Biogency

“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

A healthy partnership: Laava’s strength is Biogency’s protection

Laava® is about to enter the third year of its commercial partnership with Australian premium nutraceutical manufacturer and exporter, Biogency Pty Ltd, with Laava Smart Fingerprints® featuring on six products in the Biogency range.

The partnership began as a way to help protect this premium brand and patented product formulations from copycats and fakes. It evolved into an integrated consumer engagement strategy supported by influencers on social media platforms in Biogency’s target markets. Read our case study to learn more.

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.

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: Further joint product launches are planned for the year ahead along with the introduction of further Laava features.
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

So far, about 2.1 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 

Customer and partner collaborations

Social media influencers

Biogency engaged influencers such as Jessie Li and Stephanie Hunt to talk to their audiences about the products’ benefits, as well as how to verify their authenticity by scanning the Laava Smart Fingerprint on the bottle.

“It’s more secure to use the Laava web scanner or the WeChat mini-program, as opposed to just using the camera on my phone to scan the codes. The results screen is also very informative. It helps me understand more about the products and the Biogency brand.”

Biogency customer

Australian Made

The Australian Made, Australian Grown (AMAG) logo supports growers, processors and manufacturers in Australia by helping businesses to clearly identify to consumers that their products are Australian. As an Australian Made, Australian Grown member, Laava was pleased to align and combine the powerful benefits of Laava’s digital on-product verification with Australia’s most trusted, recognised and widely used country of origin symbol, to bolster its assurance of quality to Biogency customers.

MCC Label

A global supplier of premium label solutions, Laava partner MCC Label delivered the engaging labels for Biogency’s packaging, expertly incorporating the Laava Smart Fingerprint and compelling call to action inviting consumers to scan. Laava Smart Fingerprints are seamlessly integrated into Biogency’s main bottle wrap-around label and carton, making production deployment easy, with no technology or production line changes required.

Ready to discuss your business needs with our team?

Would you like to learn more about how your business can actively combat counterfeiters in the health and wellness space? With Laava’s secure connected packaging solution, you can not only protect but also enhance your brand reputation (and your revenue!). For more information, read our blog post, Fighting the pharma fakes: Laava tackles a global problem.

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