BrandWatch Technologies and Prooftag partner for anti-counterfeiting

Portland, Oregon-based BrandWatch Technologies and France-based Prooftag have partnered to create a set of protection and marketing tools for the wine and spirits industry to help domestic wineries and distilleries overcome the problems of counterfeit product and authentication in overseas markets, such as China, which is recognized as both a huge market for potential growth and a hotbed for counterfeiting problems.

BrandWatch Technologies is now offering Prooftag’s Bubble Seal technology as an integrated component to its multi-layered protection products, to include overt, covert, track and trace and forensic technologies.

The partnership also provides brand owners with an iPhone app that enables distributors and consumers to verify the product they are holding is authentic. The iProof app uses the phone’s camera to take a picture of the Bubble Seal, which then cross-references an online database of products to confirm authenticity. Instant offline authenticity can be achieved with the BrandWatch Reveal detector.

‘Our partnership with Prooftag enables North American wineries and distilleries to more confidently sell into new markets,’ said Steve Delepine, vice president of business development at BrandWatch Technologies. ‘The technology we are providing with our partner, Prooftag, can be deployed as efficiently on a $10 bottle of red table wine, as on a $10,000 bottle of French Bordeaux.’

‘BrandWatch Technologies’ reach in North America and multi-layer protection solutions, takes our Bubble Tag product and creates a unique fraud protection system,’ said Franck Bourrières, co-founder of Prooftag.

The mobile app also opens marketing possibilities for manufacturers, as customers can use their phone to sign up for promotional deals, receive news or special offers.