How Lipsy Protects Consumers from Counterfeits & Safeguards Celebrity Partnerships

Sheena Yonker, Senior Brand Protection Manager at Lipsy London, shares how brand protection is core to protecting the Lipsy girl from counterfeits and safeguarding the exclusive celebrity partnerships that the brand has worked hard to secure.

Protecting copyrighted celebrity images

“The images from our celebrity campaigns are an integral asset for us, particularly online where they drive visitors to our site,” explains Sheena. “We’ve had fantastic success working this way – our recent campaigns with Abbey Clancy accelerated sales.”

“It’s a double-edged sword though. The problem you have when you work with well-known people is that bad actors will take the images you are producing and use them to drive traffic to their own e-commerce websites and counterfeit products.”

“We don’t want that to happen. We want to do everything we can to ensure the people we work with are well represented and we don’t want those relationships tainted by their images being used in unauthorized ways.”

“Ultimately, we want to direct our customers to authentic channels by ensuring that stolen or manipulated images aren’t being used to drive them towards counterfeit sales or phishing sites.”

“We are passionate about this at Lipsy. We want our customer base to be confident that what they are wearing is genuine, high-quality, safe and ethical, as counterfeits are often produced in unsafe, exploitative working environments.”

“We want to do everything we can to ensure the well known people we work with are well represented  and we don’t want those relationships tainted by their images being used in unauthorized ways.”

Sheena Yonker, Brand Protection Manager, Lipsy

Lipsy’s approach

Working with Corsearch

Lipsy works with Corsearch to identify copyright infringing images across marketplaces, domain name websites and social media.

“We’d used a couple of other providers to help us identify misuse of our celebrity and campaign images, but we weren’t getting the results we wanted,” says Sheena.

“When we discovered Corsearch, the game changed. We were won over by the technology. Corsearch’s brand protection technology is incredibly powerful, with advanced image matching that has capability and scalability that far exceeds anything else we had used before.”

Making the most of powerful network analysis technology

Lipsy also uses Corsearch’s network analysis capability to identify networks of infringing entities across channels such as websites, marketplaces, and social media and matching them against online and offline identifiers.

“The Network Analysis module has become important to us,” says Sheena. “Before, we might have seen a single seller presence on a marketplace. When you have Network Analysis, you can also quickly see if the seller you have identified is infringing your brand on Facebook, Instagram, websites, or even through physical stores.”

“This is changing how we work and think. We no longer see the value of continually taking down hundreds of seemingly separated listings. We want to see how networks connect and strike at their core.”

“Corsearch’s technology enables us to do that. Ultimately, this is what helps us to protect our brand and keep searches safe and clean for our customers.”

“When we discovered Corsearch, the game changed. We were won over by the technology. Corsearch’s brand protection technology is incredibly powerful, with advanced image matching that has capability and scalability that far exceeds anything else we had used before.”

Sheena Yonker, Brand Protection Manager, Lipsy

Working in partnership

Aside from technology, Sheena says that Lipsy has been impressed by working with the Corsearch team.

“Working with Corsearch is not just about technical capability,” says Sheena. “The Corsearch team has proved to be very professional, customer-focused and adaptable with a great legal foundation. We have a great working partnership.”

This partnership came to the fore in response to the COVID-19 crisis.

“I was furloughed during the first wave of COVID-19 restrictions. When I returned to work, I could see that the Corsearch team had not just kept our brand protection program ticking over. They had gone the extra mile and had exceeded targets and expectations.”

The results

By taking a strategic and comprehensive approach to brand protection, Lipsy has achieved tangible results across priority channels and a lasting reduction in brand abuse.

“We have achieved 98% compliance on marketplaces (October 2020) – rising to 100% on key platforms Allegro (Poland) and Buyma (USA). Since the start of our partnership with Corsearch, we have also prevented up to US$1,231,421 in lost sales by enforcing against high-risk listings and removing infringing stock.”

Examples of infringing content discovered by Corsearch’s brand protection technology

“I recommend Corsearch to my peers in the brand protection industry because they have really standout technology on the market. They are also always highly professional, adaptable and focused on my needs as a customer. If you’re looking for a true brand protection partner, Corsearch has the complete skillset you need.”

Sheena Yonker, Brand Protection Manager, Lipsy

Protect consumers and business stakeholders from digital risk

Corsearch’s brand protection technology systematically scrapes the internet using machine learning technology, enabling businesses to discover infringements on websites, marketplaces, social media, paid search, and more.

For Lipsy, the capability to uncover the true scale of online brand misuse and prioritize high-risk infringements has been critical to protecting consumers from counterfeits and safeguarding exclusive celebrity partnerships.

Whether you’re a midsize organization or a Fortune 500 enterprise, Corsearch brand protection solutions give you the confidence that your business and consumers are fully protected online. Request a demo from one of our experts to find out why Corsearch is the right choice for you.