Selling on Amazon is a great way to increase your revenue stream, but this comes with risks, including increased competition, hijackers, and account limitations or shutdowns by Amazon without explanation. This blog post explores how a brand registry can help protect your brand on Amazon and stand out from the competition.

What is Amazon’s Brand Registry?

Amazon exclusively offers businesses the Brand Registry program, providing them with several advantages over unregistered brands. The program legitimises a business’s brand and gives you access to powerful tools to protect your trademarks, such as proprietary text, image search, and predictive automation. 

What can you do with Brand Registry? 

While Amazon Brand Registry is a valuable resource for registered trademark owners, it is crucial to understand what it offers to sellers. Below are some of the advantages of enrolling in Amazon’s Brand Registry:

• Control: Gives brand owners greater control over your listing content on Amazon.
• Brand Monitoring: Provides a tool to monitor your brand on Amazon.
• Dedicated Support: Offers a separate and efficient internal team to help fix and escalate incorrect listing contributions and variations. Additionally, it provides a dedicated internal team for submitting and escalating IP infringement claims.
• A+ Content: Grants access to Amazon A+ Content, which helps improve the content displayed on product listings.
• Amazon Stores: Grants access to Amazon Stores, where you can promote your brand with your multi-page Store.
• Sponsored Ads: Increases visibility with advanced advertising strategies such as Sponsored Brands ads and Sponsored Display ads.
• Amazon Live: Allows you to live stream and interact with potential customers through Amazon Live.
• Amazon Vine: You can enrol your brand in the Amazon Vine Program to receive verified product reviews.

However, it is essential to note that Amazon’s Brand Registry does not:

• Gatekeeping: Gives you the option to control who can sell your brand on Amazon, potentially limiting other sellers from selling it.
• Whitelisting/Blacklisting: This allows you to whitelist or blacklist specific sellers from selling your brand on Amazon.
• Infringement Claims: Allows authorised individuals, such as lawyers or agents, to submit infringement claims against other sellers on your behalf.

What do you need to do Brand Registry? 

To enrol in the Brand Registry program, it is mandatory to have a registered trademark for your product. You should have registered your trademark in the US with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) and, in the UK, with Intellectual Property Office. 

How to get a trademark?

• Research and ensure your brand name/logo is unique and has no existing registered trademarks with the same name/logo. Use the USPTO / IPO official database for a thorough search.
• File your trademark application under a specific class that defines the items under your brand. The cost of the trademark will depend on its class.
• Hire a trademark lawyer to file your trademark application. You can also use online services like Tramatm. 

How long does it take to do a trademark?

It can take around a year to receive a response from the USPTO or four months from the IPO in the UK regarding your trademark application. However, with Amazon’s IP Accelerator program, you can get your brand approved on Amazon immediately. This program connects you with 

curated IP attorneys who can assist you with the trademark process.

When you work with an IP specialist selected by Amazon, your product will be approved for the Brand Registry even before your trademark application is accepted. This means you can start taking advantage of the benefits of the Brand Registry sooner rather than later.

How long does Brand registry approval take?

Remember a few essential things to get your brand approved for Amazon’s Brand Registry. First, assuming you already have a registered trademark or have submitted a request through the IP Accelerator program, the approval process typically takes about two weeks. However, submitting all the necessary information and materials correctly the first time is essential to ensure everything runs smoothly.

Before applying for Amazon’s Brand Registry, carefully review all the eligibility requirements. It’s worth noting that your brand must have an active registered trademark in each country where you plan to enrol. In addition, to sell your product in multiple countries, you must have a trademark registered in each country.

Advantages of Amazon Brand Registry

Many of the registry’s perks and capabilities live in your Amazon Seller Central dashboard.

Once enrolled in Brand Registry, you can go to the Brands tab on Seller Central’s main navigation bar and access different views such as:

• Brand Analytics
• Manage Experiments 
• Customer Reviews
• Customer Engagement
• Virtual Bundles
• Brand Referral Bonus
• Build Your Brand

1/ Protection of your Brand

If you’ve invested time and money in obtaining a registered trademark, you certainly don’t want anyone tampering with your brand. Fortunately, Amazon’s Brand Registry program can provide you with protection for your products. It’s the most effective way to safeguard your intellectual property and content on the platform. With a dedicated internal team always at your disposal, you can rely on them to assist you with the following issues:

• Reporting any instances of marketplace violations, such as product review manipulations and customer complaints of products not matching their descriptions.
• Reporting any problems with your listings, including incorrect product details, variation information, and blocked listings.
• Submitting or retracting IP infringement claims.
• Reporting any technical glitches that could affect your product listing or Seller Central homepage loading.
• Escalating previously submitted claims. You’ll have complete visibility into your ongoing cases related to the above issues and can escalate them as needed.

Great Protection Via Transparency

The Transparency program offered by Amazon provides additional security for your brand and customers by protecting against counterfeiters. Here are the steps to follow when using Transparency: 

First, enrol your products in the program. Next, apply Transparency codes to your products. Amazon will then scan your products to ensure only authentic units are shipped to customers. Finally, customers can use your Transparency code to verify the authenticity of your products regardless of where they are. 

Brand Registry’s Project Zero feature is designed to eliminate counterfeits. It accomplishes this by implementing automated protections that prevent counterfeit listings from being published. Amazon uses the information you provide about your brand, products, and intellectual property and deploys these protections using advanced machine learning. As a result, brands can also remove counterfeit listings instantly without having to contact Amazon.

2// Amazon A+ Content

How to create A+ content

Amazon’s Brand Registry offers an outstanding tool called the “A+ Content Manager” (formerly Enhanced Brand Content), accessible through the Advertising navigation tab in Seller Central. This feature allows you to enhance your brand content by adding additional text, images, infographics, and unique modules to your product listings, giving your customers a richer and more informative experience beyond the basic product description. With the A+ Content Manager, you can make your listing stand out from the rest and give it a more professional appearance.

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3// Amazon Storefront

As a brand-registered seller on Amazon, you gain access to features that can help your brand stand out in a crowded marketplace. One such feature is Storefronts, which can add value to your brand and legitimise your business. Amazon Storefronts resemble a regular e-commerce website and can consist of one or more pages. Each page has a header and footer surrounded by several content tiles, providing a professional look to your listing. Another advantage of having an Amazon

Storefront is that it eliminates any distractions from competitor products. Creating a Storefront is a straightforward, step-by-step process that does not require any special skills. You can select a template provided by Amazon or start from scratch. If you choose a template, you can fill in the necessary information and media to build your Store. While building your storefront, preview the desktop and mobile view to ensure everything is aligned for optimal customer viewing. Next, you can move tile blocks around and add, edit, and delete the content. Once you finish building your storefront, submit it for publishing. Double-check your spelling, punctuation, images, videos, and mobile view before submitting, and wait a few days for approval or revision requests from Amazon.

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4// Sponsored Brand Ads

Sponsored Brands are a powerful tool for businesses to engage with customers on Amazon. These headline ads appear prominently at the top of the page in Amazon search results, providing an excellent opportunity to drive brand discovery. With custom messaging and creative visuals, you can showcase your brand in the best possible light and attract the attention of potential customers who are already searching for your product.

5// Amazon Live Creator

Amazon Live is an innovative way to engage with your customers through interactive live-stream videos directly. As a seller, you can leverage this feature through Amazon’s Brand Registry to share your brand story, showcase your products, and reach more potential customers.

With Amazon Live, you can demonstrate your product or host a live Q&A session to address customer questions or concerns. This allows you to build a deeper connection with your audience, increasing the likelihood of converting viewers into customers.

The best part is that Amazon Live is fully integrated into the Amazon shopping experience, making it easier for shoppers to discover and engage with your brand. And with pay-per-click pricing, you only pay when a shopper clicks on your live stream, making it a cost-effective advertising option for businesses of all sizes.

How to set up Amazon Live Creator

To start with Amazon Live, the first step is downloading the Amazon Live Creator iOS mobile app. Once you have the app, you can select the products you want to feature in your Livestream. Then, when you’re ready to go live, start broadcasting using your iPhone camera or an external camera connected to a video encoder.

If you’re looking for inspiration or want to see what others are doing, go to amazon.com/live to view other sellers’ live streams. Keep in mind that shoppers can also discover your live streams across Amazon.com and the Amazon app. In addition, your live streams will be visible from your product listings, your Amazon Store, and various other placements where shoppers browse. So, make your live streams engaging and informative to attract more viewers and potential customers.

6//Understanding your Customer 

Understanding your customers is essential for making informed decisions about your business strategy. Amazon’s brand tools provide valuable insights into your customers’ search behaviour, repeat purchase behaviour, demographics, and more. By leveraging this data, you can tailor your approach better to meet the needs and preferences of your target audience, ultimately driving sales and brand loyalty.

Brand Analytics

Brand Analytics is a powerful tool on the Brand Dashboard or the main navigation bar that helps you improve your business operations by aggregating customer search and purchase behaviour data. Here are some of the valuable insights you can gain from it:

• Search Query Performance: Get visibility into how your brand’s search terms perform based on customers’ search behaviour. You can view metrics such as search query volume, brand share, click-through rate, cart add rate, and purchase rate.
• Market Basket Analysis: Discover which of the customers of your product are purchasing together, uncover cross-selling and bundling opportunities, or even find new products to sell!
• Repeat Purchase Behavior: Use this information to strategise and assess your marketing campaigns, drive repeat purchases and acquire new customers.
• Search Catalog Performance: See how customers interact with your brand throughout the shopping journey on Amazon. Access important metrics such as impressions, clicks, cart adds, and purchases to understand your sales funnel better.
• Demographics: Charts in this section display customer attributes such as age, household income, level of education, gender, and marital status. You can select reporting range dates and export to CSV to understand your customer base better.

Ready to take your brand to the next level with Amazon’s Brand Registry? Let’s talk about how we can help you maximise the benefits of the registry and drive sales. Contact us today to learn more.