Brand Protection
Promotion of a recognised brand is integral to the success of any consumer business. Creating, developing and supporting that brand costs its owner in time and money, which is repaid by expanded markets and the opening of new windows of opportunity.
Unfortunately, some criminals take a free ride by using brands which are not theirs to sell counterfeit products, hoping to steal all the benefits of brand recognition without the hard work and investment.
1st 4 Connect is an independent organisation which believes in high quality care and personal service. We help businesses and individuals protect their brands and avoid becoming victims of counterfeit products.
Pharmaceuticals
The pharmaceuticals industry in Pakistan is both young and fast-growing. Although exports were only some US$100 million in 2007, the next few years saw five-fold growth and sales abroad are expected to reach $800 million in 2014. Domestic consumption was $1.4 billion in 2007, $2.3 billion in 2012 and is predicted to be $3.2 billion in 2014.
Potential expansion of the industry remains almost limitless, given that domestic spend per head is still just a few dollars annually and the outlook for exports is optimistic too. Pakistani producers are recognised for their quality and locally-manufactured products are increasingly being validated for use in jurisdictions worldwide. However, the World Health Organisation (WHO) estimates that around 20% of all drugs globally are counterfeit. As of 2011, the worldwide counterfeit pharmaceutical trade was estimated to be in excess of $200 billion. And the threat counterfeiting presents to the pharmaceutical industry and its customers is growing every day. Counterfeiters endanger both the health of consumers and the bottom lines of pharmaceutical companies. Millions of dollars in counterfeit pharmaceuticals are traded and potentially consumed daily throughout the world each year.
The Pakistani pharmaceutical industry also faces its share of threats from counterfeiting and in some instances it is at a very high scale. A recent WHO report reveals that some 30-40 per cent of medicines on sale in Pakistan are counterfeit. The WHO report ranks Pakistan 13th among countries that produce counterfeit medicines.
Worldwide sales in the beauty and personal care industry were roughly $426 billion in 2011. Pakistan has emerged as a huge market for cosmetic brands, both national and international, over the past two decades.
Domestic cosmetic brands are famous for their beautiful use of colour. Meanwhile, a number of renowned international cosmetic brands have launched their product ranges in Pakistan. This surely leads to healthy competition in the local market. The international brands have not only opened up their own outlets but also created a good deal of awareness in Pakistan about the use and care of cosmetic products.
Responding to this new demand, a couple of national cosmetic brands in Pakistan have stepped up their production and are doing a wonderful job competing against the international companies. They are catering to the Pakistani market in particular but are managing to sell their products abroad as well.
Due to the widely used product lines and large potential customer base, cosmetics products are one of the prime targets for counterfeiters, both internationally and domestically.
The sector is especially vulnerable because there is no mechanism in Pakistan currently which permits consumers of cosmetic products to check whether the products they have just purchased are genuine or counterfeit.
1st 4 Connect intends to provide a breathing space for the industry by releasing our technological solution to counterfeiting.
Tobacco is a crop with myriad aspects. Not only does it involves scientific treatment, but requires special attention by producers during the growth, curing and marketing stages. This crop possesses considerable economic significance and its impact on the fiscal and monetary policies of major producing, exporting/importing countries is quite pronounced. In Pakistan, although tobacco cultivation occupies a relatively small area of 0.27% of the total irrigated land in the country, it is of great economic value as a source of revenue, employment and foreign exchange earnings to the country. During 2011/12, more than Rs.65.6985 billion were contributed to the Federal Exchequer as Central Excise Duty and Sales Tax. Being a highly labour-intensive crop, about 80,000 people are involved in its cultivation, 50,000 are employed in the 21 factories devoted to the tobacco industry and a further 1 million jobs are indirectly dependent on tobacco. It is also an important source of foreign exchange earnings for the country (US$30.58 million in 2011/12). Had the production of a tobacco crop not been developed by the Pakistan Tobacco Board on scientific lines, the country would have been importing raw material costing Rs.8-10 billion per annum (2011/12).
However, one out of every four cigarettes sold in Pakistan is illicit, according to the Pakistan Tobacco Company's (PTC) 2012 annual report. The sale of contraband cigarettes in Pakistan has increased by more than 60% in the last five years, the report says, which suggests that the government could lose up to Rs100 billion, close to $1 billion, in potential revenues by 2017 due to tax evasion.
The illicit tobacco trade involves the supply, distribution and sale of smuggled or counterfeit cigarettes or tobacco products on which applicable duties and taxes have not been paid in the country of consumption, Pakistan in this case.
This unlawful trade is naturally of grave concern to the legitimate tobacco industry, the highest taxpaying sector in Pakistan.
Tax levied on the retail price of each packet of cigarettes ranges from 68.5% to 81%, according to PTC, the largest tobacco manufacturer in the country and a subsidiary of British American Tobacco Group.
1st 4 Connect can offer an easy solution to prevent the sale of counterfeit tobacco products. This solution is available at an industry level.
Pakistan has a long history of manufacturing quality sporting items. More than 4,200 companies are registered and over 200,000 people are directly employed in the sports and entertainment industry.
Let's look at soccer balls to take just one example. Pakistan caters to around 70% of total world demand for hand-stitched, inflatable soccer balls (footballs), which translates into around 40 million balls annually worth US$210 million. During the peak season, which comes every four years on the occasion of the FIFA World Cup, production of inflatable balls exceeds 60 million per annum. These balls are produced by a workforce of around 60,000. More than 1,000 entrepreneurs are engaged in different parts of the value chain.
Sports goods, from cricket bats to golf clubs, are a prime target for counterfeiters. Holograms, stickers and certificates of authenticity aren't reliable any more as a way to verify a valuable item in your collection, or prevent someone from copying it.
With an increasing number of counterfeiters in the market across the globe, it has become almost impossible to distinguish real from fake.
Not only sports items, other entertainment products such as CDs DVDs, books and video games, etc., are open to counterfeiting. Anti- piracy laws have been introduced around the globe but still the artist and actual owner of the product are suffering.
1st 4 Connect provides the means for companies in the sports and entertainment industry to combat counterfeiters and those who commit forgery.