Welcome back! If you’re here we thank you for joining us and want to add value to your MAP policy management as much as possible. This week we’re tackling an important question that seems simple but that has plagued brands managing MAP policies for decades: to MAP or not to MAP, that is the question.
If you’ve followed along with us, you know we believe that a well-designed MAP policy can protect brand integrity, safeguard profit margins, and keep retailer relationships strong. But not all products need to be covered by MAP – and, in fact, including too many products can dilute the impact of your policy. In conversations with customers over the years, we’ve had to ask them to think about it this way: when everything is a priority, nothing is a priority. In other words, the effectiveness of your MAP policy is going to be maximized when it focuses on your most strategic or valuable products for your business.
In this post, we’ll look at which types of products savvy brands typically include in their MAP policy, with some general insights around categories like tools, auto, and consumer electronics. We’ll also touch on why brands should approach the holiday season as a high-risk time for MAP violations and how selective enforcement can yield better results.
Plain and Simple - Not Every Product Should Be on MAP
Including too many items in a MAP policy can overcomplicate enforcement and make it difficult for brands to ensure compliance. When a MAP policy has no focus, retailers may end up discounting lower-priority products to drive volume, feeling they are not held accountable or trying to fly under the radar and hope they’re not noticed. Retailers also tend to respect a MAP policy that emphasizes key items and value-drivers rather than attempting to cover an entire catalog. When this sort of approach is taken, retailers feel like there is trust in the relationship and that they have the flexibility to make determinations on their own.
In our experience, the most successful brands aim to cover only the products that represent high-value, high-visibility, or seasonally strategic items. These focus products often include new releases, seasonal best-sellers, and exclusives. A more selective approach will help brands maintain stronger control over their most important products while ensuring that MAP enforcement remains manageable and impactful.
Choosing the Right Products for MAP Coverage
So, let’s assume you’ve got a vast catalog and are unsure where to start. Maybe there’s even internal disagreements on which products should fall under MAP. Here’s a brief breakdown of the product types that are generally best suited for MAP coverage.
- New Releases.
Newly launched products are great candidates for MAP enforcement. These items are often the result of significant R&D and marketing investments, and they’re designed to make an impact in the market. They are new, fresh and can be exciting for consumers. They can – when done correctly – also make quite a splash for brand sales. By protecting new releases with MAP, brands can ensure that they enter the market at the intended price point, setting consumer expectations and preserving brand value from day one.
- Seasonal Best-Sellers.
For products in the power tools, auto parts and accessories, and consumer electronics categories, best-sellers are especially vulnerable to MAP violations, especially during the holiday season when consumer demand peaks. Products in these categories are often high on consumers’ wish lists, and many shoppers may have been saving for these big purchases throughout the year. Retailers know this well and are most likely to discount products during this time to attract buyers. These are not always obvious discounting strategies and sometimes retailers try to take advantage of periods like late nights and weekends, assuming that the brand may be less focused on MAP enforcement during these busy periods.
In a recent conversation with an auto accessory brand, we learned that their top 20 winter products, including items like all-weather tires, car covers and chains among others, are a critical driver for the last 3 months of the year. As you might expect, they experience the highest demand in colder months, making it crucial to protect pricing during the season when retailers might look to win the purchase by ducking below agreed upon pricing. - Exclusives and Special Editions.
Exclusives or limited-edition items – such as collaborations, specially branded items, or retailer-specific products – often carry a premium due to their scarcity or unique appeal. Including these products under MAP can help maintain their exclusivity, positioning them as special items that stand apart in the market. Because these products are limited by their nature, extending longer MAP periods may help to maximize sales and set the standard for future releases.
When a Product Should Not Be Included in MAP
Products that aren’t central to the brand’s image or that are reaching the end of their lifecycle may not require MAP protection. For example, last year’s model of a cordless leaf blower or an auto accessory that was in high demand during summer, likely no longer needs strict pricing controls, allowing retailers to clear out inventory without risking the brand’s overall perception.
As sales decline over time, there will be an inverse relation with MAP pricing violations, which is a clear sign from the market that the excitement or demand is gone and that it’s time for the product to be reviewed by the brand. If a product is unlikely to generate significant sales volume or reinforce brand value, it might not be worth including in a MAP policy. Instead, we’ll often recommend letting retailers manage pricing for these items to optimize their sales and inventory management.
Read the Tea Leaves (Leverage the Data)
I once read that strength is not always about knowing how to hold on, but when to let go and many brands could benefit from learning that lesson. By finding a provider that offers detailed analytics into previous MAP violations, brands can leverage data to look back on sales by season, product line, category, channel, etc. By doing so, best practices will emerge that will dictate how long your specific products should remain on MAP and much of the guess work will be removed. The team at Pervasive Mind has built our AI-powered MAP platform to be customizable and modular which allows brands to design the platform for their specific data needs, allowing brands to get the most insightful data quickly and respond to market conditions accordingly.
Enforcing MAP for Key Products: An Integrated Approach
To make the most of your MAP policy and to ensure your positioning and process is clear with retailers, brands should prioritize clarity, fairness, and consistency in enforcement.
Here’s some tips that can help:
- Quick, Confident Responses: When you’re confident in your MAP monitoring data, you can respond violations knowing that the data can be trusted, and your retailers can do the same. This reinforces the importance of the policy to all retailers and spreads consistency across channels, illustrating to retailers that MAP violations will be addressed fairly, only furthering a culture of trust and partnership. Don’t let MAP violations linger and don’t let them pile up. Quick action is going to be the key to successful implementation.
- Equitable Enforcement: Ensuring that MAP enforcement is handled equally across the retailer network strengthens the policy’s credibility. Retailers are more likely to comply when they see that the brand treats all partners fairly and doesn’t play favorites. Spending too much time debating internally whether to send notices to certain retailers will only hurt your policy management. The more your team adheres to a standardized approach, the easier your MAP program management will ultimately be
- Clear Communication: An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. As such, getting out ahead of violations is paramount. Educate your retail partners on the importance of MAP compliance for your key products, especially during high-risk times like the holiday season. Let them know you’re using a monitoring service and that many eyeballs will be keeping watch. Coach them on how and when they can expect notifications and who they should reach out to if any issues arise. This is likely your own team or it could be your Customer Success team at your MAP provider. The team at Pervasive Mind is constantly looking for way to help brand partners increase awareness and transparency with partners. We’ve found that true transparency helps retailers understand that MAP is in place to protect shared value, not to create friction.
Last Thoughts
With a targeted MAP approach, brands can enter high-risk periods like the holiday season with confidence, knowing their most valuable products are protected. With the right monitoring and enforcement strategy and partner, brands can keep MAP compliance effective, equitable, and impactful.
