Group assignment information can be found under CONTENT group assignment folder
- Competition Game – group assignment timeline
- Competition Game -road map
- Marketing Strategy and Presentation rubrics
This term we are going to be playing a simulation game, Competition Game, to help us learn marketing and the tasks of a marketing executive. You will be working as a marketer for a backpack company, and you will work in teams of 4 to 5 students to make marketing decisions for the launch of a new product against other teams of your classmates who are doing the same thing. Your team will decide how to design and market a backpack, and then make decisions regarding target marketing, product design, pricing, promotion, and distribution. You will be evaluated on how successful you are as a competitor in the marketplace and how well you apply your marketing knowledge.
Over the course of the group project, you will make 8 “decision turns” for your product, and you will document and explain the decisions and the rationale behind them. Here are the specific activities you are to undertake, and the marks associated with each.
Begin marketing simulation Competition Game
You will be assessed on your marketing strategy, gameplay and results, and your post-game marketing plan as follows:
Project is worth 25% of the course grade
Marketing Strategy Assignment (3-4 pages) 5%
Gameplay and Results 5%
Marketing Plan (Presentation) 15%
Marketing Strategy Assignment – 5% of your course grade
Each group must submit an outline of their intended game strategy (3 to 4 pages). This should be what you input into the game for Turn 1 of the competition game. Your strategy document should clearly and concisely answer the following questions:
- What is your SMART objective?
- Which target market are you selecting, and why?
- What is your product strategy? Why is this the best choice to meet your objectives?
- What is your distribution strategy? What is your rationale?
- What is your pricing strategy? How does it fit with your choice of target market, product strategy, and distribution strategy?
- What is your promotion strategy? What positioning? What media vehicles? What budget?
- What contingency plans do you have for changing market conditions and your competition?
In addition to the appropriate use of marketing terminology, your report must be carefully edited and proofread for clarity and professional business writing. Remember to cite all ideas, words, and images that are not your own using APA-style citations. Marketing Strategy Assignment must be submitted as a PDF to the instructor via email prior to week 9.
Over the weeks that the game is in progress, you will make 8 decision turns as outlined below. NOTE: the instructor will end turns, the student will not hit submit in the Competition Game.
There are four performance indicators which are ranked each turn of play: net profit (40%), customer satisfaction score (20%), return on marketing (20%) and market share (20%). These, along with turn improvement in net profitability, will be used to calculate a portion of your team grade. The assumption is that the improvement represents learning including learning to successfully implement and manage an overall marketing strategy.