Steps You Can Take to Avoid MAP Violators: Brand Enforcement

Why Must Retailers Police their Brands on the Amazon Marketplace?

There are several reasons why retailers must police their brands on the Amazon marketplace, including that counterfeit products, are pervasive on Amazon. There are several counterfeit products on Amazon.

These products can overshadow your genuine products and tarnish your reputation as a brand. Even if you have original products, your products can be mixed up with counterfeit products due to Amazon commingling.

Amazon pools inventories together so yours can mix up with other sellers on the Amazon fulfilment center. So, if somebody places an order for a product, even if the product is genuine from you, the person might be shipped a counterfeit product.

It leads to poor consumer experience and will make consumers lose faith in that particular brand. This problem is one reason why a brand’s reputation and performance in the market are threatened.

If such a customer reviews that product on Amazon, it will reflect their poor experiences and not the efficiency of the genuine product. According to Walker, “poor consumer experience leads to poor Amazon review – Amazon reviews avenue consumer report.” A single poor review can go a long way in impacting your reputation as a brand with genuine products.

Amazon does not take responsibility for fishing out counterfeit products. It is a brand’s responsibility to know the counterfeit replica of their products and report them to Amazon. One way to do that is to buy counterfeit products and test them.

Amazon will remove the seller from the platform if the brand is counterfeit and refund the purchase price because Amazon commingles inventories; only they know who provided the product.

Eliminating counterfeit products is essential for the growth of genuine products and brands. You have to be familiar with Amazon’s legal department to get counterfeit products and give room for your products to thrive.

MAP Violation: Failure to Control Distribution and Retailers Sellers

Premier projects should have a MAP policy that retailers must abide by. If the manufacturers of the products use distribution, distribution should be limited, and each distributor should provide evidence of agreement with a retailer who sells that product.

In addition to agreeing with the retailer, the brand should ensure that the retailers adhere to the MAP. They should also ensure that the retailer does not share the same product on Amazon or other platforms to avoid competition.

The issue with MAP and restricting retailers from selling on Amazon is that Amazon does not enforce MAP. Therefore, retailers can register under a different name and sell the same product as competitors to the brands.

The solution to this situation is for brands to serialize their products. They will buy a product to test if it is theirs and trace it to the original purchaser. Then they can take the appropriate steps to remedy the situation.

Three Reasons Why Brands Must Enforce MAP

To retain premier status among other brands

MAP will enable a brand to retain its premier status and price instead of selling at discounts to survive the market.

To maintain equity among retailers

If MAP is not maintained, retailers who follow the MAP policy will feel cheated and develop ill feelings.

To remain in Big-Box retailers

Retailers who comply with the MAP policy will lose their spots as big-box retailers to those who do not. So for brands to keep selling to big-box retailers, they have to maintain the MAP policy.

Tips on Brand Enforcement

According to Walker, some companies specialize in MAP enforcement using the software. This software can scan the web daily to fish out offenders.

Also, companies like ThornCrest specialize in brand protection through various programs. They perform test buys and attack counterfeit producers in China.

To successfully money to your brand, you have to:

Thoroughly review all distribution and retail agreement
Constantly monitor the web for violators; if possible, do it daily.

There are several ways to monitor MAP as a brand, including:

Monitoring the web
Serializing your products
Buying and testing products
Reviewing your contract
Intellectual property registration

In addition to creating a MAP policy, you should adequately enforce it. Be careful of retailers you authorize to sell your product. If a retailer approaches you to be a reseller of your products, it is advisable to check their store on Google map.

If their location has pictures of a street or a warehouse, it shows that they’re just online resellers. It is not advisable to authorize such resellers.

What are the Common Hindrances to Brand Enforcement?

One common hindrance to brand enforcement is the inability to continue the enforcement program. Sometimes this is due to a clear-cut designation of responsibility. The departments within a manufacturing firm may not want to take responsibility for protection programs.

It ought not to be an issue, but the manufacturers should clearly state each department’s responsibility. If the sales, legal, or marketing department handles the Protection program, it should be clearly stated in their job descriptions.

Brands should not just narrow down their counterfeit tracking to Amazon alone. They should target other B2B areas like alibaba.com, dhgate.com, and others. The same attention should be given to all these platforms. If they broaden their reach, the number of counterfeit products on Amazon will be fewer.

Final Takeaway on Brand Enforcement

In protecting a brand, the manufacturers must be ready to try several options rather than restricting themselves to one. Strategies like restricting distribution, serializing the products, test buying, and monitoring counterfeits on several platforms will keep a brand safe.

Campaigns and other efforts to keep the brand safe will portray it in good light before the buyers and help maintain its reputation. Legally enforcing a brand’s trademark is also essential to keeping it safe.