Furla Selects MarkMonitor to Protect its Global Brand

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--MarkMonitor®, the world leader in enterprise brand protection and a Thomson Reuters Intellectual Property & Science business, today announced that it has been selected by the Italian premium accessory brand, Furla, to centrally manage a company-wide online brand protection program involving product, distribution, and advertising.

“Unfortunately, high profile, luxury brands are consistently targeted and this underpins exactly why an online brand protection strategy is so crucial for companies like this. It will combat a wide range of risks and potential loss of revenue, preserving the brand’s reputation and consumer trust.”

The renowned global company, that prides itself on skillfully handcrafting its designs, will use MarkMonitor technology and expertise to tackle product counterfeiters and illegitimate search engine advertisers.

Furla currently distributes its range of goods to 63 countries around the world through 319 single brand boutiques and in over 1,000 shops and department stores. The company provides an extensive selection through its online boutique and has five subsidiaries based in the USA, France, Japan, Hong Kong and Korea.

Online counterfeit sales are costing legitimate businesses more than $200 billion in lost revenue every year. The Internet’s rapid growth - along with its instant global reach and anonymity - is significantly escalating the situation and an entire online supply chain, parallel to legitimate distribution channels, is thriving around counterfeit goods. These channels include B2B exchanges (also known as trade boards) which traffic in counterfeit goods at the wholesale level, in turn fuelling e-commerce sites that serve consumers.

Eraldo Poletto, CEO of Furla, says: “We are extremely dedicated to protecting the image of our brand, built on 85 years of high quality Italian design. It is vital that our distributors and customers can be confident they have bought the genuine, authentic Italian article when choosing Furla. MarkMonitor will help us to proactively identify and tackle any potential online problems and we trust the technology and services they provide will help to optimize our global business operations and protect our longstanding brand values.”

The MarkMonitor solution that Furla has selected provides demonstrable brand protection for wholesalers and consumers alike. Fredrick Felman, chief marketing officer of MarkMonitor, adds: “Unfortunately, high profile, luxury brands are consistently targeted and this underpins exactly why an online brand protection strategy is so crucial for companies like this. It will combat a wide range of risks and potential loss of revenue, preserving the brand’s reputation and consumer trust.”

Furla made its mark on the international stage with its 100% Italian design range of bags, shoes and accessories. The company, based in Bologna, has been providing essential elegance around the world for decades since its creation in 1927. Furla was founded by the Furlanetto family 85 years ago, and is one of the few Italian firms today that still maintains family ownership combined with a strongly managerial company structure.

Felman continues: “Our technology monitors more Internet channels than Furla can manage independently, so we are able to expose and quantify the scope of the threat against their brand. Counterfeiters operate over a wide array of online channels including B2B exchanges, e-commerce sites, and message boards, so it is crucial that these are monitored, and those results are analyzed and prioritized for appropriate enforcement. The only way to approach this is to leverage technology and we will use our holistic approach to help protect the Furla brand and its customers.”

ABOUT MARKMONITOR

MarkMonitor, the world leader in enterprise brand protection and a Thomson Reuters Intellectual Property & Science business, uses a SaaS delivery model to provide advanced technology and expertise that protects the revenues and reputations of the world's leading brands. In the digital world, brands face new risks due to the web's anonymity, global reach and shifting consumption patterns for digital content, goods and services. Customers choose MarkMonitor for its unique combination of industry-leading expertise, advanced technology and extensive industry relationships to preserve their marketing investments, revenues and customer trust. Learn more at www.markmonitor.com.

ABOUT THOMSON REUTERS

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