VBC Tutorial – Marketing mix

Marketing mix

Marketing management in a business simulation is based on the popular 4Р concept: 

(Product)	The product must be in-demand in the market and have attractive price, quality, and brand. Before launching a new product or starting a manufacturing business, conduct a detailed analysis of your competition, the average city price, best price offers, quality, and brand. There are competitors in the market, competing with them, so you will have an advantage over them in at least one of these parameters. If the product is new to the market, then you have a lot of room for experimenting.
(Price)	Price is one of the most important factors.  It is responsible for the overall product perception by the customers together with quality and brand.  As like in real life, the prices in the simulation can change with every game turn, since the virtual economy is created by the actions of thousands of users worldwide. Pay attention to price changes and new significant competitors. Experiment with prices.
(Place)	Location is a very important factor for certain subdivisions. For example, if you plan to work with VIP customers and offer them high-quality goods of high-end brands, the store should be located in the city center or trendy neighborhood. The qualifications of employees and their ability to provide quality service to all visitors are also important.
(Promotion)	Advertising helps sell the products.  Depending on your targets,  the advertising campaign can be focused on promoting the product or subdivision:   Advertising the product — massive ad campaigns. They are implemented in the offices (see «Advertising» tab) and is working in the whole region, where the office is located. Such campaigns influence the «Brand» category of your product.   Advertising the subdivision —local advertising campaigns. They are set in a specific subdivision of your company (e.g. store) to increase the popularity of the product and customer traffic of that particular store. You can find more information on advertising in Virtonomics in chapters «For new users» > «Advertising».  Apart from advertising campaigns, we recommend using business boosters, which are able to enhance the promotion of your products and subdivisions. You can choose them on the home pages of subdivisions.

Marketing reports

There are a lot of marketing reports, which will help you make the right decision.

Geographical locations «Analytics» / «Macroeconomics».

The information included in the report:

• Available countries, regions, and cities. Demographic situation, tax fees, average city salary, and the changes of the key indicators (after selecting a specific city).
• Transport: logistics expenses from point «А» to point «B», minimal import and export fees.
• Renewable resources: Resource/City.

Market analysis «Analytics» / «Market Analysis».

The information included in the report:

• Market volume, key competitors, competition level for retail, service sector.
• Trends in prices, quality, brand (after selecting a certain location).

The company reports «My company» / «Reports».

Financial reports (sales reports by-products and subdivisions), marketing reports (product range, brands, promotions, service sector, and retail), sales in the context of goods and consumers.