Canon implements brand management to ensure that customers and society are not adversely affected by improper handling of the Canon logo within the Group or its misuse by third parties.
Brand management activities across the Group are based on the concept that building the brand is a collective pursuit in which every Group company is involved in adding value to the brand.
Canon has set up the Brand Management Committee as a deliberative body for enhancing the value of the Canon brand. The Brand Management Division was established at Canon, Inc. to serve as the secretariat for the Committee and is comprised of persons in charge of branding from each division. This framework allows us to respond promptly to various brand issues as they arise.
Information on brand-related issues across the Group is collected by divisions responsible for branding within the regional sales headquarters, which are responsible for overseeing local operations.
The Brand Management Committee provides advice and support regarding the appropriateness of trade names and product names from a brand perspective, as well as use of trademark Canon on proposed new business. Canon has formulated a set of brand management rules to ensure that its employees use the Canon brand in compliance with regulations and enhance the value of the Canon brand through the trust of customers and society. Moreover, to disseminate this information across the entire Group, we send notifications or publicize changes on our company intranet and brief the brand management divisions of each regional marketing headquarters.
Canon carries out brand education programs at all Group companies in the countries and regions where it operates to ensure that employees fully understand the Canon brand and act with propriety and in accordance with pertinent rules. Such education raises the awareness that “Each and every employee embodies the Canon brand.” For example, we conduct brand education as part of our rank-based training curriculum and also use our intranet system to raise awareness.
We provide brand-related training to meet differing needs, whether for staff with work responsibilities directly connected to the Canon brand, staff who wish to deepen their brand knowledge (intellectual property law training), or staff on overseas assignment. In particular, when brand management rules are revised in response to changes in the business environment or when new operational issues arise, we update the training content to keep staff informed.
Counterfeit products absolutely cannot be overlooked, as they not only damage the brand but may also lead to economic losses arising from malfunctions or inferior quality. In the worst case, they could cause injury to customers who unknowingly purchased a product while trusting the Canon brand.
Our corporate brand “Canon” is registered as a trademark internationally and in roughly 190 countries and regions worldwide, providing us the legal basis to take strong measures against counterfeit Canon products wherever they arise. In practice, we work with police forces from jurisdictions worldwide, as well as other authorities, to crack down on those making and selling counterfeit goods on a global basis. We also work actively with local customs authorities to stop importation of counterfeit goods. In addition, we have strengthened cooperation with customs authorities on various initiatives worldwide, including dispatching employees to serve as lecturers for verification seminars for customs officers and for anti-counterfeit training programs hosted by customs authorities. Moreover, in response to the worldwide spread of online counterfeit sales, we are strengthening our efforts to monitor and remove counterfeit goods sold online. We are also focusing on creating an environment to prevent the circulation of counterfeit products on the Internet in collaboration with e-commerce sites.
As part of Canon’s internal branding efforts and to support greater vitality in business innovation, we organize training courses for employees engaged in the early stages of new business development to focus on its relationship with our corporate philosophy of kyosei as well as the expression of Canon’s ‘Enterprising Spirit.’ The concepts generated through this business development approach often translate into patentable ideas.
