Is Minimum Advertised Price (MAP) a good fit your company?

Is MAP a good fit for your company?

Sounds like a loaded question doesn’t it?  The fact is, as much as we believe in pricing policies, they are not a good solution for every brand.  Most of the time they are great, but if one of your primary competitive advantages is price, then forcing sellers to raise their advertised prices might only serve to decrease sales.  Most of the time when we work with a brand we help them grow, by expanding into more and better wholesale distributors, and expanding their dealer networks.  This in turn creates more awareness of the brand, which again increases sales.

But a solid enforcement plan is not enough to ensure growth in brand value.  There are many other things that go into it.  There has to be marketing and research and development as well.  “The more you pay, the more it’s worth” might be a great song lyric, but it is definitely not always true.

Even if you do decide a pricing program would be good for your brands there are a few other questions you should ask yourself.  First and foremost is this; “Do you have the stomach to stop selling to a good customer”.  If you are going to enforce a MAP Policy you need to be willing to cut anyone off.  We have found that the manufacturer who is willing to cut off anyone is the one who actually has to cut off the least number of people.  It is like the strict parent.  Kids will push the boundries if they know they can get away with it, but if they are risking getting a whipping they are much more likely to stay imn line.  Also consider this, is a dealer really a good customer if they’re undermining your efforts to maintain a fair market for the rest of your dealers?!  Support the customers who abide by your policies, pay their bills and contribute to your overall growth. Rest assured consumers will find and buy your products regardless of the source.