This report provides you with a list of feedback messages that have been generated by the simulation based on your firm and brand situations. This report is aimed at helping identify some critical issues within you decisions and results. It is a nice complement to your own analysis, but certainly not a substitute. Make sure to spend a good part of your decision time to review and analyze your report and your market studies.
Your professor may decide to hide the automated feedback. Some professors prefer to provide their own feedback while facilitating the Markstrat group work. Others want to make sure that you to do your own analysis and are not misled by automatically generated messages.
The feedback starts with a section on your firm and continues with a section for each of your brands. The feedback messages focus mainly on your weaknesses and issues rather than on your strengths or successes. So, do not be surprised if your only get negative messages.
Some messages are highly important and require immediate corrective actions. Other messages are less important as they will only lead to a minor improvement of your decisions and results. Finally, a few messages cannot be ignored if the suggested actions are not part of your strategy.
At the firm level, you will be notified if:
•A large proportion of your contribution is generated by a unique brand.
•You market a small number of offerings compared to other competitors.
•No or few leading brands.
•Your brands are targeted at non-attractive segments and/or markets.
•Your revenues are not growing and/or your costs are growing more rapidly than your revenues.
•Etc.
At the brand level, you will be notified if:
•Your market share in decreasing.
•Your brand perceptions are not quite different from segment’s expectations.
•Your price is too high.
•Your price does not take advantage of a strong competitive position.
•You have lost sales due to production shortage.
•You have accumulated a large inventory because of a production surplus.
•Your awareness is much lower than that of your competitor and your sales would increase with additional advertising.
•You have not set perceptual objectives or your spending in advertising research is too low.
•You have lost sales due to a poor distribution (small commercial team).
•Your commercial efforts are not aligned with the shopping habits of your consumers.
•You could benefits from a cost-reduction R&D project.
•Etc.
Some numbers will be hidden in the messages if you did not purchase all market studies.