Creative Antidote to Counterfeit Luxury Goods

The ongoing saga of what to do about counterfeited luxury goods. Policing and fines just don’t seem to work. I was recently on New York’s Canal Street, internationally known as being the place for knockoffs of big name handbags and watches. To be sure, the logoed goods were absent from the stalls as were even the designs of the Guccis, Pradas, Chanel and Valentinos. But they just went underground. Strategically located sales people on the most trafficked streets whispered the holy names of luxury to me and asked if I wanted to buy a handbag.

What’s at stake? “Counterfeit products don’t take away from sales of the brand, since the majority of counterfeit products out there are bought by customers who can’t buy the real thing anyway,” said Pam Danziger, president of Unity Marketing to Luxury Daily. The main problem with knock-off items is the sullying of a brand’s reputation.

What can brands  do? Luxury houses and their owners have entire departments dedicated to seeking out and catching those who authorize the sale of branded items. However, it is unreasonable to think that every knock-off will be found and confiscated.

A very original solution was presented at Bergdorf Goodman for French luxury leather purveyor Goyard. Customers were invited  to a two day special event and bring in their own design to be custom painted on their Goyard purchase by a Goyard painter. 

The New York Times ad for the event illustrated three images: a silhouette of a dog, another of an anchor with two initials, and two initials in a heart. Granted, this isn’t a solution for volume sales, but shows how creativity can reinforce the quality image.