Advanced
Strategic Marketing
Copyrighted in its entirety, Ernest R.24
Cadotte,
August 2024
Marketplace Is a Fun Way
to Learn About Marketing!
It is a marketing game.
It is learning by doing.
It brings to life marketing
concepts, principles, and
ways of thinking.
It energizes the competitive
spirit.
It Is Realistic
You do what your real-life counterparts do
Design brands // Design ad copy // Schedule media
Do search engine marketing // Set selling prices
Hire and train salespeople // Worry about profits
It Is Organized
The game scenario follows the logical process of starting
up a new product line.
You are guided through the decision-making process.
Detailed help files are available at the touch of a button.
How Is the Marketing Game Conducted?
Your team is placed in a
game scenario in which you
start up and run a new
marketing venture.
Other student teams will be
your competitors.
The Objective Is to Profitably Capture
a Dominant Market Position
Game Scenario (1 of 5)
You work for a large
international bicycle firm.
Historically, your firm has mass
produced quality steel and
aluminum bicycles in large,
low-cost factories.
Finished bikes are shipped to
distribution centers where they
sit in inventory until ordered by
small, neighborhood bike
shops. There are thousands of
these shops around the world.
Game Scenario (2 of 5)
Corporate Headquarters wants
to enter the 3D printed,
carbon fiber, bicycle business.
3D printing will allow bicycles to
be custom built to fit each rider
within 3 to 5 days.
Fabrication can be done in a
warehouse near the store,
resulting in large savings in global
inventory and shipping.
Game Scenario (3 of 5)
Many bike enthusiasts and upscale buyers would love to have
a light-weight, carbon fiber bike.
Lower production and distribution costs will allow carbon
fiber bikes to be priced well below other carbon fiber bikes
on the market.
The bikes will still be pricey, but within reach of many buyers.
Headquarters believes
that 3D printing and
lower prices will open
up a vast market for
carbon fiber bikes.
Game Scenario (4 of 5)
You have been
selected to head up
a new, international
marketing division
to sell 3D printed,
carbon fiber
bicycles.
Several other international firms
are also entering the market with
their own marketing divisions.
Game Scenario (5 of 5)
Your marketing strategy
will be tightly focused
on direct sales to
bicycle consumers.
You will sell through company-owned sales outlets
in major biking markets around the world.
Market Composition
The market is composed of
five market segments, each
with a different price and
performance requirement.
Sales Outlet Options
The top 20 bicycle markets have been identified as
potential test markets. You can open sales outlets
in any or all of them.
Marketing Team
Each team member assumes a tactical area of responsibility:
Brand Management // Advertising // Internet Marketing
Sales Management // Business Analytics // Overall Leadership
Everyone is responsible for profit analysis.
Assignment
Your firm has no experience in
running small bike stores and
distributed 3D manufacturing.
Therefore, Headquarters does not
want to involve current marketing,
manufacturing, and supply chain
personnel.
It is your job to figure how to
develop this market opportunity.
Headquarters wants a full market
evaluation at the end of your
second year of operation.
How Is the Game Conducted?
At the outset of each quarter,
you’ll receive information
on the current situation.
The current situation is
evaluated, a strategy
is formulated, and tactics
are set in place.
Tactical decisions are fed into
the Marketplace simulator, along with decisions of
opponents.
Results of decisions are fed back to you.
Chronology of Events (1 of 4)
Q1: Organize the team, name the company, and contract
for a survey of potential customers
Q2: Analyze market information, establish strategic
direction, and set up shop (design brands and set up
sales outlets)
Chronology of Events (2 of 4)
Q3: Test-market brands,
prices, ad copy, and media
campaigns and make sales
staffing decisions.
Q4: Study end user
feedback, competition,
and financial performance
and make adjustments in
strategy and tactics.
Chronology of Events (3 of 4)
Q5: Invest in R&D for the future and expand market
coverage with new sales outlets.
Chronology of Events (4 of 4)
Q6-8: Refine the marketing strategy
• Introduce new brands with new R&D features.
• Continue with market expansion by adding advertising,
salespeople, and new outlets.
• Study the market data to determine how to better meet
customer needs and surpass the competition through
brand design, pricing, advertising, and distribution.
• Manage financial resources to maximize total
performance.
Funding
The initial funding is 2,000,000 which is being invested by
Corporate Headquarters in 500,000 increments over the
first 4 quarters.
Corporate Headquarters will provide another 2,000,000
in Quarter 5.
Total Performance Evaluation
• Strategic thinking and tactical execution
• How well the company is prepared for the future
• Balanced Scorecard
• Report to Corporate Headquarters on the viability of the
new market opportunity
Key Benefits (1 of 3)
Develop teamwork across marketing functions.
Promote better decision making by helping you see how
marketing decisions are interconnected and need to be
managed as a whole.
Facilitate learning of important marketing concepts,
principles, and ways of thinking.
Key Benefits (2 of 3)
Develop marketing planning and execution skills within a
rapidly changing environment.
Instill a bottom line focus and the simultaneous need to
deliver customer value.
Crystallize the financial implications of marketing decisions
by linking them to cash flows and bottom-line
performance.
Key Benefits (3 of 3)
Discover how important it is to use market data and
competitive signals to adjust the strategic plan
and more tightly focus business tactics.
Build marketing confidence through knowledge and
experience.
Q1: Organize the Business
• Name the company
• Assign the organizational
responsibilities
• Share personal learning goals
• Establish team norms
• Contract market research study
