It takes years to build a reputation and minutes to ruin it. In the digital landscape, negative words spread like wildfire that can burn your repute before you can identify the source or get hold of fading trust erosion.
Brands across the world are becoming more and more conscious of the damaging impact of trust erosion and are vigorously looking to identify social media posts or web content that shows brands in a bad light or fake.
However, identifying infringement and brand reputation threats in real-time requires automation, AI and ML tech driven tools and rigorous monitoring.
The Middle East region is also following a global approach when it comes to brand reputation protection, but the region is more focused on localisation, cultural and religious sensitivities.
Let’s explore here what makes brand safety, especially infringement monitoring, a critical issue for brands in the region.
Why do brands need infringement monitoring and brand safety measures?
Imagine a scenario, a fake social media handle or website impersonating your brand, disseminating misinformation or conducting fraudulent activities.
To protect your brand reputation, an automated detection process needs to be in place with an effective takedown and stringent action to curb misinformation and brand reputation damage.
Also, identify brand keywords being used by affiliates and influencers without authentication or incorrect brand communication.
How a global e-commerce company benefits from automated monitoring
The global eCom marketplace was looking for solutions that could provide brand safety specifically from affiliates in violation of their IPRs and brand guidelines. With the digital landscape being so vast, they were not able to track and monitor violations manually.
They require a highly scalable business solution which can process multiple channels with ease.
Using Open-Source Intelligence with AI-ML, tech was deployed, scanning open web and across several platforms for infringement, digital threats and scam sites. Processes were established using ML-based automations for cleaning, tagging & categorizing data collection. ML driven confidence scores were generated for images, videos & texts harvested from Open-Source Intelligence (OSINT). The ones with low ML confidence scores were manually reviewed. Analysis, cases and insights (Keyword Bidding, Trademark Violations, etc.) across channel sources were conducted.
From April to June, 1,637,941 Incident Counts were detected with unique Affiliates Identified 4,842 across 7 platforms scanned with 100% efficiency. The detection time was cut down from several days to seconds. They end up with savings (as reported by the brand) approximately $7 million.
Brand safety measures to avoid digital threats
Brands need safety measures using tools for proactive monitoring. Brand safety in the Middle East region is key due to cultural sensitivities.
The Global Alliance for Responsible Media (GARM) has been working to establish guidelines that promote brand safety and combat harmful content across digital media platforms.
While GARM’s guidelines are universal, the Middle East region has its own unique cultural and social considerations that must be considered when implementing these standards.
Key aspects of brand safety measures in the Middle East
Cultural sensitivity: The Middle East has rich cultural and religious traditions that are integral to daily life. Respecting these values and ensuring that content aligns with local customs and beliefs prevents misconceptions and secures brand reputation. Identifying any culturally insensitive content from brand impersonators is key to safeguarding brand repute. Content related to religion, family, and traditional values must be carefully managed to avoid offense.
Language and context: Identifying guideline violations for your own creative compliance, safety and placement and identifying relevant placements is key to brand safety. Infringement, trademark violations or misinterpretation due to contextual inaptness can lead to reputational damage for global brands operating in the Middle East region which is culturally diverse.
This makes monitoring in local language critical to brand reputation management and infringement protection.
Understand nuances in Arabic and other regional languages with AI-ML that at contextual understanding as part of their algorithms like mFilterIt SentinelPlus, brand protection that underlines local language understanding to detect infringement and other digital threats.
Combating misinformation: Misinformation and fake news can have significant consequences in the Middle East, given the region’s diverse political landscape, strict measures and automated processes need to in place to curb the spread of false information. Collaborative efforts help create a safer digital environment that respects regional values while maintaining global standards.
Regulatory compliance: Different countries in the Middle East have varying levels of regulation around digital content and advertising. Adherence to local laws and regulations ensures that content is not only globally compliant but also locally respectful. Working closely with local regulatory bodies is recommended to navigate the legal landscape effectively.
In the Middle eastern countries such as the UAE or the majority of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, given the seriousness of defamation, slander, libel, and insult under UAE law, one should be careful to avoid using any ambiguous, insensitive, or rude designations or those relating to religion, even such things done by fake handle or website impersonator, genuine brand can land into legal trouble and lead to irreparable reputation damage.
Penalties for IP rights violations are severe, including significant fines, seizure of infringing goods, or even imprisonment, but brands need and effective brand infringement protection strategies and tools that can protect the brand in real time and initiate takedowns in a swift manner.
The UAE recently amended national patent law to demonstrate its commitment to IP rights protection. However, global laws and templates require localisation.
Comprehensive tech tools with AI, ML and OSINT capabilities are a must in the ever-evolving digital ecosystem to protect brand reputation from infringement, impersonation and other sophisticated digital threats.
By Debsena Chakraborty, VP Growth EMEA, mFilterIt.
