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Key Performance Indicators
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) include the set of information we have determined instructors would like to
see in order to more easily evaluate student performance. The list below details information for each KPI
Price Score
Message Score
Interest Level
Media Spending
Market Share Rank
100)
Target buyer’s view on pricing with 4 being ideal, 3 slightly too
cheap/expensive, 2 moderately too cheap/expensive, 1
significantly too cheap/expensive, 0 far too cheap/expensive (0-4)
Indicates reaction to the promotional messages including clarity
and consistency (0-40)
Interest level of a player’s target segment in their backpack
(0-100)
Total amount player spent on marketing in previous turn
A turn-by–turn scorecard of player’s market share for primary
target market (0-100%)
Rank order between 1-6 of your profits vs. other players/teams.
(1–6)
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Glossary
Definitions
Player: There are six companies active in any instance of the Marketing simulation. Each company is
controlled by a single participant. One company is run by the student and AI (Artificial Intelligence) will
run the remaining companies in competition with the student.
Student: A student is a user who has a login to the simulator.
Assignment Scorecard: The list of students and their associated scores, displayed in the Students tab of
the Assignment View.
Score Categories: A metric which is used in final score Calculation. See: Scoring In Depth – What are
the Score Categories? for more details
Appendix
Buy Calculation
One of the core tenets of our game design approach was to ensure that our underlying game
systems reinforce the lesson that a successful marketing strategy is one in which all 4P’s work
together in harmony. As a result, all of the decisions players make in the game contribute to the
buy calculation that determines how many backpacks players sell each turn. The following
diagram provides a visual overview:
The Buy Calculation: Step-By–Step
Step 1
Each Target Market has a desire to purchase a backpack. Some market segments are more
motivated than others, meaning a small few each quarter will decide to get off the couch and
head to the store and buy something. Most of the target market, however, will stay home and
wait until they hear about a backpack that meets their needs. Crafting a Media Campaign that
effectively promotes the pack through Positioning Messages and Advertising Vehicles, causes
more market segments to “get up off the couch” to buy the pack.
Each Target Market has different responses to Positioning Messages. Selecting the right
messages will convince certain people your backpack is right for them. However, each target
market can only consume messages through media vehicles and each target segment has
different percentages subscribing to each media vehicle. Investing in the right media vehicles
ensures those subscribers will hear about your messages (right or wrong) and thus become
aware that your product exists and whether it appeals to them.
Each quarter, the target market evaluates the Media Campaign by calculating its Position
Message Score and Media Vehicle Score. These two scores combine to form the backpack’s
overall AIDA score. The target market uses the AIDA score twice to determine whether to shop
for a backpack.
Price
Product
Promotions
Place
How the 4 P’s Contribute to Sales Performance
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Step 2
At this point, each quarter, a percentage of the target market will decide to go shopping for a
backpack, with their choices prioritized by AIDA score.
Each target market has different percentages that shop at different places. Just because a
prospective customer has heard about a backpack and will consider buying it, doesn’t mean the
place offers the backpack, or that the backpack will meet the customer’s needs. Thus, each
quarter the motivated target market shoppers will go to the various stores in different numbers
Step 3
Here’s how the buy calculation runs (each backpack receives a score):
Each Target Market has a concept of the perfect backpack in terms of Characteristics. Each
Target Market wants a backpack that has a certain number in capacity, a certain number in
comfort, durability, etc. When the player builds a backpack, each target market scores the
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Step 4
Each Target Market also wants Features on a backpack. Optional features like water bottles,
cartoon graphics, waterproofing, and laptop sleeves enhance a backpack’s core appeal. Each
target market awards major bonus points to backpacks that include features that the target
market wants. A backpack already considered unappealing (based on Step 3) will receive only
minor bonus points, even if it includes some of the desired features.
We now apply the feature bonus to the Backpack Base Score, resulting in the overall Backpack
Experience Score.
Step 5
Each Target Market also has an ideal Price they will pay for a backpack, regardless of whether
the backpack is ideal or not. This reflects a general perception of the value of backpacks. When
the Target Market sees the backpack in the store, they adjust the Backpack Experience Score
Step 6
Finally, we calculate the ideal score. The target market knows what a backpack’s ideal score
should be based on characteristics, features, and price. So, the shoppers who have made it this
far evaluating a backpack compare the Backpack Final Purchasing Decision Score with the Ideal
Turn Events in Depth
Area Affected
Description of the Event
Cost of Materials -A-:
A weak crop this year has increased the production
cost of hemp by 40%.
Cost of Materials -B-:
Rising cost of materials has raised the
production cost of the Square and Large
Rectangular Backpacks by 20%.
Cost of Materials -C-:
Competition between material suppliers has
lowered the cost of the Advanced fabric by
10%.
Discount Retail Chain:
My analysis shows that the Discount Retail
Chain has lost about 10% of its previously
reported customer base. Perhaps shoppers are
moving to other channels?
Distribution Channel:
Good news for a change. The Discount Retail
Chain distribution channel is now offering more
favorable terms. They’ve dropped their required
cut from 50% to 40%.
Distributor Cut:
The Online Discount Retailer is halving its
distributor cut from 40% to 20% for the next
two quarters.
Market Development Funds -A-
:
The cost of market development funds in the
Department Store channel has decreased from
1,000.00 to 500.00 this quarter only.
Market Development Funds -B-
:
The cost of market development funds in the
Online Discount Retailer channel has increased
to 1,500.00 from 1,000.00.
Market Development Funds -C-
:
The cost of market development funds in the
High End Outdoor channel has decreased from
1,000.00 to 500.00 this quarter only.
Marketing Message -A-:
New data suggests a ‘Smart’ marketing
message now has a greater appeal to
Outdoor Enthusiasts.
Marketing Message -B-:
New data suggests a ‘Lightweight’ marketing
message will now be more appealing to Luxury
Trend followers.
Marketing Message -C-:
New data suggests ‘Cutting Edge’ marketing
messages will be more appealing to University
Students.
Online Retailing:
It appears more and more people are shopping
online. Total customer reach in the Online
Discount Retailer channel has increased by 5%.
Poster Advertising:
All poster advertising is available at a 25%
discount for the next three quarters.
Something to consider when planning our ad
buys.
Print Advertising:
All print advertising is available at a 25%
discount for the next three quarters.
Something to consider when planning our
upcoming media spending.
Radio Advertising:
All radio advertising is available at a 33%
discount for the next three quarters.
Something to consider when planning our
upcoming media spending.
Retail Price:
The High-End Outdoor retail channel has raised
their required cut from 28% to 35%. On the bright
side, they’ve increased the accepted retail price
of backpacks to $200.
Segment Data -A-:
New data suggests University Students are
showing a willingness to pay more for
backpacks.
Segment Data -B-:
My latest research shows that DURABILITY is now a
more highly valued backpack trait for University
Students.
Segment Data -C-:
My latest research shows that eco- friendliness
is now in high demand by luxury trend-
followers. I thought you should know.
Segment Growth -A-:
New demographic data suggests Urban
commuters are growing faster than previous
estimates. The urban commuter growth rate has
increased from 4% to 6%.
Segment Growth -B-:
Demographic data shows the luxury trend
follower market segment is growing slower than
previous estimates. Luxury trend follower growth
rate has decreased from 7% to 5%.
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Television Advertising:
Bad news. The cost of all television advertising
has increased by 15%. Take that into account
when making advertising buys this quarter.
Scoring In-Depth
What are the Score Categories?
1. Net Profit (NP): Net Profit (cumulative) is based on the formula:
2. Revenue (REV): Revenue (cumulative) is based on the formula:
3. Units Sold (US): Units Sold (cumulative) is the sum of units sold across all distribution channels.
4. Return on Marketing (ROM): Return on Marketing (cumulative) is based on the formula:
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5. Market Share (MS): Market Share (cumulative) is based on the formula:
6. Product Satisfaction (PSS): Product Satisfaction (averaged) is based on the formula:
7. Customer Satisfaction (CSS): Customer Satisfaction (averaged) is based on the formula:
How do Assignment Weights work?
During assignment creation, each Score Category is given a weight:
Each Score Category’s weight is equal to the percentage of the final score that it determines. Score
ranges from 0-100. Given the above screenshot, 40 points of the Score will be determined by Net
Here is the general equation which determines the scaling line for any score category:
Back to the example. Let’s find the equation for determining Net Profit points by substituting in the
relevant example data (remember that maxPoints = 40 and minPoints = 20% of 40 or 8):
and simplify.
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Using netProfitPoints as Y and thisPlayersNetProfit as X generates this graph:
Using the point values, we’ve found so far, let’s fill in our table:
Student
Score
NP
ROM
MS
CSS
Student 1
?
40
?
?
?
AI 1
?
36
?
?
?
AI 2
?
8
?
?
?
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Return on Marketing, Market Share and Customer Satisfaction also follow the same scaling
calculation as above. Here are their point values filled in:
Student
Score
NP
ROM
MS
CSS
Student 1
?
40
20
20
20
AI 1
?
36
14
4
16
AI 2
?
8
4
20
4
Score is the sum of these point values:
Student
Score
NP
ROM
MS
CSS
Student 1
100
40
20
20
20
AI 1
70
36
14
4
16
AI 2
36
8
4
20
4
The final Assignment Scorecard will show all Score Categories, including those with Assignment Weights
set to 0. These Score Categories will necessarily have point values of 0.
Student
Score
NP
REV
US
ROM
MS
PSS
CSS
Student
1
100
40
0
0
20
20
0
20
AI
1
70
36
0
0
14
4
0
16
AI
2
36
8
0
0
4
20
0
4
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Support
Should you or your students experience any technical or content issues while use the Practice Marketing
simulation, please reach out to our Customer Experience Group (CXG) via phone, email or chat.
System Requirements
Operating System:
• Windows Vista, 7, 8, 10
• Mac OSX 10.6+
• Linux Ubuntu 12+
• iOS 8+ (in browser)
• Android 3.2+
Browser:
• Must be WebGL-compatible.
▪ Chrome 31+
▪ Firefox 35+
▪ Internet Explorer 11+
▪ Microsoft Edge
▪ iOS Safari 8.3+
▪ Chrome for Android: 41+