Just As Good As

We work in an industry of brands. Your clients respect and have loyalty to brands as consumers and they  bring those same sensibilities to work with them. You’ve likely experienced this — have you ever tried to sell someone off a YETI?

When a client has their heart set on a particular brand, it’s hard to change their mind. If you know the budget won’t support sourcing the brand products, it’s tempting to offer an alternative that’s “just as good as” the brand choice. While knock-offs frequently offer product characteristics similar to the brand at a significantly lower price, proceeding down this path is not without peril.

Perhaps you’ve had a client ask for ear buds that are “just as good as” the Apple AirPods or AirPods Pro. The market is absolutely flooded with less expensive alternatives to choose from. But consider the risk. Just last month, the US Customs and Border Protection seized 2,000 pairs of OnePlus Buds at JFK airport. The CBP publicized the agency’s action on Twitter and described the OnePlus Buds as “counterfeit Apple AirPods.” There was even this press release issued saying the CBP is “protecting the American public from various dangers on a daily basis” and “the interception of these counterfeit earbuds is a direct reflection of the vigilance and commitment to mission success by our CBP officers daily.”

If this is your order placed on behalf of a customer, I imagine you would have some explaining to do. The conversation could get complicated, because it appears the shipment is clearly packaged as legit OnePlus white ear buds, a product that has no current trademark infringement claim issues with Apple. “Upon examining the shipment in question, a CBP import specialist determined that the subject earbuds appeared to violate Apple’s configuration trademark. Apple has configuration trademarks on their brand of earbuds, and has recorded those trademarks with CBP,” a spokesperson told The Verge. “Based on that determination, CBP officers at JFK Airport have seized the shipment under 19 USC 1526 (e).” The OnePlus buds have been on sale for weeks, and continue to be available from OnePlus and several other major US retailers.

OnePlus is a Shenzhen-based smartphone brand owned by BBK Electronics, which also owns Oppo and Vivo, and their ear buds have been available since July at $79. Of course, they are only one in thousands of choices in a rainbow of colors available for your “just as good as” clients. “CBP’s seizure of the earbuds in question is unrelated to the images or language on the box,” a spokesperson told Abacus. “A company does not have to put an ‘Apple’ word mark or design on their products to violate these trademarks. The importer will have many opportunities through the adjudication process to provide evidence that their product does not violate the relevant recorded trademarks.” While a reasonable person might consider this situation an unfortunate application of the rules by an aggressive CBP, the fact is that if this were your order, your client wouldn’t be getting their ear buds any time soon.

The fact is that buyers (remember they are consumers, too) are becoming increasingly concerned about buying counterfeit goods. According to new data from retail technology company Intelligence Node, 66% of consumers are at least moderately concerned about purchasing a counterfeit item — even though only 17% say they have actually purchased a fake. We’ve talked before about the damage to a brand from a counterfeit product, but this is the first time I’ve seen an actual metric on lost trust. Now we know that even if your client has not purchased a counterfeit product themselves, they may still be on high alert from repeatedly hearing about inauthentic purchases. So, does that change the conversation in the next “just as good as” client meeting?