Megan Harmon is the Co-founder and Managing Partner of ThornCrest, a brand protection firm that helps brands recover revenue, enforce IP, grow sales, and expand across retail and eCommerce channels. In her role, Megan advises emerging and enterprise brands on channel control, MAP policies, authorized reseller agreements, warranty strategy, counterfeit takedowns, and supply chain leaks. She brings sales, legal, and marketplace expertise to help brands protect profitability and build stronger retail partnerships.

Here’s a glimpse of what you’ll learn:

• [1:29] Megan Harmon’s path from consumer electronics sales to co-founding ThornCrest
• [3:23] How ThornCrest turns brand protection data into strategy, execution, and channel support
• [6:54] What brands miss when relying on software without updated policies or compliance tracking
• [9:59] Megan explains why channel control often prevents litigation and repeat unauthorized sellers
• [13:16] How TikTok, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and Alibaba are all connected in brand protection
• [18:23] Warranty policies, MAP rules, reseller agreements, and IP as the foundation for enforcement
• [28:25] Megan’s perspective on profitability, M&A valuation, and revenue recovery through stronger governance

In this episode…

Brand protection has moved beyond chasing unauthorized sellers after the damage is done. With TikTok, marketplaces, and retail channels increasingly connected, brands need stronger systems for controlling where products appear, how they are represented, and how policies are enforced. How can brands stop playing whack-a-mole in a social commerce-driven environment?

The answer starts with treating brand protection as a channel strategy, not just a takedown process. Megan Harmon, an expert in brand protection, channel control, and marketplace enforcement, explains that brands need to strengthen the fundamentals: warranty policies, MAP or UPP structures, authorized reseller agreements, and IP protections. Without those pieces in place, software can surface problems but cannot solve the root causes. Megan also emphasizes the importance of tracking compliance, creating clear repercussions for violations, and recognizing how TikTok, Amazon, Walmart, eBay, and other platforms are connected. Strong governance gives teams a practical way to protect profit, preserve retail relationships, and reduce recurring enforcement problems.

In this episode of The Digital Deep Dive, Aaron Conant talks with Megan Harmon, Co-founder and Managing Partner of ThornCrest, about brand protection in the age of TikTok. Megan shares how brands can update warranty policies, track MAP compliance, and strengthen reseller agreements. She also touches on social commerce, counterfeits, stolen shipments, and profitability.

Resources mentioned in this episode:

• Aaron Conant on LinkedIn
• BWG Connect
• Megan Harmon: LinkedIn | Email
• ThornCrest
• Zac Garthe on LinkedIn
• Sigil

Quotable Moments:

• “Most of this is channel control.”
• “Amazon is only a problem because everything else is broken underneath.”
• “The first sale doctrine is not relevant if the warranty is void.”
• “Do you know where your product is going and to whom it's going?”
• “We actually see sales climb when governance is put into place.”

Action Steps:

1. Update warranty policies: Clear warranty conditions help brands distinguish authorized products from unauthorized or mishandled goods and create stronger grounds for enforcement.
2. Track MAP and policy compliance: Monitoring violations and following a clear escalation process makes policies actionable instead of symbolic.
3. Strengthen authorized reseller agreements: Defining who can sell, where they can sell, and what standards they must meet helps brands regain control of their channels.
4. Connect marketplace and social commerce monitoring: Looking across Amazon, Walmart, TikTok, eBay, and other platforms helps brands identify how problems spread instead of treating each channel separately.
5. Address supply chain leaks at the source: Finding where unauthorized or stolen products enter the market helps brands reduce repeat takedowns and protect long-term profitability.

About BWG Connect...

BWG Connect provides executive strategy and networking sessions that help brands from any industry with their overall business planning and execution. We network and knowledge share together to better understand and adapt to the newest trends, strategies, and pain points shaping growth in the digital space. BWG Connect, in conjunction with BWG Strategy, has built an exclusive network of 125,000+ senior professionals and hosts over 2,000 virtual and in-person networking events on an annual basis.

In addition, we have had 1x1 conversations with over 5,000 brands and have a real-time pulse on what digital strategies are successful and why. This in-depth knowledge allows our team to operate on the cutting-edge and provide our clients with best-in-class guidance on how to win in the digital world. We have provided free consultations and strategy sessions for companies of all sizes, from start-ups to Fortune-100, to enable growth, resolve issues and make curated service provider introductions that can impact your digital footprint.

We have held to the philosophy of providing high-level insights and actionable knowledge with no sales pitches in order to provide to our network the ability to listen, learn and act to improve themselves as well as their organizations. Our ultimate goal is to be the resource out there to help digital executives find the research they need to excel in the modern marketplace.

If you are interested in getting involved with any of our current or past events, you can find them here. If you are looking for help & would like to set up some time to chat with our team, you can schedule a time or reach out directly to Aaron@bwgconnect.com or Tiffany@bwgconnect.com.

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