3rd edition

Charlotte H. Mason • William D. Perreault, Jr.
1

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...

2

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

5

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

7

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

9

Product 1: Voice Recognition Device (VRD)

Number of Special Commands (5-20)

Key
Product
Features

Error Protection (1-10)

Ease of Learning (1-10)

10

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…

11

Types of Advertising







Pioneering
Direct competitive
Indirect competitive
Reminder
Corporate (Institutional)

12

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