Emmanuel Olorunda-Otaru
The management of Solpia Nigeria Limited, maker of X-Pression Rich and Ultra Braids, has announced a new innovation, called: ‘Hidden Tag’ application, to help users identify genuine brands of its hair extension, and as well check the activities of fakers of its products.
The Managing Director of the company, Mr. Diamond Jeong, lamented the far-reaching effect of the unscrupulous fakers’ activity on the company, during the unveiling of the new technology in their office in Lagos recently.
He said the company pays huge taxes to government and generates foreign exchange in exports, and employs about 8,000 workers, adding that this unscrupulous activity is affecting their production, sales and exports, and could throw the teaming workers into the labour market, if the fakery continues.
He therefore called on the relevant government agencies to assist the company fight the menace.
According to the company’s Marketing Manager, Mrs. Grace Ejikeme, while unveiling the ‘Hidden Tag’, said, ‘’some greedy businessmen have started importing fake and substandard X-Pression braid into the country, and distributing them in markets across the globe. Some of these fake products are highly flammable and pose grave danger to the consumers as some stylists still use open flame to trim off fly-away from their braids to give it their desired smooth appearance’’.
‘’We have combated this menace through various means, including; designing special hologram sticker to help intending buyers distinguish between the original and the fake, but this did not bring a permanent solution. This new innovation; ‘Hidden Tag’, is a surefire way of identifying original X-Pression product, and it will help the company to eliminate fake X-Pression braids in the market’’, she said.
Mrs. Ejikeme explained, “To get and use the Hidden Tag application, go to Play Store/Apple Store on your mobile phone and download the ‘Hidden Tag’, open your Hidden Tag application, scan the Tag sticker on the made in Nigeria X-Pression Rich/Ultra Braid, view product authentication, click on Register to register the product IQR number, it will show if product is original or not’’.
Explaining further the benefits of the innovation, she said, ‘’the sticker is self-destructive as it cannot be moved from one label to another; it can be used anywhere in the world, provided you have data; it does not take time to scan; and it cannot be faked’’.
‘’To stop braiders and stylists from selling used labels with the Tag sticker to fakers, we are currently running a promo titled: ’’Return Label Promo’’ for every 10 pieces of labels returned to us, the stylist gets one pack of product’’, she further said.
