Digimarc Corp., a provider of next-generation digital detection and identification-based solutions, is rolling out a new solution to help brands verify the authenticity of products.
Separately, Digimarc released insights into consumer behavior in a report examining differences in shopping preferences among generational cohorts, including the importance of product authenticity.
Regarding the launch of the Digimarc Brand Integrity digital solution, the company said it works by assigning each product a serialized digital identity “that can be tracked in the cloud and accessed via a variety of digital triggers integrated into the box, including the most safe in the industry “. and hidden: the Digimarc digital watermark. Adding that this combination of digitized products and cloud-based data “makes the authentication process of the elements more accurate and scalable than traditional physical authentication measures,” the company said.
Digimarc also noted that support for dual-factor authentication, “such as scanning QR codes and digital watermarks on a single package, provides a strong defense against attackers accustomed to easily evading minor brand protection measures.”
Ken Sickles, Digimarc’s chief product officer, said that as counterfeiters have become more sophisticated and supply chains have become more widespread, “companies are recognizing that traditional, largely responsive, inspector-based, brand protection approaches and specialized equipment are both ineffective and inefficient. “
“Digimarc has created a digital-only solution that leverages the ubiquity of smartphones and other digital devices to make product authentication much leaner and less prone to human error,” Sickles said, adding that while digitizing products with QR Codes is a great place to start, “when paired with a solid cloud of hidden digital products and watermarks, brands can gain even greater exposure to their products and give consumers the ability to do the same.”
Sickles said the company’s brand integrity solution helps brands “protect their reputation by providing each product with a digital presence connected to a cloud-based record of its journey and interactions that prove the products are authentic. discovering counterfeits and their origin and obtaining insights into products ‘supply chains so brands can anticipate problems and act quickly’.
In the Consumer Behavior Report, Digimarc partnered with Censuswide to survey shoppers on a variety of topics. Some of the main strengths include that 80% of Baby Boomers “care if the products they buy are authentic, compared to 53% of Gen Z”.
Boomers worry even more about whether brands are reputable and take their environmental responsibilities seriously, with 63% of the group saying they are concerned about these factors, followed by 58% of Gen Z, 56% of Gen X and 55% of Millennials, Digimarc said in a statement.
Sickles said the recent consumer study “shows that Baby Boomers are, surprisingly, more concerned than younger consumers about buying genuine products from reputable brands that are committed to sustainability.”
“However, consumers of all ages have significant concerns about how the products they buy are made, where they are made and what they contain,” he said. “To address these concerns from shoppers across all demographics, brands need to not only ensure the integrity of their product and brand, but also clearly communicate their trustworthiness and authenticity to consumers.”
Digging deeper into the results, it emerged that Baby Boomers are more concerned about counterfeit goods. “Whether buying new or second-hand, Boomers are most concerned if the items they buy are counterfeit (new: 64%; second-hand: 54%)” while Gen Z are “the least concerned (new: 53%; second-hand: 50%). “
The report’s authors said that most all age groups are concerned about the ethics of buying something that could be counterfeit, but Baby Boomers are most concerned with 64%, followed by Gen Xer with 60% and by Millennials with 56%. Generation Z has reached 52%.
Other findings include that with luxury goods, product quality matters to more than three-quarters of all age groups when purchasing luxury goods, “but Boomers and Gen Xers (both 73%) care more about where were the luxury goods they buy done. “
Additionally, Baby Boomers are much more concerned than Generation Z about what products are made of: 80% of Baby Boomers surveyed said they are interested in the ingredients or materials of the products they buy, compared to 54% of Generation. Z.