BIMI & VMCs for Email Security

1. Apple Adopts BIMI & VMCs for Email Security Marketers are aware that Email is not a safe Medium. They regularly face problems of emails bouncing back or ending up in the spam folder. This is where Brand Indicators for Message Identification (BIMI) and Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) come in and assist brands in displaying a verified brand logo in the receiver’s inbox. Recently, leading technology provider Apple Inc. released new operating systems for iPhone (iOS 16) and computer devices (macOS Ventura) which adopt BIMI & VMC for email security. Let’s understand in detail what this update means for your brand and how can you ensure your email lands in the user inbox with a verified brand logo.

2. Apple Adopts BIMI & VMC for Email A recent study conducted by the Data & Marketing Association (DMA) shows that around 68% of email recipients consider brand identification to be the most crucial factor before opening an email. Apple is the latest addition to major email providers adopting BIMI & VMC for email. Other email providers which already support BIMI are Gmail, Yahoo mail, and Fast Mail. Apple’s Mail and iCloud users will receive the upgrade. Apple Mail and iCloud users will receive a major upgrade on the inbound emails. Apple recently released an official statement on its website regarding this email authentication feature. What is VMC? VMC stands for Verified Mark Certificates. It lets you display the verified brand logo next to the “sender” field in the email. This enables email receivers to see the brand logo and know that it is from a validated source before they open it. It is similar to a tick mark on social media sites, but with additional verification and security protocols. This security protocol also helps in safeguarding clients and businesses from online imposters and phishing activities. A VMC adoption can confirm that your brand is the legal owner of the brand mark. By associating a logo with a VMC, imposters and other potentially harmful phishers are discouraged from making illegal use of your brand logos. Since the trademark authority validates it, a brand logo that is registered as a trademark is more difficult to duplicate or fake than one that is not.

3. What is BIMI? Although email service providers have put in a lot of effort to prevent imposters and phishers from abusing their brand identity and goodwill, there are still many cases wherein phishers can circumvent these safeguards. Spam, fraudulent offers, and spyware are everywhere, particularly in email. The technology these phishers use has become progressively more difficult to stop over the years since it is much more complex and difficult to trace. As their counter, a new technique known asBrand Indicators for Message Identification, or VMC for BIMI, has been created to differentiate imposter emails from verified emails. BIMI stands for Brand Indicators for Message Identification. Through BIMI adoption, Email senders can display their organization-controlled verified logo in the receiver’s inbox. A verified brand logo assists in building trust with the users and increases the probability of brand emails reaching their target audiences. BIMI VMC is quite unique from other email security protocols due to its straightforward display of the authentic brand logo. This makes it hard for imposters to imitate authentic brand logos, hence, keeping spam activities at a distance. BIMI is basically a DNS record responsible for the logo displayed in the email recipient’s inbox after DMARC, SPF, and DKIM verification. These three email authentication protocols are important to authenticate the email sender’s information and work along with BIMI. You can test or create your BIMI record using the GoDMARC BIMI Record Checker tool. We offer services that help in brand security which will help you to protect your brand from online imposters and reach your target audiences.

4. Conclusion Your target audiences will find it easy to retain your brand information and the message you are conveying. Email receivers will identify your brand logo and immediately feel a sense of confidence prior to reading it. This further strengthens the brand memory in the minds of your customers and makes it easier for you to build a brand-loyal customer base. Both VMC and BIMI are unique and exciting developments for email security protocols. As you are now aware of the advantages offered by VMC BIMI, you can immediately start reaping the financial and brand safety advantages offered by these security protocols. GoDMARC will assist you in getting your VMC BIMI.