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MKTG 824: STRATEGIC BRAND MANAGEMENT

S. Sinem Atakan

Class time: July 4-5-6, July 11
Email: sinem.atakan@ozyegin.edu.tr
Office: Room 217
Office Hours: by appointment
Course website: Log in at https://lms.ozyegin.edu.tr/ and go to link MKTG 824
Course Objective
This course will provide a hands-on experience on Brand Management. Via use of a game
simulation that requires student teams to make product management decisions, the course will
require the participants to make long-term strategic decisions for a portfolio of brands as well as
manage the 4 Ps and make tactical/day-to-day decisions for individual brands.
Specifically, the objectives of this course are to:
Provide a foundation in basic brand management so that you start understanding how to
build, manage, and guard strong brands,
Learn how tactical decisions regarding a product line affect the brand equity, and
Place you in a dynamic business environment that requires you to make effective decisions
under time constraint.
Course Content/Teaching Style
In the course, we will use the PharmaSim Simulation. The simulation is designed to introduce
you to the principles of product management. You will work in a group (3 people) during the
simulation. Peer evaluations will be done at the end of the semester and will significantly
determine your course grade. You will have the opportunity to decide your own group members.
If you have not submitted your group member names by the specified date (check out the
Tentative Schedule), I will randomly assign you to a group.
I would highly recommend that you take CONSUMER BEHAVIOR before you take the Brand
Management course.
Course Materials
You are required to have access to the PharmaSim Simulation (including the Case and Manual).
The password for the simulation will be distributed during the 1
st
class.
Communicating with me outside class
My goal is to make sure you learn the material, whatever it takes. If you do not understand a
concept, you need to get in touch with me! Make me explain it to you! The best way to get a
quick answer is via e-mail. I will do my best to respond within a day, but e-mail I receive on the
weekend will usually be answered on Monday. If you would like to meet in person, please e-
mail me and we will find a time that is mutually agreeable.
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Grading
While my first objective is that you learn something from this class, I do need to assign grades
to each of you. I will do my best to make sure that the grading system is fair and that you
understand how I arrive at the grades.
Simulation Performance & Presentation 80%
Class Participation 20%
PharmaSim Simulation (80%)
Most of the work in this class will involve your group project. You will work on the simulation
in teams of 3. You have the option to form your own teams. E-mail me your group members
by the date announced on TENTATIVE SCHEDULE. If I have not heard from you by the
deadline, I will randomly assign you to teams and announce all the groups before the first
class.
Your groups grade for the project will be determined by how well the group did during the
simulation as well as the final presentation. I will ask you to rate your fellow teammates and
will base your individual grade on both the overall quality of the group project and how
your fellow teammates rated you. Peer evaluations are confidential (see Appendix 1 for the
peer evaluation form). I will be the only person who has access to these evaluations.
Plan and Presentation
Your group will present the final marketing project to the entire class during the last week of the
semester. You will have 15-20 minutes to make your presentation and to answer questions from
your classmates.
See Appendix 2 for the presentation guidelines and Appendix 3 for the details on PharmaSim.
Late policy. It is very important that you turn in your period decisions as well as the presentation
for the PharmaSim simulation on time. If you do not meet the deadlines, your grade for the
simulation will be reduced by one full letter grade (e.g. A- becomes B-) FOR EACH LATE
DECISION and FOR EACH LATE DAY (24 hours).
Group work policies
1. PharmaSim Student groups are considered static throughout the semester, which means that
once you have formed your group, you will remain in the same group throughout the term.
However, I strongly discourage free-riding. Therefore, a group has the right to fire group
members who choose not to provide quality work and the required amount of time for the
successful completion of the simulation. Prior to the final decision of firing a group member:
a. A written warning must be emailed to the offending member with a copy sent to all other
group members and myself. The group members should allow the offending member a
reasonable amount of time to act on these warnings and make sufficient contribution to the
project work.
b. If the member continues to behave inappropriately, all of the group members (except for the
person being fired) must reach consensus to fire the offending member and communicate their
decision personally and by email to the fired person with a copy sent to me.
2. If your membership within the group is terminated, you forfeit all team benefits associated
with completing the simulation as a group. Bad teammates usually show their tendencies early,
so let a problematic group member know that her/his behavior is not acceptable early. Fired
group members MAY NOT join another group.
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Finally, remember that you have a chance to control the composition of your group. If you end
up not enjoying your experience with this group, I would appreciate if you do not blame me for
it at the end of the semester. I have absolutely no control over the outcome.
Class Participation (20%)
Attendance
Attendance is optional. I do not believe that you can be forced to learn something. If you
would like to benefit from this class as much as you can and get a good grade, you should be at
the class both PHYSICALLY and MENTALLY.
If you have decided to come to the class, please ARRIVE ON TIME! Arriving late to class
disrupts the activities and is never appreciated by myself or your class mates. Please let me
know beforehand if you have an urgent situation and will be arriving late or leaving early.
Class Participation
Class participation is your overall positive contribution to classroom learning. It is based on the
quality of your responses to my general and cold-call questions, not on how much you talk. To
contribute well, you must read the simulation case, work on the specific periods, ask questions
about concepts you dont understand, and make comments that help your fellow classmates
understand the material better. During the class discussion, give examples from your own
experience that demonstrate the concepts in the simulation.
During the class time, please limit your cell phone usage. If possible turn off your cell
phone and leave in purse, backpack, or outside of the classroom (not on the desk).
Disabilities
If you think you need accommodation for disability, please let me know. As soon as you make
me aware of your needs, we can work together to determine appropriate accommodations. I will
treat information you provide to me about disabilities as private and confidential.
Honor Policy
BE HONEST AND PROFESSIONAL!
Learning is enhanced through cooperation and as such you are encouraged to work in groups,
ask for and give help freely in all appropriate settings. At the same time, as a matter of personal
integrity, you should only represent your own work as yours. Any work that is submitted for
evaluation should be an original piece of writing, presenting your ideas in your own words.
Everything you borrow from books, articles, or web sites (including those in the syllabus)
should be properly cited. Using ideas, text and other intellectual property developed by
someone else while claiming it is your original work is plagiarism. Copying from others or
providing answers or information, written or oral, to others is cheating. Unauthorized help from
another person or having someone else write ones paper or assignment is collusion. Cheating,
plagiarism and collusion are serious offenses that could result in an F grade and disciplinary
action. Please pay utmost attention to avoid such accusations.



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Tentative Schedule
E-mail your PharmaSim group member names by 9:00am, July 1
st
, Tuesday
July 4th (Friday) PharmaSim Intro
Mini-Quiz (Before the class, thoroughly read the case. You will have a short,
open-book quiz from the case)
PharmaSim Individual Practice Rounds (3 practice periods, no re-play)
July 5
th
(Saturday) PharmaSim Decision Periods 1-5
9:00am - Simulation restarts for team play; no replays
Period 1: Submit decisions by 10:30am (Brand Assistant)
Period 2: Submit decisions by 12:00pm (Brand Assistant)
Period 3: Submit decisions by 2:00pm (Assistant Brand Manager)
Period 4: Submit decisions by 3:00pm (Assistant Brand Manager)
Period 5: Submit decisions by 4:15pm (Assistant Brand Manager)
July 6th (Sunday) PharmaSim Decision Periods 6-10
Period 6: Submit decisions by 10:30am (Brand Manager)
Period 7: Submit decisions by 12:00pm (Brand Manager)
Period 8: Submit decisions by 2:00pm (Brand Manager)
Period 9: Submit decisions by 3:00pm (Brand Manager)
Period 10: Submit decisions by 4:15pm (Brand Manager)
July 11th (Friday, 9:00am) Submit your presentation via LMS
July 11
th
(Friday) PharmaSim PRESENTATIONS & Discussion
Submit your peer evaluations by 9:00am, July 13
th
, Sunday


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APPENDIX 1
Confidential Peer Evaluation Form
(An online version of this form will be provided.)

Please fill out the peer evaluation form online by the date specified on the tentative schedule.
You should give careful consideration to how you assess each group member's performance and
contributions. If an individual receives consistently high or low scores from his/her peers, then
that individuals grade may be affected accordingly. Before completing the form, please read the
descriptions of the evaluation criteria listed below.
Keep in mind that this peer evaluation is completely confidential. You can be assured that no
one other than me will be allowed access to the ratings and comments you provide.


Descriptions of Evaluative Criteria

Cooperation
Was the person a good colleague? Was the person dependable in accomplishing tasks and
attending group meetings? Did the person accept tasks/responsibilities requested by the group?
Did the person readily offer to help other group members and offer constructive criticism of
other group members ideas and work? A score of '1' indicates a very low level of cooperation
and a score of '10' indicates a very high level of cooperation throughout the semester.

Extent of Contribution
Was the person active in group meetings, activities, and efforts? Did the person offer ideas and
make an effort above and beyond what would normally be expected? A score of '1' indicates a
very low extent of contribution and a score of '10' indicates a very high extent of contribution.

Quality of Contribution
Did the person offer suggestions and ideas which were well thought-out and worth listening to?
Did the person add value to the group's overall performance? A score of '1' indicates a very low
quality of contribution and a score of '10' indicates a very high quality of contribution.

Overall Evaluation
Evaluate each person's overall performance. A score of '1' indicates a very low overall
evaluation and unacceptably low performance.



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Peer Evaluation Form

Please evaluate each group member (including yourself) according to the following
criteria. Provide a rating between '1' (Very Low) and '10' (Very High) for each criteria. Refer to
the description of each criteria provided above. If a low rating must be given, please provide
an explanation in the space provided. Remember that only SIGNIFICANT reported problems
will affect the grade (i.e. if you really think someone didnt contribute, by a significant amount,
use numbers much lower than 10). Please be as honest as you can while you evaluate your
own and others performance.


Name of the
Group Member


Cooperation

Extent of
Contribution


Quality of
Contribution

Overall
Evaluation












Additional Comments:






Your Name ______________________________________






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APPENDIX 2

FINAL PRESENTATION

The final presentation is an opportunity for you to reflect on the PharmaSim experience and
compare your plans and outcomes with others in the class. Because we have limited time, you`ll
need to present only the most important aspects of your experience. Presentations should be
prepared in PowerPoint and will be presented to the entire class.

Please keep the presentation to 15-20 minutes, but cover at least these points:
1.Highlights of your marketing plan
2.Your firm`s performance objectives and actual performance
3.Key success factors in PharmaSim
4.How you left the company positioned for the future
5.Important take-aways from the simulation experience what would you do differently?

Detailed guidelines for the presentation:
For each of the decisions you have made (including the ones about price) indicate your reasons
based on your analysis of the current strengths and weaknesses of Allstar and its brand
Allaround, the case, and your overall strategy.

Describe your decisions over each period of time and how they changed over that period. Please
do not simply list all the decisions. The important point is to explain your reasoning, the
specific factors (& market research reports) you took into consideration. While it is not
necessary to describe every change you made in each period, you should give an adequate
description of what you tried to accomplish, why you did what you did, what results you found,
and how you then reacted, etc. What happened that confirmed what you thought? What
surprised you? What worked and what did not? What variables did you monitor that proved
useful; what was not useful? Be sure to describe what information you used and how it helped,
along with the details of any analyses you did.

Discuss what you learned from the PharmaSim exercise. Aside from your decisions and strategy
for your brands for this company and why you did what you did (above), what would you do
differently if you could replay the simulation? More important, what conclusions have you
learned about marketing from all of this? Thus, some of these lessons may focus on this
simulation, and others focus on generalizations about marketing and marketing decision making
in general. The best presentations will offer an analysis of what happened and why based on
specific principles (4Ps: Price, Place, Promotion, Product; 5Cs: Company, Collaborators,
Competitor, Customers, Climate/Context).



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APPENDIX 3

What is PHARMASIM, and why are we using it?

Tell me and Ill forget. Show me, and I may remember. Involve me, and Ill
understand. (Native American saying)

PharmaSim is a computer-assisted exercise (a simulation game) that offers an interesting and
different format to learn about product/brand management. Simulations allow students to learn
from their own experience, to experiment with different strategies, and to live with their
decisions over the long run. In effect, they are flight simulators for managers. The purpose of
this exercise is to learn about product/brand management and decision-making in a dynamic
environment in which you will actually make decisions for your brand, over a multi-year period,
and learn from your decision-making process and the results that ensue.

The PharmaSim case presents on overview of the over-the-counter cold medicine market from
the perspective of the management team at Allstar Brands. The case is where much of the
qualitative information about the industry is located. You are in charge of making decisions for
the ALLROUND and related brands.

You will have a 3 person group for this PharmaSim game and a team leader will be assigned
for administrative (decision entry) purposes. Before your group makes any decisions, it is
important that you (individually and collectively) carefully consider the available information
and analyze the PharmaSim case just as you would any other Marketing case. You may
download the case, as well as the PharmaSim manual, from the PharmaSim website.
BEFORE OUR FIRST CLASS, you will need to study the case.

You must then study all the market research information that has been pre-ordered for your first
period decision, and come up with an initial strategy for the first period, and your rationale for
those decisions. These decisions are described in the case/manual and include: a manufacturer's
suggested retail price and the level of any volume discounts as well as the discounts you give to
wholesalers; an advertising budget, selected advertising agency, and the relative emphasis on
four types of ad messages; a promotions budget with allocations to cooperative advertising and
three types of consumer promotions; and the three types of consumer promotions; and the sales
force, including how many sales people allocated to five different types of retail stores as well as
to wholesale and indirect support functions. As in subsequent periods, your total budget across
advertising, promotions, and sales will be constrained by a total available budget.

Then, you will learn the results of your decisions, and make decisions for subsequent periods.
You will benefit from good decisions over time and, conversely, suffer the consequences of bad
decisions. Your decisions and results are independent of those of any other team. Your goal is to
(1) try to be as successful as possible at achieving your marketing goals (e.g., market share, net
income, shelf space), while (2) learning about product management decision-making and the
need to make decisions that make optimal use of available information and that are integrated
within some logical strategy. Note the many good suggestions in Chapter 3 of the manual
READ THIS CHAPTER THOROUGHLY BEFORE YOU MAKE ANY DECISIONS!

The PharmaSim manual/textbook has four sections. Section 1 describes the case. Section 2
describes how to play the simulation, and describes all of the available information that can be
accessed either free or for some fee. For your first period decisions, all the available market
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research has been pre-ordered, but you will need to make decisions on what to order and pay
for, for subsequent decisions.

You will start out as Assistant Brand Managers for the first period. Later on, you will be
promoted to Brand Manager. Note that everyone starts off with the same position in the
marketplace, in charge of the Allround brand, as you proceed through several years of decisions.


List of Questions to Consider for PharmaSim:

Who are our current and potential customers? What do they want? Given our competitive
strengths and weaknesses, what elements of the marketing mix will be most effective to
motivate them to buy our brand(s)?

How is the market changing? Are there identifiable segments that differ in their needs and/or
responsiveness to particular marketing efforts? Where does growth seem to be occuring? What
existing and emerging needs are not being met well by current products?

What is happening in the market channel(s)? Which distribution outlets are most important to
our success, given volumes/shares, segment shopping behavior, and trends? How can we
motivate the channels to do a better job for us without giving too much away what do they
want from us, and how well are we meeting their needs?

Who are Allround's competitors? What advantages over competition does Allround offer?

What is competition trying to do? How do their actions differ from ours (benchmarking)? How
successful are they? What are the reasons for their success (or lack of success)? How is their
strategy likely to change in the future based on what our brand(s) are doing? How should we
react to what they are doing?

How is the environment changing?

What is the best way for us to allocate our limited resources across different products, markets,
marketing tactics, and distribution outlets? What seems to work best when we change things?
Why?

What available information will be useful? How can we analyze available data to make it
informative? How can we best use this information? When and how often should we buy
proprietary information?

What are key measures of success? How do we best influence these measures?

What marketing theories, hypotheses, and/or rules of thumb will best help us to develop a
rational plan for dealing with these many decisions and the complex and dynamic situation
confronting our company?


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List of Miscellaneous Things to Consider When Working on the PharmaSim Simulation

When you start the simulation, you will be in PERIOD 0 and making decisions for
PERIOD 1. Remember that each period is an entire year. Thus, many things can and will
happen during that year (e.g., inflation, consumer attitudes, changes in competitors actions
and success, distribution results).
Do not buy any research reports in Period 0. This would be a waste of money since the
information is the same as in the examples in the case description.
I recommend that you do buy a lot of research information, potentially beginning in period
1. Assess each piece of information for how helpful it is (or could be), how to use this
information, and how often you should buy the information. If you buy the survey,
remember that you can segment the data in many ways each time you buy the survey
information. However, you will only be making segmented decisions as a Brand Manager.
My recommendation is to err on buying too much too often. However, it does cost money
that is deducted from your budget and it is helpful if you use it in a rational manner.

Make a plan about what information to use and how to make various decisions. These
theories, hypotheses, and rules of thumb can help you to structure a very complex task.
Chapter 3 of the PharmaSim text is helpful in this regard. Be flexible in your plan and adapt
it as you advance through the periods.

For each period, keep track of not only what you did but also your rationale and what
you concluded from the results. Adopt specific goals and monitor them to construct and
flesh out a theory of what works and why. This will help you when you finish and have to
re-construct all this for your presentation. Make sure to include your insights (what you
learned, your reasoning) in the presentation.

If sales increase beyond production capacity, you will automatically add some fixed amount
of capacity that will more than cover sales. You are allowed to run over capacity up to
110%. If you exceed 110%, an additional 20 million units of capacity will be built the
following period. This will impact your fixed costs for the periods after the capacity has
been increased. You can see what the estimated increase in fixed costs will be on the what-if
screen. (Capacity is a behind-the-scenes issue for you, as you do not make decisions on this
directly. Basically, once you produce more units than the 110% capacity, it will increase
automatically).

Many of us have trouble remembering what type of product and what benefits are offered by
each of Allstar's brands and which competitor brands do what and compete with each of
Allstar's brands. I recommend that you write this out and keep it on a card or piece of paper
so that you do not have to keep checking up on this as you ponder decisions.

Beware of inflation. It is high in the PharmaSim world and will impact your costs (and
should affect your price).

There is no specific report that shows sales force utilization or efficiency. Review the
Company Sales Report as well as the Market Sales Force Report to get more information on
this (for your specific team using the Company information, and the competitive information
under Market). Also check the competitors as well as the importance of the channel to
decide on the sales force size.
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When you change the formulation of a product, the reformulations are immediate. So, if you
choose to reformulate in Period 1, you will see the new product being sold in Period 2.

WHILE MAKING DECISIONS, CONSIDER:

The ATAR model (Awareness, Trial, Availability, Repeat) is based on concept of
Diffusion of Innovation. In order for a person to be a regular purchaser of the new product
they must first become Aware that it exists. Once they have become aware of it they must
make the decision to Try it out. In order to be able to try it out, it must be Available for
them to purchase. If they are happy with the trial, then they may decide to adopt the product,
that is, Repeat the purchase again.

Awareness will depend on the extent to which the new product is advertised in the
marketplace. For example, it might cost $1.0 million to make 10% of the market aware of
the product.

Trial implies that the customer actually decides to purchase the new product and try it out.
Receiving a free sample in the mail does not necessarily mean that they actually tried the
product.

Availability relates to the ease with which the purchaser can find the product to purchase.
This is directly related to the number of channels (retail stores, internet, etc) that are
available to the purchaser.

Repeat means that the trial was successful. In the case of convenience items, the purchaser
has decided to make repeat purchases. For one-time shopping goods, or specialty goods
purchases, repeat may mean recommending the product to a friend.

MORE TO CONSIDER!
Awareness: primary driver is advertising. Promotions (POP, coupons) also impact it.
Impacted by message, particular type of promotion chosen, share of voice.
Intention to Buy: builds on awareness, but also adds product characteristics and MSRP.
Does the product meet the needs (cold, cough, allergy symptoms) of the customer? Is the
price about what the customer expects? Thus, the primary decisions that impact intention to
buy are the product choice (reformulation or not and new product introduction) and setting
the MSRP.
In-Store Attractiveness: focuses on the in-store influences such as the location on the shelf,
the amount of space allocated to the brand (shelf space in PharmaSim), point of purchase
displays, and finally, the actual retail price (taking into consideration volume discounts and
promotional allowances that may or may not be passed on to the customer). This factor is
primarily driven by sales force and promotion decisions.
Purchase is the actual purchase decision that results from the above factors relative to the
competitive offerings. Many purchases may be satisfied customers repurchasing the brand if
they were satisfied with the experience and do not find a surprise when they go to purchase
again (such as a huge price increase).
Usage / Satisfaction captures the experience the customer had with the product. Did the
product actually meet their needs? How well?
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Repurchase. For a low-end product such as OTC cold medicine, repurchase behavior is
important as many customers will just repurchase a brand rather than using extended
problem-solving behavior. The percent of customers who repurchase is driven primarily by
satisfaction rates.

Terminology

Share of voice: a brand's or group of brands' advertising weight expressed as a % of a
defined total market or market segment in a given time period. The weight is usually defined
in terms of expenditure, ratings, pages, poster sites etc.
In the online advertising industry, share of voice is used to "represent the relative portion of
ad inventory available to a single advertiser within a defined market over a specified time
period." Share of Voice in Online Advertising concerns weight or percentage among other
advertisers, within the context of the advertising medium
Awareness: the % of respondents who recognized the brand prior to purchase.
Conversion Ratio = Trials / Awareness, or of those aware of a brand, what percentage have
tried it.
Retention Ratio = Most Freq Purchased / Trials, or of those who have tried a brand, the
percentage that purchase it most frequently.
Promotional allowance: the ave. allowance for the five retail outlets and wholesalers for
each brand. This allowance is given as a percentage of the price to the retail channel and
typically is used for the cost of stocking, price discounts, and brand promotion in the outlet.
In many ways, this can be viewed as an additional discount to the channel.
Trade Rating: A summarized result from a survey of retailers and wholesalers on trade
support and practices offered by your company. The trade rating value is scaled from 1 to
10, where 10 is the highest value. This value is on a product basis and may be graphed.
Co-op advertising: the amount used for joint advertising between the manufacturer and
retailer. The estimate is from retail channel sources.
Point-of-purchase (POP) expenditures: the amount spent on creating, producing,
distributing, and maintaining point-of-purchase displays in retail outlets.