Student Advice Archives

Music2Go Inventory Costs

Question of the Week: What are the Inventory Costs in Music2Go Marketing Simulation?

There are two types of inventory costs in Music2Go.

Inventory Holding Cost

Each year all firms are charged 3.5% of the value of their average closing inventory for inventory holding costs to cover the cost of warehousing etc.

For instance, if you have 1 million units of unsold stock at the end of the year at a cost of $40 per unit, then you have $40 million of inventory which will cost:

3.5% *$40 million = $1.4m in holding cost

Inventory Disposal Loss

If a firm updates a product with a new design or abandons it altogether then all existing inventory is dumped at 93.5% of what the firm paid for it.

Example:

$1 million of inventory would be dumped for $935K giving a loss of $65K.

You can gather some valuable market research from looking at the figures for your competitors. Firms that have no inventory holding costs have stocked out, because they are under forecasting demand for their products. Firms with large inventories are over forecasting demand. If you see any inventory disposal costs, then you know that your competitor has either updated an existing product’s design or abandoned one.

Related Articles:

How to Set Retailer Price and Retailer Margin in Music2Go

Improving Total Marketing Contribution

Need extra help?
  • You can receive an immediate answer to a number of commonly asked questions through our Support Center.
  • Contact us here.

Reference: 

This Photo by Unknown Author is licensed under CC BY

AdSim Advertising Simulation by Smartsims Industry Benchmark Report

AdSim Advertising Simulation Report Guide: Industry Benchmark Report

The Industry Benchmark Report is a summary of all firms’ key results so you can benchmark yourself against your competitors. Click on the image below for an example report:

The Sales Revenue listed for each is the total wholesale sales revenue for each company’s products.

The Cost of Goods Sold is the number of units of a particular product sold multiplied by its manufacturing cost.

Gross Margin is the amount of profit that each firm made after the manufacturing costs were deducted.

Note: You have no control over either the wholesale price or the manufacturing cost of your product, so your aim to maximize sales revenue by running the most cost effective advertising campaign that you can.

The Evaluation Research expenditure lets you know how much market research your competitors are purchasing.

The Agency Fees let you know whether your competitors are using an Agency or not and how much it is costing them.

The Media Advertising expenditure allows you to see how much money your competitors are spending on Advertising, but now how they are allocating it to each media type.

Marketing Contribution is the amount of profit remaining after manufacturing (cost of goods sold) and marketing expenditures have been deducted. This is a measure of how profitable your firm is as a result of your decisions.

Need more help?

  • You can receive an immediate answer to a number of commonly asked questions through our Support Center.
  • Contact us here.

MikesBikes Introduction Report Guide: Market Summary

What is the Market Summary Report?

The Market Summary Report gives a side-by-side comparison of all the products currently being sold in the market. It compares every product on the key features that help consumers decide which product to buy.

MikesBikes Introduction Market Summary Report

Some of these features are more important than others to each Market Segment. For instance, the Road segment is highly sensitive to Quality and Product Specifications, but does not care as much about Price. But the Kids segment is highly sensitive to Price and Awareness but does not care much about Quality. So you need a different strategy to succeed in each market.

You should read the Market Research report to see which features are most important to each Market Segment.

Sales, Lost Sales, and Market Share

Sales is simply how many units that each product sold last year.

Lost Sales tells you how many more units each product would have sold if that Firm had manufactured enough to satisfy demand. If Lost Sales is zero for a given product, then the Firm produced enough to meet all the demand for that product this year.

Example: If there are 20,000 units of demand for a product, and 18,000 units available for sale,
then Lost Sales = 2000 units

Market Share shows the share that each product has of total market demand (ie. including Lost Sales).

Retail Price

Retail Price is the recommended retail price that each firm sets for their product(s). So if your Retail Price is $700 and your average retailer margin is 35%, then the wholesale price that you receive from your distributors for each bike is $455. But the Retail Price is what consumers actually pay, so Retail Price is what they compare when deciding which product to purchase.

Awareness

Awareness % is a measure of how many consumers in each market segment remember and know something about your product due to your brand promotion and product advertising.

Awareness of 50% means that 50% of the consumers in that segment are aware of your product. When trying to raise the awareness level of your product(s), you need to pay attention to making sure that you are targeting your budgets to the media types that each market segment watches the most.

Distribution

The Distribution Rating (1 to 100) is a measure of what proportion of the consumers in each market segment can easily find your products at a local store without having to travel too far.

In general, as your sales volumes and retail margins increase then more stores will be willing to stock your products and your Distribution Rating will increase. Once you have established significant sales volume in a market you may be able to reduce your retail margins slightly without losing too many stores.

Quality

Quality refers to the level of customer satisfaction in your product based on finish, workmanship, and the rate of product defects. This is measured using a Quality Rating out of 100 which applies to all your company’s products.

See the Quality screen under the Operations menu.

Product Specs

The Product Spec Rating is a measure from 1 to 100 of how close your product is to a perfect or ideal bike for that Market segment. From Year 4 onwards you will be able to conduct Product Development to improve the specifications of your bikes and Cost Reduction to reduce the Prime Cost of your bikes.

CSR Rating (Corporate Social Responsibility)

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a concept which sees companies being responsible not only for profit maximization, but also to do what’s best for people, the planet and society at large. Your CSR rating is a measure of how well your company integrates social and environmental concerns with its business operations.

Your CSR Rating is affected by your Social Responsibility decisions (under Brand Promotion from Year 2) and Sustainable Manufacturing decisions (under Operations from Year 3).

Note: If you do not see the CSR Rating, then your course is not using the Brand Promotion and Sustainable Manufacturing decisions.

Comparing Product Ratings

Don’t get too obsessed with trying to achieve a specific Awareness, Distribution, Quality, or Product Spec Rating. The important thing is to use the Market Summary report as a benchmarking tool to see how your products compare with your competitors.

If your competitors have a much cheaper product, or much higher product specs or quality than you then you may need to invest more in those areas to compete. But if you already have significantly higher Quality or Awareness than your competitors then at some point diminishing returns will kick in and you may be better investing more into other areas of your business.

Also remember to read the Market Research report to see which features are most important to each Market Segment so you aren’t wasting time and money on something which won’t really make much difference to a particular market.

MikesBikes Intro Report Guide - Industry Benchmark Report

MikesBikes Introduction Report Guide: Industry Benchmark Report

What is the Industry Benchmark Report?

This report is a summary of all firms’ Key Financial results, which you can use to benchmark yourself against your competitors.

In MikesBikes Introduction, this report is divided into four sections: Financial Results, Customer Satisfaction, Internal Results and Innovation Learning.

Financial Results

MikesBikes Intro Financial Results

There are two key variables that you need to understand in this section, Share Price and Shareholder Value.

Your Share Price is the current market price of one share in your firm; the main drivers of share price are your average earnings per share (EPS) and your D/E ratio. If you want to improve your Share Price then you need to keep improving your EPS and to keep your D/E ratio below 1.0.

Shareholder Value is a measure of how much value a shareholder has received from owning one share of your company from the moment you took over running your firm. So Shareholder value is the current Share Price, plus the accumulated dividends that you have paid with 10% compound interest.

Customer Satisfaction

Customer Satisfaction in MikesBikes Intro Most of the fields here should be self-explanatory. However, you need to be aware that the Distribution Channel support figures include both your Extra Support (sales promotion support) spending and the annual support cost of supporting all the retailers that currently stock your products. Distribution Information (Distribution and Branding > Reports tab) report details what those annual costs are.

So every firm that has at least one store stocking its products will be spending at least a couple of hundred dollars. To see what their sales promotion budgets are, view the Multi-Firm Retailer Margins and Extra Support report under “Firm Marketing”.

Internal Results

Internal Results in Mikesbikes intro

The main purpose of this section of the report is so that you can compare your production efficiency strategy with your competitors. Make sure to compare your wastage results and number of products. The lower the production efficiency budget and the higher the number of products (more setup time), then the worse a firm’s wastage value will be.

Innovation and Learning

Innovation and Learning in Mikesbikes intro

Monitor how much your competitor(s) are spending on product development, it means that they are either making their products cheaper to produce, more attractive to the market or both. If you let a competitor get a significant production cost advantage over you then they will easily win any price wars involving that product.

Need extra help?

Check out the Smartsims Support Center or contact us here.

Music2Go Marketing Factory

Question of the Week: Why did I receive a different number of units from what I ordered? | Music2Go Marketing Business Simulation

In Music2Go you make decisions for an entire year, but your factory has a limited ability to adjust the number of units produced to try to meet actual demand during the year. This is called Demand Responsiveness.

Demand Responsiveness allows the actual number of units ordered to increase or decrease by up to 20% to meet the actual demand for your product.

For instance, if you ordered 1 million units of a product, then the actual number of units delivered could vary between 800,000 units and 1.2 million units depending on actual demand.

Product Contribution Report in Music2Go Marketing

In our example above, we ordered 1.9 million units of our Sonic product, but the Actual Units ordered was less than this at 1.5 million because the demand for our products was less than what we anticipated to sell.

Note: Most worlds have 20% Demand Responsiveness enabled, although your instructor may request this to be modified or disabled for your Multi-Player. 

Related Articles
Music2Go Sales Promotion Screen

Question of the Week: What is Sales Promotion? | Music2Go Marketing Simulation

Sales Promotion

Sales Promotion in Music2Go works by boosting your distribution coverage and distribution index. You should buy the Distribution Coverage and Sales Promotion Market Research report for detailed information on the Sales Promotion Rating and stage of Product Life Cycle for all firms in the Industry.

There are 6 types of sales promotion activities available to you to promote your
products and support your distributors:

  • Trade Shows
  • Salesforce Training
  • Premiums (Gifts)
  • Website / Social Media
  • Point of Purchase displays
  • Rebates

Each promotional activity has particular relevance to certain stages of the Product Life Cycle as outlined below. Note that the Distribution Coverage and Sales Promotion Market Research report will show the age and stage of product life cycle for every product on the market, as well as the Sales Promotion Rating and the Promotion Mix effectiveness.

Choosing a Sales Promotion Mix

Sales Promotion Mix in Music2Go Marketing

Remember that each of your products will progress through the Product Life Cycle starting in the Growth phase for new products, then gradually progressing through to the Decline stage over the next six rollovers.

Say we launch a new Sports product this period. This new product will start in the Growth phase of the Product Life Cycle. Then from looking at the Sales Promotion table (this can be found in the Player’s Manual and Market Information Report), we can see that our ideal Sales Promotion Mix for a new Sports product is:

  • Trade Shows: 20%
  • Sales Force Training: 30%
  • Premiums (Gifts): 20%
  • Website and Social Media: 15%
  • Point of Purchase Displays: 15%
  • Rebates: 0%

Total =100%

That was a simple example, but what happens in the second year that we sell this Sports product? The product will have moved from the “Growth” phase to “Growth – Starting to Mature.” So the optimal Sales Promotion mix will be 1/3 of the way between the ideal Growth and Mature in the Sales Promotion table. That would give us an optimal Sales Promotion mix something like:

  • Trade Shows: 15%

(Ideal Growth = 20%, Ideal Mature = 5%)

  • Sales Force Training: 27%

(Ideal Growth = 30%, Ideal Mature = 20%)

  • Premiums (Gifts): 26%

(Ideal Growth = 20%, Ideal Mature = 40%)

  • Website and Social Media: 13%

(Ideal Growth = 15%, Ideal Mature = 10%)

  • Point of Purchase Displays: 17%

(Ideal Growth =15%, Ideal Mature =20%)

  • Rebates: 2%

(Ideal Growth = 0%, Ideal Mature = 5%)

Total =100%

Tip: You should buy the Distribution Coverage and Sales Promotion Market Research
report for detailed information on the Sales Promotion Rating and stage of Product
Life Cycle for all firms in the Industry.

Related Articles
Chossing an agency in AdSim

Question of the Week: Which Agency should I choose in AdSim Advertising Simulation?

Agency Selection

The first key decision you need to make for each of your products is whether you will employ the services of an advertising agency to assist you with your media selection.

Four Agencies

Agency selection screen in AdSim

Internal Plan

The Internal Plan means trusting your own media selection ability and going at it alone, which often obtains far greater returns.

The default plan for each product is average at best. Approximately 30% of you promotion budget is being wasted on poor media selection. By carefully reading and analyzing the marketing plan and market overview/research for your product’s target segment, you should be able to greatly improve the effectiveness of your promotion budget.

TV Magic

TV Magic is a media-buying agency that specializes in producing TV advertisements and bulk purchasing TV advertising time.

TV Magic will suggest a TV advertising media plan that will be significantly better than following the default plan. They are less skilled at other media production/selection, but their suggested plans will be noticeably better than the default plan.

Print Works

Print Works is a media buying agency that specializes in producing print advertisements and bulk purchasing print advertising space.

Print Works will suggest a Newspaper/Magazine advertising media plan that will be significantly better than following the default plan. They are less skilled at other media production/selection, but their suggested plans will still be noticeably better than the default plan.

Radio Can

Radio Can is a media-buying agency that specializes in producing radio advertisements and bulk purchasing radio-advertising airtime.

Radio Can will suggest a radio advertising media plan that will be at least significantly better than following the fault plan. They are less skilled at other media production/selection, but their suggested plans will still be noticeably better than the default plan.

Need extra help?
  • You can receive an immediate answer to a number of commonly asked questions through the Smartsims Support Center
  • Alternatively, you can contact our Support Team here.
Testing Decisions in MikesBikes

How do I Test My Decisions in MikesBikes Introduction to Business Simulation?

There are three ways on how you can test your decisions in MikesBikes Introduction to Business Simulation.

1. Live Forecast

The figures on the Live Forecast update in real-time as you click “Apply” on any decision screen. This enables you to easily see the impact of individual decision changes on overall performance.

The figures can then be clicked to bring up the relevant forecast report in full. Previous figures remain in small font below.

The new Live Forecast feature will help you make more informed decisions and provide an immediate warning if you have made poor decisions.

2. Forecast Results Reports

MikesBikes Forecast Results Reports

This menu features reports which give you an indication of your performance – assuming you meet your forecasts.

There are a range of Pro Forma reports available for you to view:

  • Forecast Results Report Overview
  • Pro Forma Income Statement
  • Pro Forma Product Gross Margin Report
  • Pro Forma Cost of Goods Manufactured Report
  • Pro Forma Cashflow Report

3. Offline Mode

This feature in the Multi-Player allows you to try out different decision options and strategies before you commit yourself.

In Offline Mode, your competitors use only their default decisions. So don’t read too
much into the results.

To start Offline Mode, click the “Offline” button next to the Multi-Player launch button.

In Offline Mode, your competitors use only their default decisions. So don’t read too much into the results. For instance, in Offline Mode you might launch new products into empty markets and do very well due to lack of competition. But if you use those same decisions in the Multi-Player, you could do poorly if the other firms choose to launch new products at the same time. So always think about what might happen if your competitors were to do something differently.

Important: After using Offline Mode, your team’s agreed decisions need to be re-entered in the Multi-Player.

Watch our tutorial video here:

 

Note that this feature might be disabled in your course.

Need extra help?
  • You can receive an immediate answer to a number of commonly asked questions through our Support Center.
  • Contact us here.
How to set retail price and margin in Music2Go Marketing Simulation

Question of the Week: How do I set the Retail Price and Retailer Margin for each product? | Music2Go Marketing Simulation

Setting your Retail Price

When setting the Retail Price, you should consider things like:

  • How much competition is there in this market segment?
  • How are my competitors pricing their products in this market segment?
  • How sensitive is this market segment to price? What are the minimum and maximum price levels for this market?

Note: We recommend staying away from the top 5%-10% of the price range for every market segment, even for price insensitive segments. The maximum price is the level beyond which NO consumers will buy your products. So even for price insensitive segments, a product that is priced at the maximum looks like poor value compared to a more reasonably priced product.

Similarly do not price too close to the minimum price level for a given market. The extra market share is unlikely to make up for your smaller margins. Start off somewhere in the upper-middle of the price range and work your way up or down from there.

  • What is my overall strategy?
    • High Price, Lower Volume
    • Medium Price, Medium Volume
    • Low Price, Higher Volume
  • What are my projected sales for a given pricing level and advertising mix?

Setting your Retail Margin

Once you set your price, consider your retailer margin, unit cost, unit margin and sales projections. Look carefully at your Forecast Results reports and your Forecast Net Marketing Contribution report.

  • If your sales projections are accurate, will you make sufficient gross margin to give you a positive Net Marketing Contribution?
  • Is it worth giving your Distributors more Retail Margin early in the simulation to encourage them to stock your products and gain market share?
  • Or do you already have sufficient market share and distribution that you can afford to cut your Retail Margins?
Need extra help?
  • You can receive an immediate answer to a number of commonly asked questions through our Support Center.
  • Contact us here.
Check out other Music2Go Marketing articles here: 

Music2Go Tip: Leftover Marketing Budget

Music2Go Tip: Improving Total Marketing Contribution

 

salary-in-mikesbikes-advanced

Question of the Week: How much should we pay our staff?

This question relates to our MikesBikes Advanced Strategic Management Simulation.

Human Resources: Average Salary

This is the average annual earnings of an employee working on the factory floor. The average salary level you set will affect not only your bottom line but also attract better skills and will improve motivation.

Factory workers are paid (on average) the rate you select. Administration staff are paid (on average) twice this rate. For comparison purposes, the average industry salary is $25,000 per year.

How does Salary impact your staff’s motivation level?

Salary level is compared to an industry average of $25,000 and smoothed over several years.

Job security is reduced during downsizing, but is also smoothed over several years.

Including the training/skill level reflects the fact that employees are looking for more than salary and job security. They are looking for a job where they are learning and working with other highly-skilled people.

The graph below shows the motivation index achieved by changing the firm’s average salary from $25,000. The effect would be increased by sustaining the salary change across succeeding years.

Staff Motivation and Turnover Rate in MikesBikes Advanced

The graph below shows the effect of job cuts on morale and staff turnover.

Staff Motivation and Turnover Rate when Downsizing in MikesBikes Advanced

Check out the latest Question of the Week articles here: