Week 15 Reflection

So this is it.

I just finished my  last HONB 200-02 Marketing Concepts class...

In this blog post I would like to outline my week that consisted of tying up some loose ends and preparing for our group presentation for Thursday's class. In addition, I would like to expand upon the usefulness of working with the MarketShare simulation. So here we go.

Going into our last marketing class of the year, we were knowingly going to have present our findings from our simulation results to the rest of the class. I knew the presentations were going to be interesting because of the intricate and complex nature of the simulation. Also, with this level of group-directed decision making, it was interesting to then see how other teams synthesized the same situation and approached their subsequent decision-making patterns differently. For our group, I was extremely pleased with our 55/45 push/pull strategy that was very conservative. If I was actually placed in a real life situation as a marketing manager, I would choose a similar approach to our marketing mix, especially after just taking over responsibility for the company. In subsequent periods, I would tailor the marketing mix to be more experimental in nature, possibly generating increased profits for the entire company. With more risk, comes more reward as the old adage says.

As far as the simulation itself goes, it definitely served as a great way for our conceptually-based class to put the topics previously discussed into direct action. Adding on to the fact that the group version of the simulation was an all-or-nothing deal, (we were not allowed to restart the simulation unlike the individual version of the simulation) it provided a real-life feel to the otherwise imaginary scenario. Our team made decisions with the weight of real-life repercussions on our shoulders, and when our team saw an increase in our company profit, gross margin, and subsequent stock price, we felt a real sense of achievement.

Also of note, was that the simulation really put something into perspective for me; I was previously unaware of how in-depth and complex marketing really is. I was fascinated with the overall notion that marketing is the psychology of business and that it relies on breaking down the habits of the most complex species on the planet- humans. All of the underlying decisions we make as consumers on a day-to-day basis really do, fascinatingly, have an impact on companies. As consumers, businesses pump millions of dollars into figuring us out and trying to predict our next move. And without remaining cognizant of the tendencies and preferences of current and potential consumers, marketing becomes stale and loses its effectiveness. Comparable with the subjects of history and politics, marketing can change on any given day or even any given moment. Due to this, I am really interested in potentially pursuing a minor in this area, or even even majoring in it. As a whole the simulation, although complex, was an extremely effective way to end the semester by acting as marketing managers.

Have a good week and I will talk to you next week after my final for this class.

Best,
Chris