Google Search campaign helps heritage clothing company combat counterfeit sales

Google Search campaign helps heritage clothing company combat counterfeit sales

Barbour, the South Shields-based heritage and lifestyle clothing brand, has taken an original approach in the fight to combat the sale of counterfeits online.

Established in 1894, Barbour is famous for its iconic waxed jackets, which are still manufactured at its headquarters in Simonside in the North East of England. From this factory, Barbour produces over 130,000 handcrafted wax jackets each year and their ever-growing popularity has seen the number of illegal counterfeits being produced increase in recent years. With more and more people buying online around the world, the problem has become more widespread and much harder to control.

Proactive response to rogue traders

To combat this trend Barbour has partnered with Search Laboratory, a Leeds-based search marketing agency, to help crack down on the rogue traders that sell fakes via the internet. The campaign, which has been rolled out across Google’s paid search network, aims to educate people who are searching for the Barbour brand about the pitfalls of buying a counterfeit item.

“Barbour’s approach is pioneering,’ said Ian Harris, Search Laboratory chief executive. “Usually clients want to sell more of their products or services online, but Barbour is wholly focused on maintaining their reputation as a luxury lifestyle clothing brand and protecting their following from poor quality counterfeit merchandise which will inevitably disappoint the purchaser in the long run. It’s the first time I have seen a brand use search marketing in this way and we are really excited about what Barbour is trying to achieve with this innovative use of pay-per-click [PPC] marketing.”

Supporting authorised stockist network

The agency said Barbour is serving adverts via Google that promote the benefits of buying genuine goods over fakes and directing interested shoppers towards one of its 2,000 registered stockists worldwide.

Steve Buck, Barbour managing director, added: “Protecting our customers and our brand is of paramount importance to us. When we suggested this unique approach to counterfeiting with Search Laboratory, they understood what we wanted to achieve and have helped us develop an impactful campaign. We always advise customers to buy only from approved Barbour stockists and we believe that this approach will really help to get that message across.”