offline and online brand protection, allows customers to purchase anti-counterfeit and authentic products, and gives the customer a warranty.

If the brand spots gray market retailers, they can send a cease-and-desist letter. It serves as a prelude for the subsequent legal actions that the brand can take in case the dealer doesn’t stop selling unsanctioned products. The brands can take legal steps because they violate intellectual property protection and MAP violations, including many other offenses.

We are an Instructor, Modern Full Stack Web Application Developers, Freelancers, Tech Bloggers, and Technical SEO Experts. We deliver a rich set of software applications for your business needs.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Marketing

Where to Find Influencers for High ROI Marketing Strategies and Why It Matters

New trends call for new actions. Finding the right influencers for brands to grow with isn’t as easy as it may first appear.

mm

Published

on

High ROI influencer benefits for brands

Influencer marketing is growing. An industry expected to exceed $20 billion this year, the creator economy changes how certain companies reach customers through marketing. Even more, a changing nature in search and content preferences now sees more than 50% of Gen Z-ers preferring video search through platforms such as TiKTok to more established Google searches.

New trends call for new actions. Finding the right influencers for brands to grow with isn’t as easy as it may first appear. On the other hand, all of these influencers may come with benefits no other marketing channel can match in terms of pure return on investment. Even more, companies can analyze creator KPIs such as social sentiment or brand mentions to ensure they get the most out of their influencer strategies. Here’s where to start in finding the ideal video content creators.

TikTok

TikTok is growing rapidly, and its impact on Gen Z-ers is considerable. The rise of TikTok shopping is here to confirm online shopping may also be exclusive to social networks shortly.

For brands, TikTok is one of the most engaging platforms to work on. It allows companies to leverage the highly engaged audiences of smaller creators on the platform. You can find TikTok influencers through agencies. Companies in the beauty space also need to act fast, as many creators sign non-compete agreements, remaining loyal to a brand.

Instagram

Instagram remains the network with the most influencers in the world. Its impact on revenue and company growth may still not be easily quantified, but Instagram remains the platform for macro influencers. This is the network with the most influencers, with over 1 million followers, which means it’s an ideal channel for building brand awareness.

YouTube

Ideal for longer videos, YouTube is more than a video platform. It acts as a search engine for everything from entertainment to educational videos.

YouTube influencers may be accustomed to working with specific KPIs and delivering in-depth content, as opposed to influencers on TikTok and Instagram. Creators here can easily record longer videos, and they also have access to simple additional monetization methods through views.

High ROI influencer benefits for brands

But why even go through the hassle of influencer vetting on all of these platforms and not just sign with the free creators willing to take on a new partnership? It turns out that measuring influencer marketing success is much more complicated than brands expect. Marketers still don’t know what makes influencer marketing successful, but they know how a good campaign may ultimately benefit them.

High ROI influencer benefits for brands

Engaged audience

The right influencer on the right platform always has an engaged audience. The larger the influencer, the higher the chances of a less engaged audience. Brands now work with a selection of influencers by following, which means all creators come with different engagement rates.

Why is engagement important? It shows where the attention of the audience is and where brands capture attention. Video listening tools now allow brands to pinpoint the exact moments in videos where the attention of the audience is and how this moment impacts social sentiment.

Tools that run social sentiment analysis typically come with a dataset goldmine, ideal for brands to leverage and learn what sparks the real interest of their audience. Brands use these tools to add new social listening metrics to the success guarantee of their influencer strategies.

Industry awareness

Companies looking to build brand awareness may ultimately benefit from influencer marketing the most. Simply mentioning or showing a product in a video may start a snowball effect that sparks business growth.

Choosing the right influencer also comes with the right industry awareness. Companies that get in front of the right audience through influencers that already have a loyal following tend to have a high ROI on influencer marketing. By some estimates, brands such as those in the beauty space may earn up to $20 in return for every $1 spent on influencer marketing when their influencer vetting strategies are correct.

Leads and sales

Companies know influencer marketing is as good as its returns. But this growing marketing channel is ideal for generating leads and immediate sales. Even one-off campaigns are shown to be worth it for brands that know which influencers they need to partner with.

Working with the right influencers is worth it

TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube are home to some of the most engaged communities around influencers. The problem is that brands cannot simply associate with any influencer, as they need to properly select creators to align messaging and expectations. In turn, this process comes with a high ROI on influencer marketing campaigns.

Continue Reading
High ROI influencer benefits for brands
Marketing2 weeks ago

Where to Find Influencers for High ROI Marketing Strategies and Why It Matters

Leveraging Cloud Technology for Better Data Protection
Cloud Computing4 weeks ago

Leveraging Cloud Technology for Better Data Protection

Do you need WORM-compliant storage
Computer Network1 month ago

7 More Secure Gmail Alternatives

How does WORM storage work
Artificial Intelligence (AI)1 month ago

WORM-Compliant Storage: Exploring Write Once Read Many (WORM) Functionality

The Rise of Trail Cameras
Gadgets1 month ago

Trail Cam Tactics: Using Technology to Scout Hunting Spots

Internet2 months ago

Mastering the Art of Task Automation in the Modern Office

5 Innovative Ways Point-of-Care Diagnostic Devices Revolutionize Healthcare Efficiency
Health & Fitness2 months ago

5 Innovative Ways Point-of-Care Diagnostic Devices Revolutionize Healthcare Efficiency

Leveraging Technology In Portable Office Setups For Enhanced Productivity
Technology2 months ago

Leveraging Technology In Portable Office Setups For Enhanced Productivity

how-to-buy-instagram-followers
Instagram3 months ago

How to Buy Instagram Followers (Guide)

Transforming Goals into Actionable Results - Planning Template
Business3 months ago

Transforming Goals into Actionable Results

Trending