Charlotte H. Mason • William D. Perreault, Jr.
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The Marketing Game: What is It?
A “living” case, where you learn about a situation, evaluate opportunities, develop a strategy, and make marketing plan decisions.
In which you get regular feedback, in a report that summarizes your marketing outcomes and related financial results, based on both your plan and competitors’ decisions.
Where you analyze what you’ve learned by doing … to figure out answers to what you do not know (and could not know!) at the beginning.
That challenges you to improve your strategy in light of the learning...
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The Role of the Marketing Game
The Game offers unique learning advantages, compared to other learning approaches (like reading texts and articles, lectures, guest speakers, case analysis and presentation, projects) because it:
Is dynamic, like most business situations.
Brings the competitive aspects of marketing to life.
Highlights the need for integrative planning based on qualitative and quantitative analysis of the market environment. 3
The Marketing Game is Integrative … and Covers All Aspects of the
Marketing Strategy Planning Process
Narrowing down to focused strategy with quantitative and qualitative screening criteria
Customers
Needs and other
Segmenting
Dimensions
Company
Mission, Objectives,
& Resources
S.
W.
O.
T.
Targeting &
Segmentation
Positioning &
Differentiation
Price
Product
Target
Market
Promotion
Place
Competitors
Current &
Prospective
External Market Environment
Technology Political & Legal
Social & Cultural
Economic
4
The Process
Analysis of market situation/opportunities
Planning and budgeting
Make marketing plan DECISIONS!!!
Next
Decision period Submit plan decisions
The marketing game! simulation
Company reports returned to firms
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Industry Environment
Market growth
Technological environment
No major innovations expected
Yearly revision cycle
Competitive environment
Type of competition depends on firms’ decisions
6
Six Key Product-Market Segments
Concerned
Parents
High-tech Modern
Managers Students Professional
Creators
Harried
Assistants
Segments have different needs, preferences, situations, sizes, growth rates.
Home
Users
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Past Sales By Market Segment
For Voice Recognition Device
25000
Assistants
20000
Managers
Students
15000
Home
10000
Creators
Parents
5000
0
0
1
2
3
Year
8
Distribution Channels
Firm 1
Firm 2
Firm 3
Channel 1
Traditional
Dealers
High-tech
Managers
Firm 4
Channel 2
Discount
Dealers
Modern
Students
Harried
Assistants
Firms reach customers through full-service dealers and
Internet/mail-order
discount dealers.
Concerned
Parents
Professional
Creators
Different segments have different shopping preferences. Home
Users
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Product 1: Voice Recognition Device (VRD)
Number of Special Commands (5-20)
Key
Product
Features
Error Protection (1-10)
Ease of Learning (1-10)
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R&D for Product Modifications: Computing Costs
Feature
Cost to Decrease
Cost to Increase
Special Commands (5-20)
$0
$8,000*(change)2
Error Protection (1-10)
$0
$5,000*(change)2
Ease of Learning (1-10)
$3,000*change
$3,000*(change)2
Example
Last
period’s product This period’s product
Change
Cost to Change
Special Commands
6
8
+2
$8,000*2*2=$32,000
Error Protection
4
3
-1
$0
Ease of Learning
3
5
+2
$3,000*2*2=$12,000
Feature
Total modification costs:
$44,000
Note: R&D for product changes is more expensive if you have to make big changes in a short period of time…
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Types of Advertising
Pioneering
Direct competitive
Indirect competitive
Reminder
Corporate (Institutional)
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Expanded Marketing Responsibilities
(Level 2)
PRODUCT
Features (and R&D for product modifications)
PRICE
Wholesale price in each channel
PLACE
Distribution intensity in each channel
PROMOTION
-Advertising
-Personal selling
$ Spending
Type
Number of sales reps in each channel
Percent non-selling time