Upholding brand integrity comes at a cost, says Avon legal head
10 April 2025
“Brand counterfeiting is a growing issue and an evolving issue,” stated Jai Tamayo, country head of legal for Avon Cosmetics. Highlighting seizures in the Philippines, he noted that in 2024 alone, authorities confiscated US$820 million worth of counterfeit goods. With counterfeiting models expanding, Tamayo emphasized the need for a framework that is agile, scalable and future-proof to help brand owners combat these threats.
Drawing from his experience at a previous employer, Tamayo shared how the company lost a lot of market share to a counterfeiting syndicate operating approximately seven plants, generating over US$17 million a year in revenue by copying the top brands from the leading cosmetics companies in the Philippines. These counterfeiters were able to avoid costs related to research and development (R&D), compliance and marketing – redirecting funds instead to payouts for government officials. “We must create our own model that can combat this,” Tamayo urged.
He pointed out that given the creativity of criminal counterparts, the responsibility falls on brand owners to develop an effective framework. He emphasized that this framework must be comprehensive, addressing the supply chain, corporate governance and distribution channels.
“The true challenge as governance practitioners who are charged with upholding integrity in our companies is that we have to embrace the challenge of choosing integrity every day, and that comes at a cost. It is the cost of doing the right thing. To be legitimate can seem harder now that being illegitimate. It often seems easier to be the bad guy and follow a path of counterfeits. We need to embrace the costs of doing the right thing and transform that into the benefits of doing the right thing” Tamayo explained.
Outlining his framework, Tamayo said brand owners should share stories of best practice that other practitioners can learn from, build a network so we can fight counterfeiting and brand violation across the region together, and be authentic and be genuine, he concluded.
Tamayo was speaking at the start of the first day of the Brand Protection Congress in Singapore.
- Darren Barton, in Singapore
