Think Customers: The 1to1 Blog

Liz Miller, vice president of programs and operations, at the CMO Council, said the threat is both offline and online and marketers must pick their battles. "They need to step up to the plate," she said. "They're out to pollute and dilute our brands."

Miller said marketers are faced with a challenge in finding these brand terrorists because they exist as global organizations which are difficult to locate and highly organized. Currently a growing concern is with cyber squatting and illegal use of trademarks or brands online, as well as illegal copy of digital media content. One of the biggest outcomes to a company that has had its identity stolen is diminished value and integrity of brand value. In fact, the study revealed that 40.9 percent of marketers said that's the greatest impact they face with this threat.

In addition, 35 percent indicated these types of encroachments cut into profit margins. "Quite frankly, you're also diluting the customers and customer experience and you're compromising the uniqueness and cache of a brand," Miller said.

To combat that invisible enemy, Miller suggests that marketers take over or share ownership of brand protection in companies with legal. Only 15 percent of marketers in the study claim to run brand protection in their companies. "It's up to marketing to spearhead this charge," she said. "I see legal and marketing needing to partner to create these impactful programs to educate these consumers from being conned, scanned, and duped."

In addition, she suggests implementing software that monitors and measures the usage of a company's brand on thousands of websites. For example, Miller's team interviewed the folks at Travelzoo for the study and they said that they often times find imposter sites on Google that claim to be Travelzoo.

Miller said companies need to assemble teams and resources to pounce on these illegal outfits. "The CMO needs to have the hotline into legal that says, 'Go get those guys,'" she said. "That is really what it comes down to--how are you protecting and guarding the customer experience?"