A high-end authentication solution for a legend in HiFi equipment.
Siltech is a pioneer and specialist in audio cables. Siltech is reckoned to be a purveyor of some of the finest hi-fi equipment in the world. They invest in research and development to offer the most state of the art products. Their research on audio cables has given light to the finest interconnects, speaker cables and power leads that you can find on the market. It is particularly popular among clientele that is looking for state-of-the art equipment. These sought-after items are often resold on the second-hand market. As China is an important market for Siltech, unfortunately there are also many counterfeited products and grey import around. And even though being copied could be considered a sign of success, Siltech is very aware of the impact of counterfeiting. That’s why Siltech called upon Selinko to provide an innovative and secure solution based on its NFC expertise.
30%
sales volume increase year on year.
A high-end authentication solution for a legend in HiFi equipment.
Challenges
Which challenges for Siltech and Selinko?
- Everyone involved, including the second-hand buyer, should have a way to know if they have a real product in front of them and not a fake.
- Deviations from the export path should be detected.
- How to place the tag and protect the product rather than the packaging? The parts of the cable containing the branding and serial numbers are made of metal and NFC in contact with metal is not readable.
- How to ensure the value of the product also for resale?
- How to protect distribution from grey import and even counterfeited products?
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The combination of a unique digital ID, powered by a secure platform, and an adapted secure NFC tag on every product allows:
- unequivocal authentication,
- ownership certificates and transfers,
- grey market detection.
Production and integration
Hangtag:
- A premium leather hangtag is placed around the cable, in line with the premium design of the product. It can be easily applied but not removed without breaking the tag.
- The hangtag contains the NFC tag and is easy to read with any NFC-enabled device.
Tamper-proof tag:
- Can’t be copied.
- Can’t be removed without damaging it and being detected.
Ownership certificate and transfer:
- Linked to the unique identity of the product.
- Associated with a unique, secure code for the owner.
- Customer can register his/her product with the combination of the NFC tag and corresponding ownership code, to receive lifetime warranty and other additional benefits.
Synchronisation between the unique ID, the tag, the product and the ownership code:
- Made possible by Selinko’s intervention on the production line, without disrupting the production process.
A tracing solution with grey market detection:
- Each scan/product is registered on the platform with geolocation.
- Any product scanned outside the designated territory will be detected.
- Every deviation generates an alert on the customer interface.
Results
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The customers (both 1st and 2nd hand) know they are buying a genuine product. With their smartphone, they simply scan the product tag and receive an authenticity message on the client app.
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For protecting the product value throughout its life cycle, we created an easy solution together with Siltech. The first customer can resell the product together with the ownership certificate and the proof of authenticity, ensuring a higher resale value.
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At the same time, exclusive distributors are protected from parallel markets and run no risk of selling fake items. The whole system led to a significant reduction of online counterfeits.
Ask for a solution
The NFC solution with the linked app will help us safeguard the future of our business, our distributors and our dealers by adding a robust, new security feature to our products. At the same time we provide additional value to our customers through more security, easy product authentication and registration, and more personal engagement.
Viktor de Leeuw
Operations Director of International Audio Holding, the company behind Siltech & Crystal Cable