MKTG1025-Marketplace Report PDF

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MKTG1025 MARKETING PRINCIPLES Marketplace Live Simulation: Report

This Marketplace Simulation report aims to reflect on the decisions made during quarters 1-6 in the Live Marketplace Simulation. I will be reporting on the segment of Recreation because

it was the first product created by The Ultimatum during quarter 1. The decision to pick recreation as The Ultimatum’s first entry in this live simulation is due to the big demand of recreational bikes by not only specific countries however almost all countries listed in the marketplace was somewhat interested with recreational bikes. It was also noted that with the big market and high possible demand, the recreational segment would be filled with other competitors. With that being so, below are my decisions made during the 6 quarters of the live simulation. The product life cycle theory is one that believes products will go through 4 stages that being the Introduction stage, Growth, Maturity and possibly decline over time (Yoo 2010). With this in mind, during quarters 2, I kept a mindset that did not expect to make any profit at first, therefore I decided to create a customer-driven product development approach wherein the product designed would fit all the customer needs similar to an “Expected product” as described in kotler’s 5 product levels (Kotler 2012) which is the a product level classified for products having the set of attributes normally expected by the customers. When there was options to add decals to the bike or choosing between standard brakes and Precision brakes, I simply chose the simpler option. The two main reasons of why I decided to create an “Expected product” (Ultimatum V1) is because of the expected slow start predicted by the product life cycle theory therefore I felt the need to go with a safer option. During Quarter 3, the first market results were out and as expected only small profit was made showing exact signs of an introduction stage. We were also given the resources to view Competitors Brand designs as well as the market share we possess in the recreational department. This was a crucial and useful factor to consider what changes had to be made to the product designs. With the Ultimatum placing just 1 place behind the top brand (Winged Wheels), I decided that the product was going in the right direction and is following stages of a typical product life cycle. Upon reviewing competitors designs of their brand, All the other brands were seemingly making products with the highest end of specs therefore explaining the high rating in market shares received for my brand. From this fact, I decided to maintain the product and didn’t add as much changes because I thought The Ultimatum had a niche in a market where all other recreational brands were aiming for the top specs and higher prices. During quarter 4, only slight increase of profit was made and another product released by Winged Wheels overtook The Ultimatum in terms of Market Share and product Judgement. With this data, I decided that a drastic change had to be made to the product designs in order to get a more impactful growth phase and to avoid stagnation. With reference to the product concept theory, a theory coined as an idea that consumers favour products of the best quality, performance and features (Law 2016), I decided that I had to provide a product having the highest specs possible in order to compete with the other recreational bikes. Instead of removing the previous progress and with the niche I had with the “Expected product” (Ultimatum V1), I implemented Product Line stretching (Law 2016) as an expansion strategy so that I could keep the previous product as well as create a new product with the highest specs possible. I named the new Product as Ulti V2 and added improved gears (14 speed (2x7), changed standard brakes into precision brakes and improved the handlebars to “comfort straight”. As for the Ultimatum V1, I kept everything the same as the previous quarters.

With 2 product lines in the segment of recreation, Profit numbers were similar to the previous quarters if not less. This was due to the fact that Winged Wheels was releasing a plethora of product lines all of which have now covered a lot of niches. Quarters 5 also brought new innovations and technological features to the market. With a stagnating profit count for The Ultimatum’s recreation products I decided to capitalize on this by adding all of the new features provided by the research team which was specific to the recreational market to the Ultimatum V2. These additions include changing the tires from “Hybrid-Road and off-road” to “Hybrid-Cushion”, Changing the Carrier to a “Large mesh folding tote basket” and adding colourful thin brushstrokes to the design of the product. All of which are efforts in creating an augmented product, one that has the highest specs and enough differentiation between Winged Wheels products. The comparison of Winged Wheels has been repeated because they are the only ones standing in front of the Ultimatum. Quarter 6 marks the most impactful growth phase and possibly transitioning to the maturity phase. Ultimatum V2.1 had a brand profit of 240,263 which doubled quarter’s 5 numbers of 126,916. This shows how additions and the enhancements from last quarter proved to be a very successful move. Going all out on the specs was paid dividend as theorized by the Product concept theory (Law 2016). On the other hand, Ultimatum V1 stagnated at a profit number of around 34,000 which shows that it has reached its maturity stage due to no new features being added and simply the presence of other bikes having better features even at much higher prices. I concluded that the product line stretching was not necessary as the profit numbers of Ultimatum v1 was too low to justify keeping the product. For this fact, I decided to remove the product of Ultimatum V1 and focus primarily on the sales of Ultimatum v2. In Conclusion, Through 6 quarters of a Marketplace live simulation, I have learned ways in which theories of marketing can be implemented in real life. This simulation has proven very useful for my learning because it allows me to visualize concepts and theories of marketing as well as testing which ones work or which ones are suitable for the time being. Admittedly, I felt as though I could’ve gotten better results if I wasn’t so timid at the start trying to go for a more conservative approach in a very fresh market. All in all, I have finished this marketplace simulation at a satisfactory level.

References 1. Cantamessa, M & Montagna, F., (2015), ‘From Market Research To Product Positioning’, Management Of Innovation And Product Development, pp 247-288, Viewed 5 June 2020 2. Law, J., (2016), ‘Product Concept’, A Dictionary Of Business And Management, 6 ed, Viewed 4 June 2020 3. Kotler, P., (2011), ‘Reinventing Marketing to Manage The Environmental Imperative’, Journal Of Marketing, Vol. 75, No. 4, pp. 132-135, Viewed 5 June 2020 4. Yoo, C.S, (2010) ‘Product Life Cycle Theory And The Maturation Of The Internet’, Northwestern University Law Review, Suppl. SYMPOSIUM: Maturing Internet Studies; vol. 104, Iss. 2, Viewed 5 June 2020...