The new version of the GreatBrands platform is live. The team has been working closely with its clients to understand how they can make brand protection processes simpler and more cost effective.
Understanding where the pain points are at every step of the journey for the clients, as well as for the professionals who help their clients protect their brand, has been key in designing the new version of the platform.
“Unsurprisingly, the conclusion of all of this work is that everyone wants to save key resources, such as time and money, when building the protection that goes around their brand”, says Philip Grother, co-founder of Great Brands.
How does one do so? First, the team needed to understand which of the processes was the most time-consuming, and the answer to this particular issue was the creation of the Class Selection Engine. “The clients just need to select the classes that are most relevant to their business, and the job is done”, continues Grother.
“We understand that our clients are not looking to become brand protection specialists.”
Then there’s the user journey. The team has designed the platform to be as intuitive as possible, so that over time the clients will be as independent as possible when protecting their brand.
“We have also included a knowledge base so that our clients can learn about brand protection, if they want to dig deeper into the subject. We understand that our clients are not looking to become brand protection specialists, but providing the context behind the process allows them to understand why some processes take time”, tells GreatBrands’ co-founder.
Brand protection should not be considered as a cost, it is a real investment in the future of their company. The brand protection world operates on a “first come, first served” basis. This means that no matter how long someone has worked on his company, if the brand is not protected and someone else files for a trademark or design mark, the original creator can lose all his hard work, because they are not allowed to use their name and logo anymore. “We do not like to be scaremongers, but we have found that very few people understand that this is a real contingency”, explains Philip Grother.
“Our Partner Network has also been a great support for us to understand where the market wants and needs us to spend our time and effort. Making it extremely easy for them to help their own clients to protect their brands has helped us continuously improve our own value proposition, and understand what we need to improve on the platform.”
“The day that one of our clients needs to defend their brand in front of the Court of Justice, we are also there to help, since we have built an international network of lawyers.”
Part of GreatBrands’ value proposition is the business approach the team takes when considering how to help the clients. “We try to understand what our clients’ do, so that we can offer them the best protection possible. This approach has allowed us to help clients protect brands that some other professionals have found impossible to protect”, says Grother.
Only by truly understanding the clients’ business can we find the right argumentation as to why the brand can and should be protected under the selected classes.
“That being said, the day that one of our clients needs to defend their brand in front of the Court of Justice, we are also there to help, since we have built an international network of lawyers. So if one of our clients needs legal assistance in Brazil, Norway, China or anywhere else in the world, we will take care of it”, concludes Philipp Grother, co-founder of GreatBrands. “The team has been working closely with IP professionals, including lawyers, to understand how we are making their lives a lot easier. We are reducing the time required to perform non-value-added tasks, freeing up their internal resources to carry on servicing their clients in the most cost-effective ways possible”.
Photo: Shutterstock
