Enrolling in Brand Registry is the first step to become eligible for many brand building programmes. Amazon offers an exclusive set of tools to brand owners to help you improve conversion, drive discoverability and protect intellectual property.
Understand What Your Brand is All About
Before you can start building a brand, you have to know what you’ll be creating. Jot down on a piece of paper the categories of products you sell, the demographics you’re trying to reach, and what you want to achieve (i.e. Google-like simplicity, Reddit-like activity, etc.)
Build in Small Blocks
Going back briefly to our Google reference, the search engine didn’t just suddenly become the behemoth that it is overnight. It took time to grow, and Larry Page and Sergey Brin had to add many small blocks along the way to tweak things into their ultimate vision.
You’ll want to take the same approach with building your own brand. Focus first on creating something of quality, then be patient while it’ll grow (this can/will take years). Put your brand/logo on everything so that, in time, consumers will soon begin to associate it with your products.
Don’t Go to Bat with the Big Boys
It can be tempting to have visions of grandeur, of competing with the likes of the world’s biggest brands and products. But even if that happens (and we certainly won’t discourage you of trying to reach those heights), it’s going to take some serious time.
Instead, a better, smarter and more efficient strategy is to look at the really popular ideas out there and make them your own.
Remember when Tickle-Me-Elmo was really popular? There’d be almost no point in trying to create your own Elmo-like character, but a better option would have been to create your walking, jiggling, giggling doll under your own (brand) name. That way, there’s no competition against precisely what you’re doing, and it can give you a leg up in moving forward.
What can (and can’t) Amazon Brand Registry do?
Amazon’s Brand Registry will:
- Give you, the brand owner, greater control over your listing content.
- Offer a separate, more efficient, internal team to help with fixing and escalating incorrect listing contributions and variations.
- Offer a dedicated internal team for submitting and escalating IP infringement claims.
- Provide a tool to monitor your brand on Amazon.
- Grant you access to Amazon A+ Content to improve the content displayed on product listings.
- Grant you access to Amazon Stores where you can promote your brand with your own multi-page Store.
- Increase visibility with advanced advertising strategies such as Sponsored Brands ads and Sponsored Display ads.
- Allow you to livestream and interact with potential customers through Amazon Live.
Amazon’s Brand Registry will not:
- Gate your brand or limit other sellers from selling it.
- Allow you to whitelist/blacklist other sellers from selling your brand.
- Allow someone other than you, the brand owner, to submit infringement claims against other sellers.
Do you need a trademark for making Brand on Amazon
The Brand Registry program requires you to have a registered trademark for your product in order to apply. In the US, that means you need to have registered your trademark with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
How do I get a trademark?
To get the ball rolling, you’ll need to take these steps:
- Once you have a name and/or logo, ensure it is unique and that no other registered trademarks exist with the same name. Check this on the USPTO website by doing a thorough search using their official database.
- File within a specific class for your trademark. This is similar to selecting a product category in Amazon, and it will define what type of items will be under your trademarked brand. The cost for the trademark will depend on its class.
- Hire a licensed trademark attorney to file your trademark application. You can find lawyers offering this service in your local area or online.
Hint: You can apply and file for a trademark yourself without having to hire an attorney — it will save you some money.
How long does it take to get a trademark registered?
Typically, you can expect to wait at least one year before you get an answer from the USPTO.
Fortunately, you don’t have to wait a year to get your brand approved by Amazon.
Amazon offers a service called the IP Accelerator, which connects Amazon business owners to curated Intellectual Property (IP) attorneys who will help you with the trademark process.
If you’re working with an IP specialist handpicked by Amazon, Amazon will approve your product for the Brand Registry before your trademark application is accepted.
How long does it take for Amazon Brand Registry approval?
Assuming that you already have a trademark, or you’ve submitted a request through the IP Accelerator program, the entire approval process should take about two weeks. Just make sure you submit everything Amazon needs for your brand the first time around.
Also, make sure you review all of the eligibility requirements, and please note that your brand must have an active registered trademark in each country where you would like to enroll.
6 benefits of joining the Amazon Brand Registry
A lot of the registry’s perks and capabilities live right 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
- Brand Dashboard
- Customer Reviews
- Customer Engagement
- Virtual Bundles
- Brand Referral Bonus
