Marketplace Live, Lecture notes of Marketing

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Marketplace

Live

Simulation

MGMT 311 - Marketing

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Getting Started
  • Ordering
  • Marketplace Live Sign Up
  • Demo
• Marketplace Simulation Schedule of Events
• Marketplace Support Information
• Tips and Suggestions
• Performance Evaluation
  • Balanced Scorecard
  • Total Business Performance
    • Financial Performance
    • Market Performance
    • Marketing Effectiveness
• Simulation Decisions
  • 1 st Quarter (Module 3) Set up Shop
  • 2nd Quarter (Module 4) Test Market
  • 3rd Quarter (Module 5) Skillful Adjustment...............................................................................
  • 4th Quarter (Module 6) Market Expansion
  • 5th Quarter (Module 7) Enhance the Market
  • 6th Quarter (Module 8) Refine Marketing Strategy
• Executive Summary Guidelines
  • I. Executive Summary (1 page, 10 points maximum)
  • II. Description of Business and Industry (2 pages, 15 points maximum)
  • III. Market Opportunity Analysis (3 pages, 35 points maximum)
  • IV. Marketing Plan and Sales Tactics (2 pages, 20 points maximum)
  • V. Financial Plan (2 pages, 10 points maximum)
  • Appendices & Graphs (10 points maximum)...........................................................................

• Purchase a student license number: purchased on the Marketplace Live website ($40)
• Sign up for the game with your license number
• Create an account with login name (your email address) and a password

Marketplace Live Sign Up

Once you have the Game ID number, follow these steps to purchase your student license, sign up for the game and create your account:

1. Go to Marketplace Live "Student license number purchase".
2. Enter your Game ID number and .
3. Purchase your Marketplace Live license ($40).
4. Next, go to: Marketplace Live
5. Click on the .
6. Enter your student license number.
7. Click on the link.
8. Enter the Game/Team ID to locate your game, or find your game in the listings by school, instructor, course and team.
9. Fill in the contact information and choose a password.

IMPORTANT: Once you have obtained your student license number and The Marketplace

Simulation ID number, we strongly recommend that you keep a copy of both numbers on your

computer desktop or in a file that you can retrieve easily.

Demo

Now go to Marketplace Live and select Introduction to Marketing.

• Read through the Introduction to Marketing simulation.
• Click "View Demo" for a thorough review of the simulation.
• Go through the demo sections: Overview, Marketing, Sales, and Performance Evaluation.
• Next view the Group Demo

Once you completed viewing the demos, go to your Blackboard Course in Module 2 and complete the Marketplace Live Quiz. You may use this document and any other resources to answer the questions.

Marketplace Simulation Schedule of Events

Module Activities

1 Getting Started

• Ordering License
• Watch Demonstrations

2 Marketplace Live Quiz

st (^) Quarter – Setting Up Shop

4 2nd Quarter^ -^ Test^ Market

5 3rd Quarter^ -^ Skillful Adjustment

6 4th Quarter^ -^ Market Expansion

7 5th Quarter^ -^ Enhance the Market

8 6th Quarter^ -^ Refine Marketing Strategy

9 Executive Summary

Marketplace Support Information

If you experience problems during the simulation, please be sure to contact the Marketplace Live technical support. Your instructor will be monitoring your progress, if in doubt of who to contact, try your instructor first.

Help Button: Before contacting the Marketplace Technical Support team, first click the Help button located on the top navigation bar in the simulation.

Technical Support: For technical difficulties or problems throughout the simulation contact Marketplace Support by emailing support@marketplace-simulation.com or call their toll free telephone number 1-865-522-1946. Hours: M–F, 8 am to 9 pm, Sat & Sun 10 am – 7 pm EST

Tips and Suggestions

• Initially view the demo several times to familiarize yourself with this simulation.
• Be patient with each task. Read and study all information carefully.
• Remember, you are applying the basic principles of marketing you are learning each week from your textbook and incorporating them into this marketing simulation.
• The suggested time spent by each student in each quarter should be 40 minutes. Productive time spent in modifying and making decisions is what counts, not just time viewing content in each quarter. Your instructor will review your time spent in each quarter.
• Read all tasks relating to each quarter carefully before completing required tasks.

Below, you will find a detailed description of how the balanced scorecard is derived. It is

important that you manage the division to do well in all areas measured. To accomplish this, you

need to completely understand how your performance is measured. Then, work your strategy and

tactics to enhance your performance across all measurement areas. If you are able to do this, you will be very successful.

Balanced Scorecard

Review your balanced scorecard for each quarter. Check how well you performed relative to

your score in the previous quarter, and to the industry as a whole. The industry scores represent

your benchmark on how well you should be doing, and will be used to measure your firm's performance in comparison to the other firms participating in the exercise. Your firm should be

above average in all areas measured. If not, try to find the weaknesses and correct them.

Total Business Performance

A quantitative measure of the executive team's ability to effectively manage the resources of the firm.

Total Business Performance = (Financial Performance + Market Performance + Marketing Effectiveness) / 3

If one of the performance measures is less than zero, then the total overall performance measure will be zero.

As the marketing manager, you will be measured on the division's financial performance, market performance, and marketing effectiveness. To become a top manager, you must do well in all areas. Here is how the performance criteria are computed.

The following is a summary of the measure of the firm's Total Business Performance and its key performance indicators. The computational details follow.

Financial Performance Measures how well you have been able to create profits for Corporate Headquarters. A positive

number is always desired and the larger the better. The net profit for the division is used to

compute financial performance.

Corporate Headquarters expects your division to earn at least 20,000,000. Thus your score is

based upon what percent of 20,000,000 the division has earned this quarter.

Financial Performance = Firm's profit / 20,000,000 * 100

Market Performance

Is a measure of how well you are able to create demand in your primary and secondary segments.

The firm's market share in two target segments is used to measure this demand creation ability.

The score ranges from 0 to 100 and will depend upon the number of competitors. A good score

would be greater than 50.

Market Performance = Sum of market shares in targeted segments

Sum of market shares in targeted segments = Market share in first segment + Market share in

second segment

Marketing Effectiveness Is a measure of how well you have been able to satisfy the needs of the customers as measured

by the quality of your brands and ads. Customer perceptions of the firm's brands and ads in its

primary and secondary segments are used to measure customer satisfaction. The two scores are

then added to obtain the indicator for marketing effectiveness. The score ranges from 0 to 100. A

good score would be greater than 80.

Marketing Effectiveness = (Average of best brand judgments + Average of best ad judgments) /

2

Average of best brand judgments in target segments = (Highest brand judgment in first segment

• Highest brand judgment in second segment) / 2

Average of best ad judgments in target segments = (Highest ad judgment in first segment +

Highest ad judgment in second segment) / 2

Simulation Decisions

In each quarter you will focus on specific decisions based upon your role in the simulation. Just like in the real world there are no clear cut designations for decision making. You will need to decide in your group who is responsible for research and decisions based upon your role title and knowledge gained in the simulation and in this course to guide you in your decisions.

1 st^ Quarter (Module 3) Set up Shop

• Designate a company name (Be Creative). Why did you choose this name?
• Analyze market opportunities—evaluate segments, geographic markets, and potential competition. Understand your rationale for these selections.
• Evaluate market survey results in end user profile – what are the potential outcomes?
• Establish corporate goals.
• Select target segment. Why did you choose the segment(s)?
• Establish strategic direction – provide your company’s mission statement. How and why did you choose this strategy?
• Select test markets – why and where?
• Open sales office – where and why?

• Price promotions. Explain why you chose this pricing promotions.
• Sales priority.
• Develop media plan and budget—ad copy design, media selection, and ad frequency. How and why did you choose these media selections and ad copy designs?
• Place advertisements in media – Sales force management—number employed, and training.
• Hire salespeople assign to service or target segments. How many salespeople did your hire? Why?
• Open new sales office (optional).
• Wrap up the quarter per the instructor's schedule.

3rd Quarter (Module 5) Skillful Adjustment

• Based on your test market decide whether your price is elastic or inelastic. Does this affect product demand?
• Evaluate performance from the first two quarters.
• Should you revise your marketing strategy?
• Describe your financial performance—profitability analysis. What is your current financial condition?
• Market performance—customer opinions of brand designs, prices, advertising, and sales force. What was your rationale for each task.
• Begin to formulate a SWOT analysis.
• Adjust strategy—make incremental changes in tactics.
• Competitor tactics—segments targeted and selection of marketing tactics.
• Revise marketing tactics as needed and continue test marketing. Describe and understand these actions.
• Wrap up the quarter per your instructor's schedule.

4th Quarter (Module 6) Market Expansion

• Analyze your financial performance using the balanced scorecard. Begin to formulate a profitability analysis using terminology and/or formulas found in Appendix 2, page A-16, if appropriate. Use this information for your final report at the end of the simulation.
• Market performance—customer opinion of brand designs, prices, advertising, and sales force. What are your brand/ad ratings? What are you going to do to improve your brand/ad ratings?
• What is the current buyer behavior?
• Analyze competitor tactics—segments targeted and selection of marketing tactics.
• Describe your competitors.
• Adjust your strategy if needed—make incremental changes in tactics.
• Evaluate your balanced score card for market and marketing performance.
• Evaluate profitability of division.
• Conduct demand analysis to estimate brand, price, advertising, and sales force elasticity. Use formulas for conducting a demand analysis from Appendix 2, page A-16 - A-17, if appropriate. Use this information for your final report at the end of the simulation.
• Continue to formulate a SWOT analysis. Again, use this information for your final report at the end of the simulation.
• Wrap up the quarter per your instructor's schedule.

5th Quarter (Module 7) Enhance the Market

The simulation is winding up with only two quarters left with actual strategies to execute. Your Final Report is due by the end of Module 9. Once the 6th quarter is completed in the next module, the results for all the quarters will process in the final quarter, Quarter 7. There are 60 individual items to be addressed in your final report. Review the Executive Summary Guidelines found later in this document.

Marketing strategies to think about in this quarter:

• Analyze your financial performance—using the balanced and cumulative balanced scorecards. o (^) Continue to formulate a profitability analysis using terminology and/or formulas found in Appendix 2, page A-16, if appropriate. Use this information in your final report at the end of the simulation.
• Market performance—customer opinion of brand designs, prices, advertising, and sales force. o (^) What are your brand/ad ratings? o (^) What are you going to do to improve your brand/ad ratings? o (^) What is the current buyer behavior?
• Analyze competitor tactics—segments targeted and selection of marketing tactics. o (^) Describe your competitors.
• Adjust your strategy if needed—make incremental changes in tactics. o (^) Evaluate your balanced scorecard for market and marketing performance. o (^) Evaluate profitability of division. o (^) Continue to develop a demand analysis to estimate brand, price, advertising, and sales force elasticity.
• Use formulas for conducting a demand analysis from Appendix 2, page A-16 - A-17, if appropriate. Use this information in your final report at the end of the simulation.
• Continue to formulate a SWOT analysis. Again, use this information in your final report at the end of the simulation.
• Begin to formulate an Activity Based Costing (ABC) methodology to evaluate profitability of brands. Use fictitious numbers for manufacturing costs into your ABC analysis. It is important to use this information in your final report at the end of the simulation. (The ABCs PowerPoint notes are located in Activity 4 of this module.)
• Wrap up the quarter per your instructor's schedule.

• Note: The wrap up and processing of quarter six will actually occur in the 7th quarter. Remember, the final report is to be submitted by the end of Module 8.

6th Quarter (Module 8) Refine Marketing Strategy

Complete the final quarter and process all your gaming quarters. This is done by going to Quarter 7. It will supply a computation with the results for all your quarters. This is the wrap up.

Executive Summary Guidelines

At the end of the simulation your company (team) will produce a Final Report, also referred to as

an Executive Summary. The report should be an intensive summarization of your activities for

the 6 quarters of play. There are 60 individual items, listed below, to be discussed in your final report.

This report is due in Module 9. There is a maximum of 100 points that can be earned for this

assignment. Your Final Report is worth 20% of your final grade.

Format Requirements for the paper are as follows:

• Minimum 10-page to a maximum of 15-page Final Report
• Grammatically sound, and free of spelling errors,
• Double-spaced MS Word document, with proper headings, page numbers, and a cover page (reference pages are optional).
• Graphs, charts, and data are optional and do not count toward the ten page required length

I. Executive Summary (1 page, 10 points maximum)

Makeup of executive team Discuss how will achieve success- your companies' mission? What is the company's product and its distinguishing features? Estimated market and the attractiveness of the market Key projected financial data How much money is being sought? How will the money be used? Why?

II. Description of Business and Industry (2 pages, 15 points maximum)

Corporate marketing strategy used. Differentiated, focused, etc. Explain. Description of product, possible customers, and regions of operation Company's objectives History of company Industry Overview Current status and prospects SWOT Analysis Sales offices open (discuss regions and compensation plans)

III. Market Opportunity Analysis (3 pages, 35 points maximum)

Market profile

Total dollar volume for market Overall unit demand for products Market segments selected. Why did you select there segments? What does the future look like? What is the projected growth rate? Industry trends How does your product fit into the market? Customer profile Benefits customers seek Does the product fit the customer profiles? How big are the segments? Price sensitivity of segments Is price or performance more important? Key competitor(s) profile Company sales volume and market share Competitor strategies Competitor's strengths and weaknesses What actions are competitors likely to take in the future? What actions are competitors likely to take given your plans?

IV. Marketing Plan and Sales Tactics (2 pages, 20 points maximum)

Target markets Segments to be targeted Needs and demographics of each segment Why were these segments selected? Will other segments be targeted in the future? What will be the order of market development, and why? Product line What is the product(s)? Core and augmented product? At which market segments is it aimed? Discuss branding and brand loyalty. In what way is it different than the competition's? Does this product enjoy a favored position in the market? What is this position? Research and development What are you doing to increase your technology? Will research generate new products, or improve existing ones? How much will the research cost? How long will the research take? How will the introduction of the new technology affect the market? Pricing