The subject analysis of strategic marketing aimed at training the candidates in techniques and methods in understanding the market segments and creating product portfolio for them. In this course as teams we competed against each other in a Simulation game in which over the duration of the course we developed the product's marketing strategy and targeted the segments with products which was fitting the profile such as expectations, price match, and competitive advantage.

1. The Journey of
SPARTANS……
Mahip Sharma
Vikram Gangulavoipalyam
Govind Menon
Ramkumar Ganesan

2. Initial Observation
• 2 products - Soft and Solo
• Based on our research, we decided to market Soft to the Savers segment
• Similarly, Solo appeared to be more attractive to Shoppers segment
• Saver’s and Shopper’s segment had the highest growth rates in the coming
years

3. Decision Taken
• Targeted Soft for savers segment and Solo for shoppers segment
• Decreased price of both the products to meet the expectations
• Allocated sales force according to each product’s target market
• At the end of period 3, decided to phase out Soft and introduce a new
product, Sobo, focused on meeting the needs of Savers segment
• Invested on research activity to launch a new product in the Vodite market

4. The Descent
• SPI decreased by 12% in the first 4 periods
• Revenues decreased by 42.25%
• Earnings decreased from $13 million to $7 million in 4 periods
• Market shares decreased to 7% for Solo and 3% for Sobo

5. Key Learning Points: Phase 1
• Invested on advertising and commercial teams without due diligence via
market research reports such as experimentation
• Increased advertising budget in spite of commanding high brand awareness
in the market
• Inadequate knowledge about market research reports available to us
• Should have invested more time and capital on exploring the feature
provided by Markstrat simulation during the initial periods. It would have
helped us in our future decision making

6. Corrective Action Taken
• Option of getting into Vodites was not feasible owing to lack of capital
• More focus on the product offering
• Repositioning Solo from shoppers to savers and Sobo from savers to
shoppers
• Using experimentation to suitably balance our advertising and commercial
team budget

7. Introspective Analysis
SOLO
STRENGTH WEAKNESS
High brand awareness and intention Skewed away from customer
to purchase by consumers perception
Key characteristics of product was Base cost was too high in
competitive in the market, such as comparison to other products
battery and design
Low inventory cost for Solo Advertising and marketing mix was
not in proportion.

8. Introspective Analysis
SOBO
STRENGTHS WEAKNESSES
New product-launched matching the Price was not competitive
favored characteristics
Supported by huge advertisement Distribution strategy was poor
budget and commercial team
Launched for Savers segment- Key characteristics were not matching
expected to be one of the fastest the customers’ perception
growing segment.

9. Phase 2: The Ascent
• Consecutive periods of SPI increase
• Increase in revenue by 116% in 4 periods
• Increase in earnings from $ 8M to $28M in 4 periods
• Solo– Top selling brand by volume at the end of the period 8

10. Key Learning Points: Phase 2
• Once our brand is established, we employed downstream marketing
activities to reach out to our customers
• Analyzed competition and developed strategies to face the products.
• Invested effort in successfully building brand with limited resources
• Due diligence via efficient usage of market research reports (MDS,
Semantic scales, experimentation, etc…)

11. Introspective Analysis
SOLO
STRENGTHS WEAKNESS
Expenditure on advertisement and High base cost
commercial team was optimum
Market capitalization in the savers’ Few characteristics were not matching
segment customers’ expectation
High brand contribution High inventory at the end of period 9

12. Introspective Analysis
SOBO
STRENGTHS WEAKNESS
Product characteristics matching High inventory cost
customer expectations
Efficient distribution system Low impact of advertisements and
commercial teams

13. SONITE MARKET ANALYSIS
• The Sonite product was expected to be highly economical
• Sonite products attracted Savers and Shoppers
• Highly competitive market, especially in the fast-growing segment of
Shoppers and Savers
• Distribution strategy was very important for Sonites
• Brand Awareness was important to survive in the market

14. Thoughts for the Management:
• Solo has been a winner - Harness its market share domination.
• Online platform is an efficient distribution channel, which we have just
entered.
• Focus on segments which are fast growing- Savers & Shoppers, which we
are currently established in.
• Huge market scope for Vodite products
• Need for efficient inventory management system

15. Key Takeaways
• Minor Hiccups for Period 9
• Market research is critical to success
• Competitive data is critical for strategy building
• If provided with capital instruments we could have developed strategies for
Vodite
• Hands-on experience in creating real time marketing strategy

16. Thank You!
Q&A