Copycat got your tongue? How to avoid brand identity theft!

Andy
Okay. Okay. You got me. You got me. I’m just introducing today’s episode topic and taking the piss a little.

Ange
Right. I knew it. So what is the topic? Copying?

Andy
You have absolutely nailed it, Ange. Yeah, the other day I was sitting at a set of traffic lights and I noticed two tradie trucks were sitting there side by side, and they were different businesses, but both trucks were blue and yellow. And I thought, oh, now this isn’t uncommon. And I had a bit of a closer look, but their logos were very similar as well. And if it weren’t for the fact that the business names were completely different, I could have even sworn they were exactly the same business. Yeah, so I’ve had experience with something similar with my plumbing business as well, and so have some of our members along the way. But I thought there’s no better way to teach our listeners about how to avoid copycats than to chat about it in this episode.

Ange
Yeah. Okay, good. I love that. So some say that copying is the highest form of flattery, but if they want the same as you, you must actually be doing something right. But when it comes to business, this can be really detrimental to your brand and it can actually cost you customers.

Andy
Yeah, definitely. And with so many tradies out there these days, there’s a tradie truck on every corner, isn’t there? It’s getting a lot harder to stand out in the crowd, so there’s so only so many different colors in the rainbow to choose from when you are picking branding, and it’s actually getting quite common these days to see similar colors of branding on the road. But I wouldn’t necessarily consider that as copying.

Ange
No.

Andy
Unless you’re doing something really out there, like some psychedelic hippie pattern and someone’s doing exactly the same. Yeah. But when it comes to copying, I’ve honestly heard stories of businesses stealing names, logos, and even entire websites.

Ange
Wow. People seriously have no boundaries. Right. Ah, it’s. And whilst I do think some copycats are genuinely accidental. Yep, because you truthfully might have actually got similar ideas. There are some copycats purposefully trying to steal your identity so they can actually profit from your hard work, like leaning on your company name.

Andy
Yep. You are completely right there, Ange. I mean, this happened with Dr. Drip way back then. Yeah. If you can remember, we had another guy call himself Dr. Drip Maintenance and Plumbing. Yeah. Which was so similar to our name. It’s almost a carbon copy. And he even got away from putting stuff on our suppliers account. And I was like, oh my God. And it wasn’t actually until one of my boys rang up and he said, do you have another plumbing account? I said, no. And he said, well, the guy just asked me, which Dr. Drip account did you want? Did you want Dr. Drip Plumbing or did you want Dr. Drip Maintenance and Plumbing? And I was like, hang on, this seems a bit weird. So we looked into it and yes, there’d been another company that set up Dr. Drip maintenance and plumbing. So then it just made sense. Now why are we catching thousands of dollars incorrectly charged to our account. Yeah. We’re talking to our supplier and saying What is happening? And they said, oh, it’s just a genuine mistake. But now we’ve realized it was the wrong account and that was put on our account.

Ange
Yeah. Not the wrong purchase. That’s right. Exactly. I remember you called the guy that owned the business.

Andy
Yeah, I did and I was pretty upfront and said, Hey, it’s Andy here from a Dr. Drip Plumbing. And he seemed pretty quiet at the end of the line. And I said, Hey mate, I was just ringing up to say hi. And he said, hi, how are you going? I said, I just wanted to ask you what your name is. And he said, my name is Dr. Drip Maintenance and Plumbing. And I said, well, you do realize I’ve been, I think we’d been going for about seven years by then. And I said, it looks like you’ve started up only in the last two months. So I said, mate, you’re infringing on our trademark and you’re gonna have to change your business name. And I was very polite about it and he said, I’m not gonna do that. I’ll spend a lot of money doing this, setting my business up. And I said, well, that’s fine, but what we’ll have to do is get our lawyers involved, which is gonna cost us a bit of money, but it’s gonna cost you a bucket load of money because any revenue that we’ve dropped will be suing you for that as well. Yeah. And then that’s when his tune changed.

Ange
Yeah. What happened then?

Andy
Well in the end, um, we had his sister who was a lawyer, rang me up and she profusely apologized and said, we’re gonna change the name and we’re gonna pay back. Cuz we realized the materials as well with our suppliers. Yeah. And she was really good about it and they did everything that was meant to be. And I don’t know what his new business name was. Maybe you are out there listening today. . But they were nice about it. Like, I don’t have any hard feelings. Did he do it on purpose or did he do it as a mistake? I mean, I don’t know. I mean, we had like a lot of trucks on the road and we had about 20 guys, like we were all over Sydney, so,

Ange
And we were geographically in the same area.

Andy
Yeah, I’d be very surprised if he didn’t know who we were.

Ange
Yeah, I’d say he’d be trying to ride on our coattails.

Andy
Maybe. Maybe . .

Ange
Not to mention we could easily have been losing business once this guy set up a website because if people Googled Dr. Drip, both our businesses would’ve featured and they simply would’ve had to pick like a 50-50 chance.

Andy
Is it Dr. Drip Plumbing or is it Dr. Drip maintenance and plumbing? Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. And it would’ve, um, been a disaster. We’re lucky that we’d trademarked, to be honest.

Ange
Yeah, I agree.

Andy
So we were lucky we got a chance to put a stop right there, but most trade business owners wouldn’t even know if they had competitors out there. Um, we’re just lucky to come across these guys, so when you’re driving in traffic from now on, keep your eye out. And find out who is out and about. But I’m, because we deal with so many trade businesses, and I’m not gonna mention names, but there’s names that are the same in Sydney to Brisbane, to WA. Like in all these different states, there’s people that have the same names.

Ange
Well, I remember,

Andy
I’m assuming there’s no trademarks on these names.

Ange
Oh, well this is the challenge, right? Yeah. And I remember this actually happening to one of our members. Yeah. An electrical company in a regional town in New South Wales, right. Who have a great logo and really strong brand presence. Mm-hmm. , I won’t actually mention their business name, but say for example, it was three letters, let’s say A, B, C. Yep. And another member from Brisbane sent a picture of a vehicle with the exact same logo. I’m kid you not. Same colors, same design, same font. The only difference was their logo was say, A, B, D, not A, B, C.

Andy
And guess what the logo was?

Ange
What?

Andy
It was a lightning bolt that was yellow. Yeah. . Good on you. Electricians. So inventive . But I’ve seen this happen so many times with logos because a lot of people thought it was really smart to go to things like 99 designs where they have a hundred graphic designers globally all over the world, and you get in there and you say, I want an original logo and I want you to design something from scratch that no one else has. Ready, set, go. And then you look at say, five or six different logos. You pick one, you pay them the money in a way you go, but there’s no contracts signed, there’s no nothing. But what these designers are doing is just using that for the next person and the next person and the next person. And it’s amazed how many of the same logos are out there.

Ange
Yeah. The challenge of not owning the rights to the actual logo. Right.

Andy
And maybe it’s not, the logo is exactly the same, but they use a certain type of a man, like a comical image.

Ange
Feature. An image, yes.

Andy
Comical features. And I’m seeing that everywhere these days.

Ange
Yeah. So it was really lucky with these guys that I just mentioned who are operating in different states because imagine how hard it would be for a customer to tell those two businesses apart.

Andy
That’s right.

Ange
So, If Mrs. Jones doesn’t use you on a regular basis, she isn’t gonna remember your business name a hundred percent. So she’s simply gonna Google, say, plumber Sydney as an example, and on the first page of these two companies with identical colors and branding and the only difference is the name ABC Plumbing or ABD Plumbing. She is really gonna be able to tell which ones which, like probably not. And then you’ve potentially lost a customer. Your customer.

Andy
Nah, that’s exactly, and but, um, the lucky thing is, guys, there are strategies that you can use to protect yourself from being copied, like trademarking. So, yep. Let’s get into it.

Ange
Yes, let’s do it. So this first one can be hard sometimes, but you just need to think differently. So, for example, you use this example of a, say electrical company. Mm-hmm. . So let’s say your company name was Zapp Electrical and your colors are currently yellow with a big yellow lightning bolt.

Andy
Ah, there you go.

Ange
But it’s not really original, right? Sorry to all use up electricians who are using yellow branding, but it can be really easily copied.

Andy
Yeah. A way that you can think differently, for instance, is considering changing the color. I know that everyone sees a lightning bolt as yellow, but say you had the lightning bolt as purple for an instance. It sounds silly, but that is definitely different and it’s a way that you can stand out.

Ange
Yeah. And another way to protect yourself is to have your logo graphically designed by someone locally.

Andy
So I’d definitely advise this.

Ange
Yeah. It’ll probably cost you a bit more money than finding, say someone online who’s overseas or even finding something on Google images and duplicating it. But it will 99% guarantee that your logo and branding is original and that you own the rights.

Andy
And when you’ve got something that’s original, it is definitely worth trademarking. Too many of us out there go, I can’t be bothered. I’m not gonna do it. But believe me, every single one of you should be doing it because this is gonna cost you a little bit of money at the start. But if you find that someone is copying you accidentally, or they’re actually doing it on purpose, It’s almost impossible to stop them doing it, but if it’s trademarked, you’ve got something you can fight with.

Ange
Yeah. Like we said, trademarking Dr. Drip as a company name is inclusive of the logo that we had. Yeah. Saved us definitely on a number of occasions from copycats. And if you don’t trademark quick enough and someone else starts using similar branding and they trademark before you, they can actually stop you from using the branding. So you might think it’s not worth it and that nothing is ever gonna happen to me. You say, but it’s never a problem until it is. Right?

Andy
That’s it. And just on this, when we say stop them, we don’t mean rocking up to their house with a baseball bat , or coming down hard with legal action as your very first option. You need to come in really, really soft. It just starts with a simple conversation, something like, I notice your branding is a bit similar to mine, and I believe this is an issue for both of us. You might not be aware, but I have a business name and branding trademarked, meaning no one else can use a similar name in branding. I have to ask you if it’s okay if you could change your name or branding as soon as possible to help us all to avoid future issues or legal action. And let’s face it, it’s gonna cost us both a lot of money.

Ange
Yeah, you just have to be really nice about it.

Andy
I think it’s always best to come in nice. And then after that you can decide .

Ange
Yeah. Well they might not even have known that they copied you well. That’s right. Yeah. But more likely they did. Yeah. Let’s be truthful. And if you are nice and they still don’t do anything about it or refuse to change it, then you are gonna actually have to look at legal action. And just a disclaimer here, Andy and I are not lawyers, and I do recommend that you reach out to a professional in this area to understand your options if you’re in hot water with a copycat.

Andy
Yeah. The funny thing was, Ange, when we were just explaining that I’ve had a few people ring up Dr. Drip and talk to me in the past, and they’ve tried to throw the heavies on me. When someone does that, I just dig my heels in and fire back. I’m like, game on. Let’s fight. You know? So I think it is so much better to come in softly and then you can go from there.

Ange
But do you think you reacted like that because you knew you had trademarked the company name and the logo and therefore you had grounds to push back, I guess.

Andy
Well, yes, but I acted like that because he rang up like an absolute big kid. . Yeah. And I was like, mate, who do you think you are to ring me and talk to me like that? And I think that’s life. You know, you get one person to fire up, the other one’s gonna fire up. And that’s why we advise. You got two guys firing up, you’re gonna butt heads. Yep. And that’s why we advise, come in softly first. And then let them settle down. Let them think about what’s gonna happen, because it is a shock to them too. Sure. Oh my God, I’ve just spent 10 grand on logos and branding and I’ve gotta change it, so they’re not happy at the start. Give ’em a chance to think about it and it’s the better way to go. I must be my older age, Ange. I’m just.

Ange
Zen

Andy
I absolutely love the news article we’ve got for you guys today. When I say I love it, I mean I love it because I love to hate it.

Ange
Oh dude, tell what is it?

Andy
It is honestly bullshit. That’s what it is. And it’s something that comes up time and time again in the media. And guess what? It does my head in?

Ange
Tell us what you really think.

Andy
It’s an article about how Melbourne tradies are the seventh highest paid workers in the world.

Ange
Wow.

Andy
And Perth tradies aren’t far behind them.

Ange
Another one. I feel like the media literally spins this out once a month when the news gets slow. It’s like they haven’t got anything better to talk about.

Andy
No, seriously. I mean, this article states that Melbourne trades people are taking home $124 an hour, making $243,000 a year on just a regular 30 hour work week. And it also goes to say that Perth tradies are making $117 an hour. Brisbane tradies, $111 an hour. Sydney tradies, $106 an hour, and Adelaide tradies $97 an hour. Now, that’s just for the trade person on the tools, not the business owner. You know what pisses me off even more, why is Sydney only $106 an hour?

Ange
Overall though that’s absolutely ridiculous. And what else I find really stupid about this was that this survey, cuz I went and read it when you brought this up. Yeah. Was conducted by an international construction market survey from a British construction company, Turner and Townsend. I’d love to know how they managed to come across these facts.

Andy
And who are they? Like seriously, who the hell are you to come here and do a survey in Australia and get it so far outta whack?

Ange
Well, that just got written right.

Andy
Anyway, bloody the media, you don’t need to listen to it, do you? It’s full of crap.

Ange
Yeah. And there’s also the fact that the customers who are reading these articles or see something similar and shows like a current affair. Yes. And they think that these tradies are out to rip them off. They suddenly get scared of spending any money with any trade company and demand for a breakdown of jobs and invoices.

Andy
Then if you don’t want to give them the breakdown, they dig their heels in and if you do give them some ink, they question every single line. How much did you pay for each individual material? They could have bought it themselves to save money. We’ve heard it all before.

Ange
Yeah. You’re not wrong. People will believe anything that the media tells them. Crazy. And at the end of the day, of course, tradies are out to make some money. Definitely. As, as everyone. But not many trade businesses can afford to pay their staff over a hundred dollars an hour and still keep the business operating. It’s just not reality.

Andy
Believe what you want people, but definitely don’t believe these articles .

Ange
Exactly. Now back to the episode.

Andy
Overall, let us think about, you gotta keep an eye out there on your competition. You won’t know if there’s anyone out there stealing your ideas or content. If you don’t check it every now and then and you can do a quick Google search of your business and see what comes up and keep an eye out on the roads for other trade vehicles, why you’re driving around.

Ange
Yeah, you should be doing this anyway, to be honest, if you’ve got the right marketing steps or plans in place, because you always need to keep an eye on what we consider threats in the market. But doing this in the context of copycats is actually a really smart idea.

Andy
Yeah. Don’t go nitpicking, but definitely just keep an eye out because as we mentioned, copying can be devastating in terms of losing customers and even in our case, increasing expenses by charging our supplier account. Yeah. But if you actually want a business to grow and then you wanna look at selling the business down the track. You’ve definitely gotta have your own branding and you’ve gotta stand out from the pack. You know no one wants a business that’s very similar to another business in the same local area.

Ange
Yeah. So make sure you keep doing regular checks to make sure no one’s copying you.

Andy
It could actually be an opportunity for you to revisit your current name, branding your content, and see if there’s anything you can do to push the envelope, to make sure you stand out more.

Ange
Exactly. We’ve done a few upgrades actually on Dr. Drip logos.

Andy
Yeah, definitely.

Ange
Specifically over time to make our image more modern.

Andy
Yep.

Ange
Well, that being said, I think that’s a wrap Andy. What do you say?

Andy
Well, I think that’s a wrap Ange. What do you say?

Ange
Back on this, are we? My God.

Andy
Ah, yeah, I know.

Ange
It’s definitely time to wrap up. Catch you later, guys.

Andy
See you then.