Protecting Your Brand

Birkenstock announced about a month ago that it would no longer sell its products on Amazon. In a time when so many brands are clamoring to get a larger piece of the Amazon pie, Birkenstock decided to go in the complete opposite direction. Why?

In this article, Birkenstock UEA’s CEO David Kahan states that “The Amazon marketplace, which operates as an ‘open market,’ creates an environment where we experience unacceptable business practices which we believe jeopardize our brand.”

Translation: Amazon has no way of effectively policing counterfeit sandals and Birkenstock wants no part in being confused with a dollar-store variety product.

We recently did a three-part series outlining some of Amazon’s weaknesses, and this is definitely a weakness for Amazon. When competition inevitably floods the Amazon marketplace with inferior products (that look exactly like the real thing but at a much lower price), there is no good way for a consumer to tell the difference between a fake and the “real McCoy”.

Protecting the Premium Product

So what’s the lesson here? I think that Birkenstock realizes something important… that some of the trade-offs for getting to use Amazon’s platform is that you have much less control over your brand, your reputation, your fulfillment and your customer service.

If you sell anything that’s unique or novel or high-end, there are always going to be companies that make a generic version for less. If the actual name means anything (which your company or brand name should – if it doesn’t, that’s the first thing to work on), then you’re going to have to actively work at proving your product’s superiority and keeping your potential and existing customers from being confused.

Birkenstock has a premium product that does a premium job. It might just look like another sandal, but Birkenstock enthusiasts and people who “know shoes” agree that there is a huge difference between a real Birki and a cork sandal imported from a Chinese vendor of which no one has heard.
 

Takeaway

This story is a good reminder to all of us to re-evaluate how we are keeping our brand distinct and relevant, and for us to look at our current business strategies and marketing to make sure we aren’t making it easier for our clients to be confused about what makes us special.

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