Vyavasaya Nadham April 2013 - KSSIA Kottayam

............................................................................................................................................
hyhkmb\mZw
It is a tool used by the teams to assist them in
pursuing their objectives by carefully managing
these four controllable variables to meet the needs
of the defined target groups.
The teams in Cesim SimBrand will have to carefully
analyze the four available market segments in
order to design desireable, correctly priced, well
promoted, and properly placed products.
9. Marketing Budgets
There are a number if ways in which firms can
calculate how much to allocate to their marketing
and advertising spend. These methods are:
The objective and task method
Competitive parity method
Percentage of sales approach
Each of these can be applied in Cesim's marketing
simulation, and then compared to measure the
level of relative effectiveness to each other.
10. Consumer Buying Behavior
What influences consumers to purchase products
or services? The consumer buying process is a
complex matter, as many internal and external factors
have an impact on the buying decisions of the
consumer.
When purchasing a product, there are several
steps the consumer goes through. These are:
1. Problem/Need Recognition
2. Information Search
3. Evaluation of Different Purchase Options
4. Purchase Decision
In order to capture a big market share, teams in
Cesim SimBrand have to make sure that their offering
is aligned with what the customers want, but
are also susceptible to the possibly more desireable
offerings of competitors.
11. Market Segmentation, Positioning, Targeting
The case company in Cesim SimBrand can operate
in two markets, Europe and Asia. The markets
are of different size and have different growth
rates.
There are four different customer segments in
both markets (more detailed information in the
marketing research report):
Households
High-end households
Companies
High-end companies
The simulation game includes a product positioning
tool that allows you to compare your own
product positioning with that of the competing
teams. Separate maps are available for both Europe
and Asia.
12. SWOT Analysis
This tool is used by organizations to help the firm
establish its Strengths, Weakn esses, Opportunities,
and Threats. A SWOT analysis is used as a framework
to help the firm develop its overall corporate,
marketing, and product strategy.
In the simulation this can be done after the first
practice round, when the participants have been familiarized
with the game environment, and then
reviewed from round to round.
13. BCG Analysis
This product portfolio matrix classifies product
lines into four categories. It suggests that organizations
should have a healthy balance of products
within their range. The classifications are:
Dogs
Question Mark/Problem Child
Star
Cash Cow
Cesim SimBrand offers a great opportunity for
students to practice this particular marketing concept
by positioning their products accordingly.
14. Product Life Cycle
The product life cycle concept suggests that a product
passes through four stages of evolution:
Introduction
Growth
Maturity
Decline
The smartphones of the Cesim marketing simulation
game follow this curve as well, thus illuinating
the different strategies companies have to take during
each phase of the cycle.
15. Ansoff's Matrix
A common tool used within marketing was developed
by Igor Ansoff in 1957. He suggested that a
business can grow in one of four ways, from the lowest
risk to a high risk strategy of growth.
These are:
Market Penetration
Product Developemt
Market Development
(Diversification)
Although Cesim SimBrand doesn't allow for the
diversification aspect of Ansoff's matrix (the companies
cannot decide to start selling something else
other than smartphones), the other three strategies
can be pursued and practiced throughout the course
of the simulation game.
14 THE HOME JOURNAL OF KERALA STATE SMALL INDUSTRIES ASSOCIATION, KOTTAYAM