Brand Management
Initiatives
Promoting Awareness of the Canon Brand
Canon leads brand education programs at all Group companies in the countries and regions in which it operates, with the aim of ensuring that employees fully understand the Canon brand and act with propriety and in accordance with pertinent rules. Such education raises awareness that “Each and every employee embodies the Canon brand.” For example, we promote brand education as part of our rank-based training curriculum as well as conduct training through our intranet system.
In addition, we also provide brand-related training to meet differing needs: whether for staff with work responsibilities directly connected to managing the Canon brand, staff who wish to deepen their brand knowledge (training in intellectual property laws), 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.
Measures Against Counterfeiting
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. 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.
Internal Branding
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.