In recent years, brand authorization has become a common business model for enterprises, and there are a large number of brand-authorized products on the market.
Due to the uneven qualifications of the authorized parties and the lack of supervision on the brand side, quality problems of "OEM" products frequently appear.
Some experts believe that if the brand has loopholes in the authorization qualification appraisal, quality supervision and other links, resulting in product quality problems, it should bear the corresponding responsibility.
During the "Double 11" period, many consumers kept stuffing their shopping carts.
However, when Ms. Liu, a consumer in Beijing, purchased a certain brand of thermal underwear online, she found that there are multiple flagship stores and specialty stores selling the brand’s clothes on platforms such as Jingdong, and they all say they are genuine.
Later, she learned that many of the products of the brand were "OEM" products.
Merchants spend a few thousand yuan a year to obtain the right to use the trademarks of well-known brands and use these brands on their own products.
Industry insiders pointed out that "OEM" or "brand authorization" products mean that the licensor grants the trademark or brand that he owns or represents in the form of a contract to the authorized person to use, and the authorized person engages in business activities in accordance with the contract. And pay the corresponding fee to the authorizer.
There are a large number of brand-authorized stores on the e-commerce platform.
These stores often use the names of "xx flagship store" and "xx specialty store", and label the product with "genuine" on the detail page, emphasizing that the quality is guaranteed.
However, when the trademark owner no longer actually controls the production and sales process, does the quality of the product affixed to the brand pass?
A reporter from the Workers’ Daily launched an investigation.
Brand licensing becomes a common business model
"There are two tags, you should look at the bag, there should be one." Recently, a consumer bought clothing from an Antarctic authorized store on the e-commerce platform, but found that the tag was from another brand after receiving the goods. When I contacted the customer service, the reply I got was that there should be two hang tags, and the Antarctic people's hang tags may have been forgotten.
In recent years, brand licensing has become a common market operation model.
In April this year, the "2021 China Brand Licensing Industry Development Report" (hereinafter referred to as the "Report") issued by the Brand Licensing Professional Committee of the China Toys and Baby Products Association showed that China’s annual retail sales of authorized goods in 2020 will be 110.6 billion yuan. The authorized products are becoming richer and more diversified, including toys and entertainment, clothing accessories, food and beverages, gifts and souvenirs, etc., covering all aspects of people's lives.
According to analysis by industry insiders, brand licensing has become a new driving force for the development of the real economy, and the future prospects are broad.
Brand authorization is also a new direction for some well-known brands to transform and deploy in the field of e-commerce.
Taking Antarctica as an example, the company has cut off the important asset links of production and sales, and transformed into an “Antarctic e-commerce” to authorize profitability.
Search for "Antarctic people" on the e-commerce platform. The products sold in authorized stores include not only the clothing that Antarctic people started from, but also bedding, and even daily necessities such as warm stickers, water cups, washing machines, water heaters, and foot baths. There are many categories.
There are hidden worries about the quality of well-known brand authorized products
When the trademark owner no longer actually controls the production and sales process, what is the quality of the "OEM" product?
Can consumers rest assured that they have a reasonable trust in the brand?
The "Report" pointed out that among the authorized toys and baby products products investigated by the China Game Association, there are serious problems with missing or incorrect toy warnings and descriptions. The quality problems of authorized baby carriage products are still prominent. Children's shoes and children's clothing are also due to heavy metal content. The quality is worrying for reasons such as exceeding the standard and unqualified sewing position of the durable label.
On e-commerce platforms, authorized stores often use the names of "xx franchise stores" and "xx franchise stores", and label the products as "official authentic" on the detail page, emphasizing that the quality is guaranteed.
However, different from the "guaranteed quality" claimed by the merchants, on the Black Cat complaint platform, some consumers complained that although the products sold by the stores authorized by the brand bear the brand trademark, the quality is not good, or the brand There is a gap in the direct-sale store, or the quality of the old brand is lower than that of the original.
Previously, according to media reports, in 2018 alone, Antarctic brand products were included in the list of unqualified products by regulatory authorities and local consumer associations 14 times.
Last year, the pull back slippers produced under the brand authorization model were also pointed out by the Shenzhen Consumer Council that there were product quality problems.
In addition to the Antarctic, brands that also operate under the licensing model include Langsha, Playboy, etc., and these well-known brands have been found to be unqualified in the sample inspections conducted by the market supervision department.
Consumer trust should not be disappointed
What kind of authorized company manages the brand-name products that consumers buy?
How do companies obtain brand authorization?
In response to this, the reporter found an intermediary company that licenses brands such as Arctic Velvet and Woodpecker, and consulted Xiao Zhu, the company's authorized consultant.
Xiao Zhu said that the requester provides the basic identity information of the legal person and the company's business license, and the intermediary company draws up a brand authorization contract based on this. After signing the contract, the requester pays, and the brand side will issue authorization materials after seeing the contract and receiving the payment. That's it.
In terms of costs, Xiao Zhu said that the costs of different brands vary. The general licensing fee is several thousand yuan, and the tag is 1,000 sets, and the unit price is 1.5 yuan, 3 yuan, and 5 yuan.
Under the brand authorization model, the actual controller of product quality moves down from the brand to the authorized party.
Authorize the tag of the brand. Does the brand have any requirements on the qualification of the authorized party?
Will the quality of "branded" products be controlled?
Xiao Zhu said that as long as it is a company with a business license, the business category is consistent with the brand, and the authorization fee can be obtained after paying the authorization fee.
Moreover, the brand owner will neither "inspect the factory" in advance, check the production qualifications on the spot, nor conduct random inspections to supervise the quality of the products.
Hao Xudong, a partner and lawyer of Beijing Xingzhu Law Firm, believes that the "OEM" model is very common in the market. Although it is not illegal, it has caused some market chaos and needs to be taken seriously.
As far as the brand is concerned, it is necessary to comprehensively examine the authorized party’s financial strength, technical level, business philosophy, and operation team, and choose carefully.
In the authorization contract, the product category, quality standards, and sampling inspection mechanism should be clearly stipulated as far as possible.
At the same time, quality control should be strengthened to prevent and control product quality problems from the source and maintain brand image.
"Consumers choose to buy products based on their recognition of the brand. If product quality problems occur that damage the interests of consumers, and the brand has loopholes in the authorization qualification appraisal, quality supervision, etc., it should also bear corresponding responsibilities. "Hao Xudong said.