Authentication & Brand News is Born!

Reconnaissance International, publisher of Tax Stamp & Traceability News™, is pleased to announce the launch of its monthly publication, Authentication & Brand News™, with effect from January 2022, replacing Authentication News®.

The decision to shift the focus of this newsletter to brand protection comes at a time when it is more important than ever for brand owners to safeguard their intellectual property and, on the flip side, easier than ever for counterfeiters and fraudsters to abuse that property.

Authentication & Brand News (ABN) contains news and features on technologies and strategies that protect products and brands from counterfeiting, piracy, smuggling and diversion, in both the physical and digital world.

For over 20 years, Authentication News has monitored the significant developments in document and product security with a keen and critical eye. It has followed the growth of the authentication industry from early brand protection and secure document strategies aimed at deterring casual counterfeiting to the modern-day reality of international crime gangs operating in the physical, digital, and online worlds.

ABN will continue that commitment to strong journalism. It will conduct interviews with key figures who are developing, supplying, or using authentication and track and trace technologies, as well as provide commentary and analysis on emerging brand protection strategies from around the globe. Particular focus will be given to embryo solutions coming out of universities and research institutes.

But ABN believes authentication technologies used in brand protection can go much further, by expanding into the realm of brand equity and brand integrity. Here they can serve as a seal of trust to enhance the value of a brand, as well as provide a communication channel between consumer and brand owner.

The capacity of authentication technologies to offer these additional benefits will only become stronger as we continue advancing into exciting new domains such as smart packaging and artificial intelligence.

The ABN editorial team is made up of three industry experts:

• Francis Tuffy – covering technology, research and case studies

• Astrid Mitchell – following markets, companies and strategies

• Nicola Sudan – reporting on international and government developments.

The editorial leader changes each month, ensuring a fresh and varied outlook for the publication.

New online platform

ABN has been launched on a similar online platform to Tax Stamp & Traceability News, at www.authenticationbrandnews.com. In addition to the monthly newsletter – available as print or PDF – subscribers can access ABN articles as separate, searchable stories on a visually appealing and easy-to-navigate website. And a weekly email news alert service ensures subscribers stay right up-to-date with the latest developments.

The new ABN platform also interfaces with Reconnaissance’s e-commerce site, allowing subscribers to manage subscriptions online (including upgrades and renewals), as well as purchase and download special reports and other related publications at a discount – including Reconnaissance’s most recent report Printing Beyond Colour: Commercial Innovations for Security Print.