Sproxil Testifies At U.S. Senate Committee Hearing

Press

CEO Of Mobile Anti-Counterfeiting Technology Company Outlines Three-Point Plan To U.S. Congressional Committee For Making Intellectual Property Rights More Effective.

Washington, DC (25 April 2017) – Dr. Ashifi Gogo, CEO of Sproxil®, a global leader in mobile-based brand protection and consumer engagement technology, testified at a hearing held by the United States Senate Committee on the Judiciary. Titled ‘Intellectual Property – Driver of Innovation: Making Our Lives Healthier, Safer, and more Productive,’ the hearing was presided over by Senator Chuck Grassley who is chairman of the committee on the judiciary as well as co-chair of the relaunched Congressional Trademark Caucus.

The senator expressed his pleasure at the fact that companies like Sproxil who had been recipients of the Patents for Humanity award from the United States Patent and Trademark Office were testifying at the hearing about how their award winning inventions had helped communities in need across the globe. Senator Grassley noted that innovation not only directly benefits society through the creative output of innovators but through the enormous economic impact it has on the American economy. He concluded by revealing that the Patents for Humanity Program Improvement Act had been reintroduced to encourage and reward companies that innovate and use patented technology to address humanitarian needs.

In his statement on what could be done to make defending intellectual property rights more effective, Dr. Ashifi Gogo gave three courses of action which are:

Secure supply chains and educate consumers to drive purchase decisions which make copyright theft unprofitable.
To encourage partnerships between global e-commerce websites, content distribution platforms, and law enforcement.
Increase inter-agency and private sector collaboration using technology platforms to share intelligence securely.

Dr. Gogo concluded with this quote: ‘Our society needs greater awareness and broad agreement to align our collective actions to reject support for intellectual property violators. We need to promote the discovery of new knowledge and innovations by individuals, corporations, research entities, and various other legitimate organizations, both large and small. I continue to believe that technology can play a key role as we work together to achieve that goal.’

Other witnesses at the hearing were: the acting assistant director of the Intellectual Property Rights Center in Washington, the General Manager Health & Life Science for Intel Corporation Ms. Kay Eron, Dr. Conor F. Madigan, Co-Founder & COO of Kateeva, and Dr. Neal Gutterson, VP of Research & Development at DuPont Pioneer.

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About Sproxil

Sproxil® uses mobile technology and a proprietary fraud detection platform to launch secure, data-driven consumer engagement programs globally. Sproxil’s solutions are deployed by multinational manufacturers and brands across multiple industries to prevent supply chain fraud, amplify brand awareness, and optimize marketing spend. With teams of experts in Africa, Asia and America, Sproxil has executed projects across five continents and can offer services in over 100 countries worldwide.

They have earned numerous awards and honors, including the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Outstanding Commitment Award, the 2013 White House Champions of change award, and the 2014 Schwab Foundation for Social Entrepreneurship award for Social Entrepreneur of the year. They were also named the most innovative healthcare company in the world by Fast Company Magazine, ranking #7 overall. In 2015, Sproxil hit the 55 million verifications mark; the highest number of fielded verifications recorded. Most recently, they were nominated for the Unilever Global Development Award category of Business in The Community’s Responsible Business Awards.

Sproxil is the only consumer loyalty and brand protection expert with both ISO 9001 and ISO 27001 certification. For more information and a full list of Sproxil’s product suite, please visit www.sproxil.com

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Contact

Sproxil

Ireti Oluwagbemi

ireti.oluwagbemi@sproxil.com

+234 816370 2561

Loyal Consumer wins Mercedes Benz With Chloride Exide

Sproxil Champion offers brands a chance to engage their customers by rewarding them as well as ensuring they purchase genuine products regardless of the industry. Chloride Exide took advantage of this unique opportunity and decided to run a campaign to reward their consumers for being loyal. The main prize for the campaign was a brand new Mercedes Benz and was open to all consumers of the Chloride Exide brand in Kenya that verified genuine products. There were also consolation prizes of airtime, fuel cards and cash.

There were a number of participants in this 3 month campaign which resulted in 65 people winning airtime daily, 13 people winning fuel cards weekly, 3 people winning cash prizes monthly and the grand prize of a mercedes benz that went to one person. The lucky taxi driver Mr Kibe in Kenya scratched and verified a genuine product and won the Mercedes Benz.

Chloride Exide saw an increase in sales during the three month promotion period as more consumers were engaged with their brand and purchased more products to increase their chances of winning. There was better brand awareness during this period as consumers that were not already customers for this company began purchasing their products for a chance to win. This enabled the company gain additional market share during the promotion period and increased loyalty amongst its consumers.

Is your company looking to increase sales, increase brand awareness, increase market share all while protecting its consumers from substandard products, then talk to a Sproxil Representative and let us help set you up. Fill out our contact form and someone would get back to you.

Niger Delta Development Forum 2016

According to their website, the Niger Delta Development Forum “envisions a Niger Delta where all persons are able to live sustainable livelihoods, generate income and employment, and create economic opportunities unhindered by constraints from within and outside the market system in the region and beyond.”

The NDDF is not just talking about it, they have been taking strides to ensure that adequate structures are put in place to make their vision a reality. One of such strides is their annual conference home and abroad hosted in several regions to facilitate discussions, share ideas and look for creative ways to execute the ideas shared.

Key stakeholders from the region and partner organizations are invited to attend this event to share creative solutions to the problems in the Niger Delta region in Nigeria. The theme this year was focused “Towards Self-Sustaining Development in the Niger Delta: Narrating and Showcasing a Re-Imagined Niger Delta” A representative of Sproxil was invited to speak on the topic “Economic Diversification and the Digital Economy.”

Atim Ukoh, who handles the marketing communications for Sproxil spoke extensively on how the Niger Delta could benefit from the Sproxil solution. Citing examples of Sproxil projects in other parts of Africa, stakeholders were convinced that the purposeful inclusion of technology early on in the process of diversifying the economy would make their approach more targeted and yield more efficient results.

Great ideas were generated and new relationships were built. We are glad that Sproxil would be included in the beginning processes of developing the Niger Delta economy of Nigeria beyond Oil. For more information about the event, check out the NDDF website.

Check out some images from the event as seen on the NDDF site.

E-Commerce Sites and Counterfeiting

The correlation between e-commerce sites and counterfeiting has become more pronounced in more recent times. Big name websites like Alibaba.com are constantly looking for creative ways to eliminate counterfeiting from their platform. While this is a step in the right direction, it is also proving difficult for other smaller e-commerce sites that do not have adequate resources to fight counterfeiting.

Counterfeiters have also taken things to a new level to create products that do not exist within a company’s brand portfolio but they use the company name anyway. Majority of FMCG brands suffer this fate. Due to their diverse portfolio of products in different countries, Counterfeiters take advantage of FMCG brands by creating a new product line which they can argue is not necessarily a substandard product after all they are expanding their service offering. This is however counterfeiting nonetheless as this is using a brand name to market their product.

How can E-commerce sites tackle this issue?

Strong partnership with brand owners

A partnership with brand owners enables e-commerce sites identify their official distribution channels. This enables the e-commerce sites weed out any unauthorized re-seller so they would not be allowed to upload their listings on the website. It would be advisable for anyone willing to sell another company’s products on the e-commerce websites to obtain permission from the brand owner and the signed document should be uploaded to the platform to verify the authenticity of the seller.

Consumer Awareness

E-Commerce sites have a responsibility to constantly educate consumers about being conscious of their purchases from the website. There needs to be effective follow-up strategy for consumers who purchase a product from the site that is counterfeit. The e-commerce website can partner with authorities to track the seller and hold them accountable.

Enforcement

Partnership with regulatory and law enforcement authorities will go a long way in enabling e-commerce sites put an end to distribution of counterfeit products on their site. Once an example is made of a few counterfeiters, the rest would be discouraged from using the platform. Once a counterfeiter is identified, they should be traced with the information provided during their registration and punished according to the law of the jurisdiction they are part of.

It is important for e-commerce business both existing and future to remain accountable and socially responsible even within the business realm as the lives of individuals are at the mercy of the their websites.

How to Decrease Marketing Spend and Increase Sales

How can a business possible decrease marketing spend and increase sales? Is there something we know that your business does not. As a matter of fact, there is. The easy answer is Sproxil Champion but the long answer involves crafting the right promotion tactics to fit what your consumers expect to see.
Every marketing department is always looking for creative ways to decrease their marketing spend but improve the return on investment on said marketing spend. In tough economic times, this is more of a priority that most. The question is how to achieve this given the fact that consumers tend to decrease their spending during tough economic times. Brands are not only trying to reduce their marketing spend, they are also trying to double their sales using the same amount of money. There are a few solutions to tackle this unique issue.

For example, If brands run a scratch, text and win promotion campaign they are generating awareness of their products and their brand to their consumers. The brand stays top of mind for the consumer and even prompts them to visit the stores to purchase the product because of the perceived discount they will receive. Depending on the modalities of the promotions, they are also likely to participate multiple times in the promotions to increase their chances of winning. By doing this, sales of the product increases without the brand necessarily spending more on marketing.

Brands can also define the modalities of the promotions to encourage consumers to refer their friends to the brand during the promotion period. This helps the brand acquire more authentic consumers because they come peer-reviewed. We live in a world where consumers trust peer reviews much more than the brand messaging so it is important to incorporate creative strategies when running a sproxil champion campaign.

If your business would like to run a promo campaign, do not hesitate to contact us. How is your business thriving in these economic times?

How to decrease marketing spend and increase sales- (1)

5 Unexpected Fakes

With fake goods estimated to account for 5-7% of world trade ($600 billion per year), we have all probably run into at least a few counterfeit products at one point or another. For many people, particularly in the U.S., fake goods mean pirated DVDs and knock-off designer bags sold on the street. Counterfeiting, however, is present in virtually every industry and is not always as easy to recognize as a poorly printed cover or misspelled brand name. Here are five things we would not have expected to see faked:
1. Cigarettes

Agencies around the world have been warning people about the dangers of fake cigarettes. In Punjab, the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) found that at least 20% of the tobacco products sold were faked, and just last week, 1.5 million counterfeit cigarettes were seized in Poland before being sent to the UK and Norway. While genuine cigarettes already raise strong concerns about health, fake cigarettes have been found to contain ingredients such as cyanide, sand, and even plastic. Additionally, fake cigarettes are more likely to cause fires, as they are not designed to burn in a controlled manner like genuine cigarettes.

2. Oranges

There are many examples of counterfeited processed foods and drinks (we wrote a blog post in June about the deaths of over 100 people in Mumbai as a result of consuming fake liquor), but how could unprocessed foods be faked? In Iran, officials discovered that oranges’ type and origin had been faked after they found a suspicious batch of oranges labeled as Israeli Jaffa Sweeties, even though Israel had banned trade between the two countries. Officials later learned that the oranges were not Jaffa Sweeties that somehow bypassed the trade ban, but rather a different type of orange from China with faked Jaffa Sweetie labels. In addition to faked Jaffa Sweeties, Australian officials have found oranges with fake Australian fruit company labels in China, when the oranges are actually from China and colored with toxic, artificial dyes to try and improve their appearance.

3. Tourniquets

Although fake medicines often garner a lot of the media attention, they are not the only healthcare related products that are counterfeited. In fact, fake medical devices are becoming more and more common. This past week, New Hampshire officials learned that some of its first responders had been supplied with fake tourniquets, simple medical devices that help control blood loss during severe injuries. Officials discovered this after two tourniquets experienced an uncharacteristic “catastrophic failure” while paramedics tried to stop the blood loss from a patient’s leg injury.

4. Fake Celebrities and Businessmen

Sometimes a counterfeit is not even a physical product. In an article and short documentary published earlier this year, the New York Times reports on how Chinese real estate agents hire ordinary foreigners to pose as fake foreign celebrities to help sell their housing developments. The Atlantic also reported a similar story on how some Chinese companies hire foreigners to pose as a fake businessman in order to give the companies an “image of connection” outside of China to clients and other companies.

5. Fake Stores

Lastly, when selling fake products is not enough, you can fake an entire store. In 2011, Chinese officials discovered 22 fake Apple stores operating in the country. The stores illegally used Apple’s brand and logo and staff wore extremely similar t-shirts and lanyards to the ones found in genuine Apple stores. Although it hasn’t been confirmed whether the fake stores sold genuine or fake Apple products, it’s hard to imagine that a fake store actually sold a genuine product.

While it may be shocking to learn that these 5 things have been faked, our expectations of what can and cannot be faked are exactly what counterfeiters prey on. As long as they can counterfeit something that consumers don’t expect and make it widely available, countless people will fall for their trap, losing money and putting their safety at risk.

What other unexpected fakes have you seen or heard about? Let us know in the comments.

Sproxil with MassChallenge at NASDAQ Opening Bell Ceremony

We had a really wonderful opportunity to be a part of MassChallenge’s Opening Bell Ceremony at NASDAQ. The organization invited its alum to join them on stage as they rang the NASDAQ opening bell in NYC this morning.
Co-founders Alden Zecha (CFO) and Ashifi Gogo (CEO), representing Sproxil, were able to snap some really great photos in front of the NASDAQ bell as those at Sproxil who couldn’t make eagerly watched the live stream from our desks!

MassChallenge is the world’s largest startup accelerator and competition and the first of its kind to support high-impact, early-stage entrepreneurs with no strings attached. The organization aims to catalyze a global startup renaissance.

Sproxil is a MassChallenge alum from the class of 2010.

We would like to thank MassChallenge for inviting us to share in this incredible experience.

Photos of the event below:

Alden Zecha in front of the NASDAQ bell

Ashifi Gogo in front of the NASDAQ bell

MassChallenge and MassChallenge alum in front of the NASDAQ bell

MassChallenge on the big screen outside of NASDAQ, as seen from inside

MassChallenge on the big screen outside of NASDAQ, as seen from the live stream

Sproxil CEO & Founder Dr. Ashifi Gogo Wins Inaugural Global Humanitarian Engineering Award

Sproxil CEO & Founder Dr. Ashifi Gogo Wins Inaugural Global Humanitarian Engineering Award

**UPDATE: Now with pictures! **

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Boston, MA (October 22, 2013) – Sproxil^®, a leading provider of world-class brand protection for emerging markets, announces founder Dr. Ashifi Gogo was presented with the inaugural Global Humanitarian Engineer of the Year Award on October 22^nd at the IEEE Global Humanitarian Technology Conference, San Jose Airport Garden Hotel, Silicon Valley, California USA. He was honored for his long-standing dedication to humanitarian engineering and ability to act on issues of social injustice.

Under Dr. Gogo’s leadership, Sproxil has developed the Mobile Product Authentication^TM (MPA^TM) solution that allows consumers to verify products are genuine by using a mobile phone and a free (SMS) text message. While the solution can be used for any tangible product, the MPA solution’s first application is addressing the need to combat counterfeit medication.

Upon purchasing medication, consumers scratch a label revealing a one-time use code, then text the code to a secure number provided on the package. As part of the MPA technology, the text message is processed to determine the drug’s genuineness. Within seconds, the end user is notified, via text, of the result. Alternatively, consumers can call a consumer support desk to get results in their local language. The solution is deployed in developing regions of Africa and Asia; it is offered in Nigeria, India, Kenya (serving East Africa), and Ghana (serving West Africa).

The MPA solution is based on Dr. Gogo’s research at the Thayer School of Engineering, Dartmouth College, where he earned the first Ph.D. Innovation Fellowship. Among the recognition Dr. Gogo has received is the IEEE Gold Humanitarian Fellowship in 2009 and in 2013 he was honored by the White House Champions of Change.

His motivation to create a simple, inexpensive way to identify counterfeit products was driven by the 700,000 deaths each year due to fake malaria and tuberculosis drugs. The MPA solution has been used for over 5 million product verifications in less than 5 years.

The Global Humanitarian Engineering awards have been developed to fill a global gap in celebrating the valuable contribution that engineers make towards improving the lives of those less fortunate. In addition, they serve to recognize outstanding achievement, provide role models, and demonstrate less popularly known roles of engineering in society.

This year’s awards were judged by prominent leaders in the field of humanitarian engineering including: Simon Trace – CEO of Practical Action, Petter Matthews – Executive Director at Engineers Against Poverty, and Cathy Leslie – Executive Director of Engineers Without Borders USA. Other award recipients include Qualcomm, Tesla, Google, ReAllocate, Western Digital and the Computer History Museum.

About Sproxil

Sproxil is a venture-backed enterprise that provides world-class brand protection services in emerging markets. The Company’s Mobile Product Authentication solution helps ensure purchased goods are not stolen or counterfeit by allowing consumers to verify product genuineness within seconds through a text message. Compatible with any tangible item, Sproxil’s solution is widely used by leading pharmaceutical companies to curb the multi-billion dollar counterfeit drug industry. The Company has also penetrated non-pharmaceutical industries including personal care, automotive aftermarket and food supplements. Sproxil has won the IBM SmartCamp Boston Award and the 2009 Clinton Global Initiative Outstanding Commitment Award, as well as received regulatory endorsements in Nigeria and Kenya. Headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States, Sproxil continues to expand across Asia and Africa.

Sproxil’s Mobile Product Authentication™ Solution Surpasses 5 Million Usage Mark in Battle Against Counterfeit Products

Sproxil^® Mobile Product Authentication™ Solution Surpasses 5 Million Usage Mark in Battle Against Counterfeit Products

Usage Rates Accelerate as Consumers and Brand Owners Partner to Combat Product Counterfeiting

Cambridge, MA (August 13, 2013) — Sproxil^®, a leading provider of world-class brand protection for emerging markets, announces that its’ Mobile Product Authentication™ (MPA™) solution has processed more than five million verifications to help consumers ensure that the products they are purchasing are genuine. Top10 global pharmaceutical companies, as well as local distributors and manufacturers in emerging markets across Africa and India have used Sproxil’s MPA solution to protect consumers from taking potentially harmful counterfeit and substandard drugs since the company launched in 2009. Compatible with any tangible good, the MPA Solution is also being used with an array of products including in automotive aftermarket parts, health & beauty products, food and beverage, bedding, and textiles & clothing.

“The 5 million mark is an incredible milestone for us and our partners. We’re very proud that we’ve been able to protect so many consumers from the threat of counterfeit products. Even more impressive is how quickly usage is accelerating. It took almost two years to reach the one million milestone, then seven months to double to two million verifications. In April we hit 4 million, and just four months later, we’ve surpassed 5 million.” states Jaime Stern, Sproxil’s Director of Sales. “In these emerging markets, consumers have high levels of access to mobile phones, and they are familiar with ‘scratch & text’ practices. This has allowed for such rapid adoption of the MPA solution. And with no cost to the consumer, we are confident adoption rates will continue to increase as we expand service to new markets.”

Before purchasing a product, consumers scratch a label that reveals a one-time use code. Next, the consumer texts the code to a secure number provided on the product package. As part of Sproxil’s MPA technology, the text message is processed to determine product genuineness. Within seconds, Sproxil notifies the end user, via text, of the result. Alternatively, consumers can call Sproxil’s consumer support desk to get results in their local language.

White House Highlights Dr. Ashifi Gogo as an Immigrant Innovator “Champion of Change”

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of Communications

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 29, 2013

White House Highlights Dr. Ashifi Gogo as an Immigrant Innovator “Champion of Change”

WASHINGTON, DC – On Wednesday, May 29th, the White House will honor Dr. Ashifi Gogo as one of eleven people who are Immigrant Innovator “Champions of Change.” This Champions event will highlight immigrant innovators and entrepreneurs – the best and brightest from around the world who are helping create American jobs, grow our economy, and make our nation more competitive.

“Immigrants have long made America more prosperous and innovative, and the Champions we are celebrating today represent the very best in leadership, entrepreneurship, and public service,” said US Chief Technology Officer Todd Park. “We are proud to recognize these leaders who work every day to grow our economy, advance science and technology, and support their home communities.”

The Champions of Change program was created as an opportunity for the White House to feature groups of Americans – individuals, businesses and organizations – who are doing extraordinary things to empower and inspire members of their communities.

To learn more about the White House Champions of Change program and nominate a Champion, visit http://www.whitehouse.gov/champions/immigrant-innovators

UPDATE: Ashifi Gogo wrote a great post on the Champions of Change Blog that we are excited to share with others: http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2013/06/04/empowering-people-worldwide-fight-counterfeit-drugs.

Missed the event? Watch here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2V0HXyha6Hs

Dr. Ashifi Gogo

Cambridge, MA

Dr. Ashifi Gogo is the CEO of Sproxil, a social enterprise that empowers consumers in emerging markets with mobile technology to combat the $600 billion counterfeit goods industry. Under his leadership, Sproxil developed its award-winning Mobile Product Authentication™ (MPA^TM) technology that has been used on over 100 million products by more than 2 million consumers to verify the authenticity of their medication. Former U.S. President Bill Clinton described Sproxil as “a genuinely remarkable achievement… [it’s] empowering…putting people in charge of their own healthcare.” Sproxil’s MPA solution is now used on multiple continents and in many industries including pharmaceutical products, automotive, garment, and fast-moving consumer goods.