By Kema Rajandran, APSM
Whether its perfumes, lotions or shampoos; cosmetic products are being copied on a large scale. Now more than ever, corporations and individuals are experiencing the significant cost of global trademark and IP infringements, so how does a company keep its brand safe?
Under the umbrella of security responsibilities many companies now include brand protection. Heidi Ng is the Regional Security Manager, Global Security and Trademark (TM) Protection in Hong Kong for Estée Lauder, a manufacturer and marketer of prestige skincare, makeup, fragrance and hair care products.
Don’t be fooled by Ng’s delicate appearance, an active Martial Arts enthusiast, mainly in Taekwondo and Kick-Boxing, Ng was also a Physical Trainer and Taekwondo coach and still enjoys pistol shooting in her spare time. With a lifelong interest in the area of law enforcement and security, Ng keeps up to date with new trends through various research, training, media and external channels such as online discussion groups and “security gossip”.
A brand isn’t just a logo or name; it is about caring about the business at every level and in every detail, from the mission and vision, to the employees and customers.
“We cover all aspects of corporate security, for example, physical security personnel security, executive protection, crisis management, etc,” Ng said.
Being the Regional Security Manager, Ng is expected to have enhanced investigation skills and experience and ability to work with various business units. Previously working at Bose with electronics and audio devices, Ng explained that her experience was easily transferable as “they are all luxury goods.”
“Some of my previous experiences have taught me that a good system is more reliable and effective than a good employee, therefore creating a good system for my company has always been my priority.”
While you may be under the assumption that working for a cosmetics brand would put you in an environment surrounded by women, this simply is not the case, “From the conferences and meetings, I can say there are approximately 90 per cent males in attendance.” And while Ng says there are currently more females in this industry than in past years, “males still dominate.”
Ng says women should not be discouraged by this, she believes males currently in the industry would welcome more females to join as women have their advantages and special talents in security industry and she also thinks it’s a general view that “it’s boring to just have men in the industry.”
“This industry has been dominated by men for decades; however, the world has changed, and will keep changing as well. The involvement of women’s new point of views in security enables the industry to accept different angles of changes. It has been suggested that women are natural opportunity seekers and networking experts and I believe these abilities are really critical.”
As the internet continues to become a more dynamic and vital part of every company, it is inevitable that today’s enterprises need to be more proactive at anticipating exploits and abuses that can tarnish their reputation and negatively impact their business operations.
One measure Ng has put in place as the Regional Security Manager to monitor total online presence and strategically protect the brand, trademark, and domains is the online enforcement program.
“The Online Enforcement Program involves our legal department and some other service providers. We aim at auction websites as well as domain name abuse issue and send out warning letters, we also aim at working with all those webhosted companies.”
Ng is tight lipped on the details but she did share that the company is currently processing a number of law suits for this reason, “You may have heard of Chanel shutting down thousands of TM infringing websites. We are pursuing this similar approach but that is all I can say about that now.”
Big brand names take years to establish so it should come as no surprise that other companies or individuals would want to ‘piggy-back’ on another brand. A case that received a lot of media attention in 2009 was when Gucci America won a trademark case against the former wife of Paolo Gucci, grandson of Guccio Gucci, who founded the luxury-goods empire in 1921. The wife, Jennifer Gucci, was accused of licensing her name for coffee shops, bedding and other items. The trial ended in a permanent injunction and a finding that Gucci was entitled to compensatory and punitive damages as well as a permanent injunction.
Since she stepped into the role, the Global Security Team has seen its largest expansion in the Asia Pacific Region, EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa) and Canada.
The company has more than a dozen network hubs worldwide that includes divisions acquired from other companies and Ng, with her team of one, has the task of managing this in the Asia Pacific Region through “communication, security awareness, training, planning – crisis management and Business Contingency Plan – and a common sense approach to security.”
Estée Lauder was founded in 1946 with four products and an unshakeable belief: that every woman can be beautiful. Today, more than 60 years later, that simple notion has changed the face of the beauty business and its people such as Ng that have helped ensure the success of this brand stays strong.
