Marketing Simulation: Managing Segments and Customers Prepare Tab Video Transcripts How to Play Video and Initial Customer Interview Videos “How to Play” Audio Script In this simulation, you are the newly appointed CEO for Minnesota Micromotors, a medical motors device manufacturer. You must determine the company’s overall marketing strategy and make critical decisions around Minnesota Micromotors positioning relative to ever-changing market segment needs and behaviors. These include setting the list price and segment discounts, determining sales force allocation, setting the marketing budget and allocating money to product development.
Upon logging in, you will find the “Prepare” section that gives you essential information about Minnesota Micromotors and the simulation process. This includes specific details about your scenario. Additionally, you can download a PDF file for a reference guide on how to play. Before starting the simulation, it is important to review the Foreground Reading and watch all of the Customer Interview videos on this page. They provide important background information on the company and industry trends and data.
The “Analyze” section of the website provides various sources of information to assist in making marketing strategy decisions each quarter. The simulation commences in the fourth quarter of 2012 and offers three quarters of historical data for analysis. As the CEO, it is your responsibility to make quarterly decisions that will impact the company’s marketing for the following 13 quarters. The timeline on the right side of the screen will monitor your progress throughout the simulation. To initiate your analysis, the Dashboard is an excellent starting point.
It offers an overview of your market share, including segment breakdown, quarterly revenue, unit sales, profit margin, net prices, and spending on features. To make informed strategic decisions, examine the specifics in the Analyze subscreens. The Net Prices screen displays the price history for both your company and your competitors, categorized by segment. On any of the Analyze screens, you can switch between “view graphs” and “view data”. The data view presents the same information in a table format.
Clicking on the “copy to clipboard” option enables you to transfer the data shown on that screen to your computer’s clipboard. You can then paste the data into your preferred program, typically Excel. The Customer Purchases by Segment screen maintains a record of the number of motors sold per segment over time. The Unit Sales section tracks the number of units sold to new and existing customers, with further details on sales made to large and small customers. This information is vital for the Marketing Simulation, particularly on the Prepare Tab Videos Transcript Page 1.
The Income Statement can be viewed in different ways, such as dollar volume, per unit, or percentages. Additionally, the gross margin detail allows you to analyze profitability by segment. On the Market Research page, there is an animated graph showing the growth of your market share compared to your competitor. Your market share is displayed in color while your competitor’s is shown in gray. The overall size of the pie chart represents the market’s size for that segment.
The graph displays the changes in your share for each segment over time and the changes in specific segment tastes compared to the overall market. You can personalize the x and y axes and the displayed data by using the buttons on the right-hand side. To view data specifically for small customers, click on the “Small Customers” button. It is important to note that if you did not invest in market research on the Decisions page last quarter, this page will be unavailable to you.
The product performance compares the feature performance in terms of power-to-size ratio and thermal resistance with your competitor’s product. The customer satisfaction displays the current level of satisfaction and historical range for each customer segment. The current satisfaction level is represented by a thin, black vertical line, while the historical range obtained during the simulation is shown by a thick, shaded bar. To watch a short video of the customer expressing their view from this quarter, click on the icon next to the segment.
Sales Force Report displays the quantity of sales support hours by segment and the quality of customer interactions undertaken by your representatives. The latest news is always available by clicking on the number icon adjacent to the news tab. A notification will emerge to indicate unread news items. The news archive can be accessed by clicking on the tab, showcasing all previous news updates. Once you have finished analyzing, proceed to the “Decide” tab to make your quarterly decisions.
By clicking on the question mark symbol next to each input box, you can access more information about each potential decision input. Start by setting the motor’s list price and then apply segment discounts. To determine the correct percentages for the discounts, you can utilize the “Net Prices” calculator. All the inputs in the calculator will be transferred to the “Decisions” screen. Later, adjust the sliders to allocate sales force emphasis. Lastly, distribute your budget allotments for the upcoming quarter.
There are three primary categories in the overall budget: the sales budget, the marketing budget, and the product development budget. You can view your previous decisions by accessing the “Decisions History” screen. Once you have finalized your decisions based on your overall strategy, click on “Submit Decisions” to progress in the simulation and observe the outcomes of your choices in the subsequent quarter of the Marketing Simulation – Prepare Tab Videos Transcript Page 2. Repeat this process for each quarter until the simulation concludes.
Good luck figuring out Minnesota Micromotors’ marketing strategy! Customer A has been closely collaborating with Minnesota Micromotors for years and is consistently impressed by their engineers’ ability to develop effective motors for their cutting-edge orthopedic devices. The design teams at Minnesota Micromotors also have a strong understanding of the customer’s evolving needs in a motor. The customer takes pride in their devices being known in the marketplace for having the highest power-to-size ratio and being the preferred choice of orthopedic surgeons for complex and long surgeries. The motors from Minnesota Micromotors are a definite competitive advantage for these devices.
Minnesota Micromotors is a highly valued partner for us. We are loyal to them and appreciate their motor design team and sales representatives. The performance of the motor and the vendor’s ability to customize it for our specific device are the most important factors in our decision making. While price is a consideration, the quality provided by Minnesota Micromotors is paramount in maintaining our reputation for providing top-notch products.
Minnesota Micromotors offers high-quality motors that outperform cheaper options in the market. In an industry where people’s lives are at stake, it is vital to have orthopedic devices capable of operating at high speeds without jeopardizing motor functionality. Neurosurgeons and orthopedic surgeons must avoid using motors that fail or malfunction during surgical procedures. Considering the significant influence of motor performance on device performance, we are willing to invest more in a motor, particularly if it improves thermal resistance.
Typically, we have collaborated with suppliers that produce motors capable of maintaining optimal performance at higher temperatures compared to your motors. We have established a close and loyal relationship with these suppliers, assisting them in designing motors that are best suited for our devices. As a result, our collaboration with alternative vendors has been limited. Customer C Our main focus is manufacturing top-of-the-line orthopedic drills for surgeons. Our devices excel in all performance measures, particularly in their power-to-size ratio and thermal resistance.
Surgeons depend on our drills for orthopedic surgery that requires precision and skill. We do not compromise on any aspect of performance. We exclusively collaborate with vendors who can meet our strict motor performance standards. Due to our exceptional reputation for quality, surgeons and their associated hospitals are willing to pay a higher price for our devices. The price of a motor is of minimal significance to us when making a purchase decision. If a vendor fails to meet our performance requirements or if there is any motor failure in our devices, we will promptly terminate our association with them.
Customer D states that they have a long history in manufacturing orthopedic devices and have established strong relationships with hospitals, group purchasing organizations, and surgeons. They have always provided their customers with affordable prices for their orthopedic drills. However, due to rising healthcare costs, customers are now more focused on cost and the company’s competitive prices have become even more crucial. The company assures that their orthopedic drills are the most inexpensive in the market without compromising on quality. Additionally, their drills perform well in terms of motor speed.
Our customers have consistently expressed that our drills offer the best performance and price in the market. To maintain affordable prices, we prefer to collaborate with vendors who can provide advantageous pricing deals. Typically, we purchase motors in large quantities. As a smaller company, we have always sourced our motors from distributors because of the relatively small number of orders placed with motor manufacturers.
We typically cannot collaborate directly with major motor manufacturers to create specialized motors for our devices. Therefore, we usually buy motors that meet our performance and budgetary needs. While we have managed to hold our own in the motor device market against some big rivals, it can be challenging for us when component costs are higher and the components are less tailored to our devices. To gain access to larger motor vendors, we would need to purchase in volumes that we are unable to attain.
