MAPP Trap Just Hired Someone to Do the Enforcement Brands Can't Staff

MAPP Trap hired Chris Gibbins as Director of Complete Compliance, the company's fully managed brand protection service where brands hand off strategy, enforcement execution, and reporting instead of licensing software and doing it themselves.

The service model and what it replaces

MAP enforcement has historically been a software play: brands license a platform, assign internal staff to monitor violations, chase down unauthorized sellers, and file takedown requests. MAPP Trap's Complete Compliance program runs the entire process for the client. Gibbins will lead strategy, oversee MAP policy compliance and unauthorized seller programs, and administer MAPP Trap's automated enforcement platform on behalf of brand partners.

Gibbins brings 30 years in consumer goods and electronics, most recently as Senior Brand Protection Manager at Goorin Bros. where he built a global enforcement program that removed nearly 200,000 infringing listings representing more than $15 million in counterfeit goods. Before that, he spent years as an independent brand protection consultant.

The company said the program was built to answer a gap: brands that want to control their distribution channels but lack the internal resources and expertise to create and enforce the necessary policies in the first place.

Who this squeezes and who it helps

If you're a store owner stocking premium brands, this matters because rigorous MAP enforcement keeps rogue online sellers from undercutting your shelf price. The shift to a managed service model means smaller brands that couldn't staff in-house enforcement can now afford to police their pricing, which should translate to fewer pricing headaches and less channel conflict when you stock those SKUs.

For emerging brands trying to protect specialty retail pricing, outsourced enforcement changes the cost-benefit math. You're no longer choosing between hiring someone internally to chase violators or letting MAP violations slide, you can hand the entire function to a third party and pay for results.

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Our read: the hire is the tell, not the program launch

MAP enforcement as a managed service isn't new, consultants have offered it for years. What's new is MAPP Trap creating a director-level role to run it as a standalone business line. That signals enough brands are willing to pay for white-glove enforcement that it justifies dedicated leadership and infrastructure.

Ron Solomon, MAPP Trap's founder, said Gibbins "is exactly the kind of guy this role demands. He's been in the trenches, running real enforcement programs, managing complex client relationships, and delivering outcomes. Our brand partners are going to feel the difference immediately."

Gibbins said he's known the MAPP Trap team for nearly seven years and has "always considered MAPP Trap to be a leader in MAP compliance and unauthorized seller enforcement. I'm excited to join the team and bring my brand-owner perspective and global brand protection experience to help our brand partners strengthen their enforcement strategies and deliver even stronger results."

The company was founded in 2012 and is currently in use by manufacturers across pet, gift, nutrition, beauty, outdoor, and sporting goods.

What changes on the shelf Monday

If you're a buyer evaluating a new premium brand, ask whether they enforce MAP and how. If the answer is "we use a managed service," that's a stronger signal than "we have a policy", it means someone is actually chasing violators, not just sending cease-and-desist letters when they remember.

If you're a brand operator deciding whether to implement MAP, the barrier just dropped. You no longer need to build internal enforcement capacity to make the policy credible. The question is whether the managed service cost is worth the margin protection, and that math is different for every brand.

The thing to watch: whether other MAP software providers follow MAPP Trap into managed services, or whether this stays a niche offering for brands that can't or won't staff enforcement internally. If it's the former, MAP adoption accelerates. If it's the latter, the specialty pricing you're protecting stays fragile.

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