Mónika Németh, the secretary of NBAC
– In a festival it is easier to make the knowledge more tangible, also in the strict sense of the word. While the visitors can see, touch and observe counterfeited products, they can get information from our colleagues working in the tent also on how they can avoid the counterfeits and how they can distinguish them from the original products in their everyday lives.
Many people come to these events in a short period; the visitors are more open than in the everyday, therefore our messages reach them more efficiently.
– What is your principle message in which the No fake! tent helped your work in the previous two months?
– We would like to raise customer awareness in people: they should be aware of the fact that they generate economical processes by their customer decisions, that is if they buy counterfeited products they not only cheat themselves – most of the counterfeits are of inferior quality, they are not durable, and of course they do not have guarantee – but they also expose their health and safety to danger, and at the same time generally they support black economy and organised crime too. It is necessary to make the customers aware of the fact: by purchasing even only one counterfeited product they can start processes which may influence not only their lives but also the lives of others and this effect is not positive.
– Why did the NBAC choose these two festivals out of several possibilities in Hungary?
– The Valley of Arts was important for us due to its family-friendly character, we could reach more generations here. Grandparents with their grandchildren, young couples and companies of friends and also the residents of the village came into the tent. Everybody took note of the information which was interesting to him or her: the older people were astonished by the counterfeited medicines, the young people by the counterfeited blue jeans and children by the counterfeited toys. Children loved the logo identifier computer game, in many cases they were more familiar with the cartoon figures than their parents, which resulted merriment and sense of success to the whole family. The festival was attended by 140 thousand visitors this year, many of them came into our tent. Our programmes were free of charge, anybody could look around and asked us, and fortunately the visitors took this opportunity.
Sziget was chosen for its international character. In 2014 the festival reached a record number of visitors of 415 000 who attended the programmes. The No fake! tent was visited by thousands of people. Most of our visitors were foreigners, only one third of them came from Hungary. We were prepared for that, the quiz sheets and games were prepared in English and Hungarian, many of the programmes were also bilingual, the questions were answered by our colleagues also in English.
– What design could the visitors see when they entered into the No fake! tent?
– In the Valley of Arts we placed our earlier installations now updated and glass cabinets presenting counterfeited products, but the exhibited counterfeits, the quizzes and games were all new.
In the Civil Sziget part of the Sziget Festival the No fake! tent with 100 square metres was the biggest one. It also entailed bigger responsibility, so we tried to draw the visitors’ attention by design, posters and exhibited products to what we wanted to present. This venue needed another kind of presentation, so besides the presentation of counterfeited products in the tent the main focus was on the programmes: thematic talks, performances and games, of course by demonstrating the dangers of counterfeiting.
– At the end of the festival season, how do you see, did the messages go through efficiently?
– We can say, based on the direct feedbacks received in the festivals, that after the first shock the visitors understood our goals. We hope that it will work not only in short term and that we managed to “bring up” conscious customers for long term. They said they had gained useful experiences and lessons to bear in mind and they had fun at the same time. Those who played with us could feel the joy of good results that they can make good use of in everyday life; in addition, they could obtain interesting gifts.
We have received many feedbacks in person, the visitors liked our tent very much, which was the most visited tent in the Civil Sziget. Many visitors wrote us messages in our guest book. The comments show that the exhibition was useful and from now many people consider the fight against counterfeiting a personal business.
– Who and how did they help the realization of the No fake! programme tent?
– In the Valley of Arts a great help was given to us by one of the members of the NBAC, namely Bérczes Law Office, which presented on site the counterfeited versions of the original products of the right holders represented by them and affected by counterfeiting, and they also talked about how important it is to buy always original products.
We presented these products also in Sziget Festival, as well as the gifts offered by the Hungarian Intellectual Property Office (HIPO). In this event the employees of the HIPO joined the No fake! team, the staff of the Trademark and Design Departement as well as he Copyright Department helped our work. We have to mention ProArt as well, it supported our work by Péter Horváth. We cannot forget about our guests either, who made our programmes more interesting by their views and expertise.
The team of the two festival comprised of the Secretariat of the NBAC and the communication experts of Hipavilon Ltd. Hipavilon supplemented our offer by programmes, gifts and speakers.
Moreover, the most financial support was given by our EU partner, the Office for Harmonisation in the Internal Market (OHIM). Our information materials and quiz sheets included questions and answers on the functions and goals of OHIM.
– What are your future plans and ideas about festivals?
– We enjoy the success of our work now, after the conclusion of experiences and lessons we will plan the festivals of next year, where we would like to be present NBAC’s messages. We would like to express our thanks to everyone who visited us and we hope that next year we will meet not only them again but we can also see new faces.
Click on the gallery and look at the best moments of the No fake! tent!
Nyomtatás