A one-of-a-kind product becomes a trusted brand in infant care
"Transparency's name reflects its benefit. It has brought added value to our product."
Emil Ninni
Co-Founder of Koala Babycare
From childhood friends to business partners
Koala Babycare's founders Emil and Giacomo met in the halls of their local high school in Pesaro — a small city on Italy's Adriatic coast.
As often happens, they lost touch after graduation until they stumbled into each other while working at the same company and reconnected over their shared dreams of using their engineering degrees to make a positive impact.
As often happens, they lost touch after graduation until they stumbled into each other while working at the same company and reconnected over their shared dreams of using their engineering degrees to make a positive impact.
Getting creative with science
As luck — or fate — would have it, Giacomo became an uncle around this time.
Meanwhile, Emil's partner, who worked at a nursery school, often shared stories of flat-head syndrome — a condition in which infants' heads flatten because they spend too much time lying on their backs.
This sparked an idea.
And after months of exhaustive research and experiments later, Emil and Giacomo had in their hands the prototype of the first-ever pillow designed specifically to gently cradle infants' heads and preserve their natural shapes.
Meanwhile, Emil's partner, who worked at a nursery school, often shared stories of flat-head syndrome — a condition in which infants' heads flatten because they spend too much time lying on their backs.
This sparked an idea.
And after months of exhaustive research and experiments later, Emil and Giacomo had in their hands the prototype of the first-ever pillow designed specifically to gently cradle infants' heads and preserve their natural shapes.
The wrong kind of attention
By May 2017, Emil and Giacomo were ready to launch.
There was just one problem.
While imitation might be the highest form of flattery, it's bad for business and unacceptable when it comes to the safety of a child.
Research has found that 58% of parents worry about product authenticity when they’re shopping for baby care products. And 72% would stop buying from a brand if they read that there were counterfeits on the market that could be potentially harmful to their little ones.
After all their hard work, this was something Emil and Giacomo could not risk.
There was just one problem.
While imitation might be the highest form of flattery, it's bad for business and unacceptable when it comes to the safety of a child.
Research has found that 58% of parents worry about product authenticity when they’re shopping for baby care products. And 72% would stop buying from a brand if they read that there were counterfeits on the market that could be potentially harmful to their little ones.
After all their hard work, this was something Emil and Giacomo could not risk.
Protecting the Koala Babycare brand with Amazon
Around this time, Emil and Giacomo turned to Amazon to further develop their online business. They soon discovered that Amazon had a range of programs designed to empower businesses to grow and protect their brand.
These included Amazon Brand Registry, a program that enables brand owners to accurately represent their brand and products to create a trusted customer experience.
By registering in Brand Registry, Emil and Giacomo got access to enhanced features like A+ Content, Sponsored Brands, Brand Analytics, and various brand protection tools that allowed them to easily detect and report violations.
These included Amazon Brand Registry, a program that enables brand owners to accurately represent their brand and products to create a trusted customer experience.
By registering in Brand Registry, Emil and Giacomo got access to enhanced features like A+ Content, Sponsored Brands, Brand Analytics, and various brand protection tools that allowed them to easily detect and report violations.
"
Being on Brand Registry gave us the tools we needed to grow and protect our brand effectively. We could run searches, report suspicious listings, and Amazon would remove them immediately.
Emil Ninni
Co-Founder of Koala Babycare
These were instrumental in growing their business. Before long, their pillow was one of the most sought after baby care accessories in Europe.
"Amazon paved the way. It made our business succeed on a European level. Since 2017, our revenue has tripled year on year. And 80% of it comes from our Amazon storefront."
Needless to say, Emil and Giacomo were over the moon. But their success also made them more conscious than ever of the need to protect their brand, their newfound customers, and their hard-won reputation every step of the way.
So when they came across Transparency — a counterfeit prevention program by Amazon that would allow them to take proactive action to protect their products and customers from counterfeiting — enrolling was a no-brainer.
"Amazon paved the way. It made our business succeed on a European level. Since 2017, our revenue has tripled year on year. And 80% of it comes from our Amazon storefront."
Needless to say, Emil and Giacomo were over the moon. But their success also made them more conscious than ever of the need to protect their brand, their newfound customers, and their hard-won reputation every step of the way.
So when they came across Transparency — a counterfeit prevention program by Amazon that would allow them to take proactive action to protect their products and customers from counterfeiting — enrolling was a no-brainer.
A straightforward process from start to finish
Emil and Giacomo started off by registering one product. This was their best seller and most at risk of being counterfeited.
Signing up and getting onboarded was straightforward. But, more importantly, the benefits were almost immediate.
Signing up and getting onboarded was straightforward. But, more importantly, the benefits were almost immediate.
"Transparency gives us confidence. Every single product we sell has a unique code, so we can make sure potential bad actors do not profit from our hard work."
But it's not just Emil and Giacomo themselves who have benefitted from this confidence boost.
"We can enable every customer who buys the product to verify its authenticity just by scanning with their smartphone."
"We can enable every customer who buys the product to verify its authenticity just by scanning with their smartphone."
Joining Transparency has created a virtuous cycle
Positive customer reviews are increasing, which is boosting Koala Babycare's reputation. In turn, this is encouraging more people to buy their products, which means growing their sales and revenue.
"All in all, we've seen a 10% uplift in revenue just off the back of joining Transparency."
"All in all, we've seen a 10% uplift in revenue just off the back of joining Transparency."
From strength to strength
When Transparency revealed it would be launching an in-app customer engagement feature, Emil and Giacomo were among the first to sign up.
Alongside proactive protection from counterfeits, the new features allow customers to access rich branded content and exclusive promotions, as well as encouraging them to share their experiences of the brand on social media. All by scanning a code with a specially-designed Transparency app.
Alongside proactive protection from counterfeits, the new features allow customers to access rich branded content and exclusive promotions, as well as encouraging them to share their experiences of the brand on social media. All by scanning a code with a specially-designed Transparency app.
"It's a huge opportunity, because we can engage, cross-sell, upsell, or encourage repeat purchases at the moment when customers are most receptive to it... not only have they just bought the product. It's actually in their hands as they're viewing this content."
Emil and Giacomo are confident that this will be the start of a new chapter that will see their brand achieve bigger, better results.
Being transparent pays off
Koala Babycare started with one big idea and a lofty aim — making a real difference in people's everyday lives.
Amazon has been instrumental in bringing this vision to life. It has put Koala Babycare in front of a wide audience and equipped it with the right tools to help ensure customers continue to see it as a brand they can trust to deliver on its promises.
Emil, Giacomo and their customers can now sleep a little sounder and safer knowing that Koala Babycare products are protected and authentic.
Amazon has been instrumental in bringing this vision to life. It has put Koala Babycare in front of a wide audience and equipped it with the right tools to help ensure customers continue to see it as a brand they can trust to deliver on its promises.
Emil, Giacomo and their customers can now sleep a little sounder and safer knowing that Koala Babycare products are protected and authentic.
"Transparency is its own guarantee. I would recommend it to any brand that values its reputation and wants to protect it."
LOCATION
Pesaro, Italy
INDUSTRY
Baby
AMAZON LAUNCH
2017
BRAND PROTECTION TOOLS
Amazon Brand Registry
Transparency
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