Syska’s Innovative AI Strategy Against Counterfeit Products

• The company has partnered with NeuroTags technology to combat counterfeiting of its consumer electronics
• The International Chamber of Commerce expects the anti-counterfeiting market to touch $206.57 billion by 2021

Syska Group, a FMEG brand in India has partnered with NeuroTags technology. This partnership will enable Syska to establish a direct connection with their consumers and, simultaneously, defend the brand from the economic and reputation damages from counterfeiting. This technology, as per the company, enables product authentication and paperless warranty management, independent of the location from where the product has been purchased.

The International Chamber of Commerce expects the anti-counterfeiting market to touch $206.57 billion by 2021. In India, the market is Rs 40,000 crore or $7.5 billion. Currently, most players in this market are security label providers, hologram makers and RFID players. Supply chain solutions like QR codes, scratch codes on top of simple labels haven’t been entirely effective in thwarting counterfeiting, or can only be verified once in the supply chain.

Syska’s official statement read, ““Lots of brands have gone out of business primarily because of fake goods. Consumers do not just get affected economically; fake and counterfeit products are greater risk towards the experience of products, brands and in certain cases – lives. “

Fighting counterfeiting of products using AI and algorithms

NeuroTags, as per the company, uses algorithms and AI to build mathematically coupled tags – open and protected. This partnership is extended to Syska products under the categories including Syska Wires, mobile accessories and smart home products.

Rajesh Uttamchandani, director, Syska Group said, “As there is an ever-growing demand for purchasing products online, there is an increasing risk to the flow of counterfeit products into the market. It thus becomes imperative to address this issue and invest in a technology that will bring an end to counterfeit products. Through our partnership with NeuroTags, we have digitized a major set of our products which will enable users to check the authenticity of the products and also connect with our brand directly.”

The pre-purchase tag is placed on the product packaging. Buyers scan it to authenticate product genuineness and get product information. This tag also helps in educating the buyers about the unique product features and advantages, as well as in building customer trust.

Substantial drop in counterfeiting of products

After launching the product digitization, Syska said it has witnessed substantial drop in counterfeiting of products, and get city-wise information of counterfeit products to track and take corrective measures against such malpractices in the market. There is also a huge surge in consumer participation in digital warranty with thousands of users registering themselves with Syska every month.

As a part of this digitization drive, NeuroTags technology is consolidating all the data at one place including Syska’s daily activities from the thousands of service centers across India and are linking every support request to Neuro Codes which provides a holistic view of overall support and product performance.

The post-purchase tag is placed inside the product packaging. Buyers can scan this tag to register for the warranty and manage it digitally. Once users complete the warranty registration, they receive an email confirmation with the warranty information. The same code also helps the product owner to contact the customer support easily anytime in the future with a single scan of the tag.

Abhishek Agrawal, director, NeuroTags said, “Syska has always been a pioneer in adopting futuristic technologies, and now with the aim of digitizing every Syska product they again are proving themselves to be market leaders”.