"Counterfeiting" is better than nothing

The fact that an individual imitates a big celebrity in a country like India must seem quite common to many, but consider this fact where an individual starts aping a celebrity so much so that he even seems to live life like the celebrity that he worships. This explains the concept of counterfeiting, which for many marketers is the best way to gain attention from consumers who are preferably prone to low involvement purchases. Counterfeiting does not only happen in the production technologies adapted by firms, but it permeates into all the elements of marketing mix – Product, Price, Place and Promotion.

Many of us in India have come across apparels which bear names of brands like addidas (notice that there is an added ‘D’ in the spelling). This really works well for some part of the lower middle segment consumers and thus gives a headache for those whose brand names are being mimicked. In this sense the suffering company might face loss in sales which can only mean that it has lost its sales to the counterfeiting firm. Experts opine that this is an excellent area for research in India in order to know how effective this process is. Leaving aside the ethical significance of such counterfeiting, this kind of counterfeiting does seem to work well, at least unless it crosses the boundaries of law. Hence it is better for companies with restricted funds to take to counterfeiting than do nothing at all.