The Project

Biogency approached Laava in 2020, looking for a brand protection solution that offered stronger security than the QR codes used by their competitors and emulators. The aim was to protect the innovative business from counterfeiters and establish a visible mark of trust capable of readily distinguishing the genuine article from fakes. At the same time, Biogency wished to highlight to consumers its commitment to authenticity and safety, as part of a strategy to continue to strengthen consumer loyalty.

Sales and Marketing Director, Jimmy Tang, was also dealing with a challenging economic and political environment, including issues with supply chains and rising costs. It was essential that Biogency stand out from the crowd, with an integrated solution that would drive a clear return on investment and build brand value. “Our counterfeit issue now is minimal as a result of our partnership with Laava,” Jimmy said.

The presence of a secure brand protection strategy acted as a strong deterrent to counterfeiters. However, when a counterfeit product did inevitably appear, Biogency was able to move quickly to protect its customers - and its brand.

“A customer who had seen the Biogency posts about our work with Laava noticed that two of their bottles had the same Fingerprint and the same serial number. The customer got in touch,” Jimmy said.

“Laava immediately shut down that Fingerprint so that anyone scanning it would be notified that the product was not genuine. That single Fingerprint had been reproduced and used multiple times on more than one product.

“Our actions prevented consumers from using those fakes, which could have been dangerous. Who knows what was in the tablets in the counterfeit bottles?”

Moving at pace to get results fast

Before Biogency contacted Laava, they had read case studies showcasing the Laava technology in real world applications. They went on to conduct their own tests from their Sydney headquarters, printing sample Smart Fingerprints from our website to test various size and layout configurations.

“Biogency approached our first meeting knowing exactly what they wanted and confident in Laava's ability to deliver. From the time of the first meeting to the first sample Fingerprints on Biogency's new bottle labels was only a few short weeks.” - Gavin Ger, CEO, Laava

While the original bottle label design Laava helped develop has stood the test of time, we have jointly collaborated on new innovations, such as direct integration onto their carton-based products, thanks to the innovation of partners like MCC Label.

Our journey together

• - 2020: Laava Smart Fingerprints and a strong CTA were incorporated into the existing label design on bottles of Synext, shortly followed by Piliant and VMan.
• - 2021: Biogency continued to protect Synext and Piliant, with re-orders for new product batches. Fingerprints were also printed digitally directly on boxes containing Synext sachets. The Biogency range was expanded to include Beauty Skin, Synext Lite and Bonefits, all of which featured secure, scannable Fingerprints.
• - 2022: Biogency re-ordered Fingerprints for all products, after seeing a demonstrable increase in sales as trust for Biogency products flourished with the Smart Fingerprints.
• - 2023: Biogency launched further products featuring Laava Smart Fingerprints and introduced further Laava features. Together we identified grey market activity and counterfeit products in the marketplace and consequently warned consumers.

Objectives

Biogency's initial objective was to deal with copycats and counterfeit products in its major export markets.

Consumers who were loyal to the Biogency brand had been unwittingly buying copycat products: the bottles looked to be Biogency branded, but there was no way for consumers to distinguish the real items from fakes, or to know the ingredients were effective or even safe.

What started as a brand protection exercise evolved quickly into a unique sales proposition for Biogency. “We became aware that Laava’s reliable and special authentication technology added extra value to our brand,” said Biogency Sales and Marketing Director, Jimmy Tang.

“Laava helps us build a stronger, more reputable image. Our customers find it interesting to scan the Laava code – it’s a great experience with a great outcome for them. We prefer to provide our customers with an authentication tool that is safe and secure.”

Biogency customers can choose to scan their products from either Laava.id or Laava’s WeChat mini-program. Laava also offers customers the ability to scan from the brand’s own website – something for later consideration at Biogency. For now, Biogency prefer the independent and secure feeling that comes from being connected with the Laava authentication brand.

For absolute confidence, we deployed a multi-layered approach incorporating a suite of tools:

• - secure, scannable Laava Smart Fingerprints for every item of production
• - the ability to match the batch number on the packaging with the batch number on the results screen
• - the iconic Australian Made logo on the labels and results screens.

“Every time we demonstrate our Laava function to a new customer or distributor, it’s a ‘WOW’ moment. The uniqueness adds brand value and is a strong marketing sales point for us. Ultimately, Biogency stands out from other brands that use traditional QR codes.” - Jimmy Tang, Sales and Marketing Director, Biogency

Results

Biogency knew that counterfeit activity was damaging their brand and putting their customers at risk. What they didn’t know was the origin and location of the copycat products. Using Laava’s intelligent rules engine, Biogency was able to quickly identify and shutdown the copied products. Consumers could scan the Laava Fingerprint on the bottles and be assured that it was a genuine Biogency product.

Biogency also knew they had a grey market problem but had no way of identifying the source. Laava’s data analytics tools and geolocation rules helped Biogency to identify the grey market activity. Knowledge of the source meant Biogency could quickly take action. In turn, the evidence empowered Biogency to protect its distributors and their network, ensuring the value of the Biogency products was maintained.

“With Laava’s brand protection system in place, we had a very straightforward way for us to identify the counterfeit, react quickly, and respond to protect our valued customers.” - Jimmy Tang, Sales and Marketing Director, Biogency

So far, about 2.7 million Biogency products featuring Laava Smart Fingerprints are in markets such as mainland China, Hong Kong, Macao, Singapore and Malaysia. Biogency is also sold online from its own website, and via Amazon.

Because of its marketing strategy and ongoing education campaign conducted on social media platforms, Biogency’s customers began posting about their scan experience. The public WeChat campaign resulted in 40,000 views; the audiences also created thousands of likes, comments and shares across Instagram, Little Red Book and TikTok.

To see the engaging posts created by Biogency’s influencers in their target market, visit Laava’s Instagram profile and tap the Story Highlights button called Laava In Use.

“Our customers know now that genuine Biogency products have the Laava authentication codes. Compared with traditional QR codes, which we know can lead to fake landing pages, the uniqueness of the Laava Smart Fingerprint equates to brand protection. And our customers love the Laava scanning experience.” - Jimmy Tang, Sales and Marketing Director, Biogency