Markstrat: 10 Tips to Win

Introduction

• Markstrat is a simulated marketing strategy game.
• Typical season: January - March; this year delayed due to COVID.
• Focus on strategic and tactical tips to succeed.

Individual Tactical Tips

1. Product Design

• Understand the Sonite market with its 5 customer segments.
• Product design should align with specific market needs.
• Utilize tools like semantic scales and conjoint analysis.

2. Product Portfolio

• Five customer segments: Shoppers, Savers, High Earners, Professionals, Explorers.
• Maximum of 5 products allowed; start with 2 given by the computer.
• Align and optimize product offerings for each segment.
• Vodite market is unknown – requires traditional product lifecycle approach.

3. Production Numbers

• Markstrat allows a 20% correction for production errors.
• Balance between overproduction (inventory cost) and underproduction (lost sales).

4. Product Promotion

• Importance of communication frequency, content richness, and target community.
• Media budget vs. advertisement budget: frequency vs. quality.
• Allocate promotional resources wisely across segments.

5. Shifting Consumer Taste

• Be agile and adapt to changing consumer preferences in pricing, design, etc.
• Use market reports to track changes.

Team Strategic Tips

6. Timing to Market

• Sonite: Consider one or multiple R&D projects.
• Vodite: Decide between first-mover or second-mover strategy.

7. Balanced Approach

• Share Price Index (SPI) is key to success, starting at 1000.
• SPI influenced by market share, margin, portfolio width, R&D, net contribution.

8. Share-Margin Trade-off

• Find the golden window for pricing – balance between market share and contribution.

9. Eye on Competition

• Analyze competition using available historic data.
• Focus on current strategies and impacts.

10. Team Game

• Importance of teamwork across various strategies and analyses.
• Success depends on understanding and implementing tips effectively.

Conclusion

• Markstrat requires strategic planning, adaptation, and teamwork.
• Follow these tips for a chance to win the simulation game.