A powerful strategic marketing simulation game

• Learn fundamental strategic marketing concepts
• Experience essential marketing tools, such as: marketing plan, perceptual mapping, conjoint, regression, portfolio analysis
• Master market and competitive analysis
• Combine tactical implementation with long-term strategy
• Broaden the long-term focus

Markstrat is designed for teaching strategic marketing concepts and decisions, such as:

• Market segmentation
• Product strategies
• Marketing mix
• R&D
• Finance
• HR
• Production
• Distribution
• Market research

Markstrat always incorporates the latest market and competitive behavior theories. Also, its model has been extensively tested by various academics, students and executives from a wide range of industries.

6 to 10 years of business activity (in 6 to 10 decision rounds)

Team against Team (industries of 4 to 6 competing teams) or Team against Computer

Web versions in English, Spanish & Portuguese

Installable versions in English, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Chinese, Japanese

MARKSTRAT B2C-DURABLE GOODS (Electronics)

Markstrat’s ‘classic’ version allows participants to design and implement a marketing strategy in a completely fictitious electronics market. The new web platform features modern vocabulary and industry settings matching today’s durable consumer goods market realities.

MARKSTRAT B2B (Mechatronics)

This version features vocabulary, market and industry settings that are adapted to B2B situations. It addresses challenges of B2B markets, such as direct VS indirect distribution.

MARKSTRAT B2C-CONSUMER GOODS (Cosmetics)

This version features vocabulary and industry settings that are adapted to fast moving consumer goods markets. It addresses challenges behind consumer goods marketing strategies such as repeat purchases, retention rates, private labels or share of shelf space.

TESTIMONIAL

I find Markstrat B2B as an answer to our needs to offer a relevant simulation to our B2B clients.  More specifically, I find this useful in addressing the needs that exist within our Company-specific Programs.

Joseph Salvacruz, Hong Kong University of Sciences & Technology

HOW?

Depending on your program length and the objectives you set, the Markstrat marketing strategy simulation may be used:

• In 2-days to 1-week executive programs or electives
• In full trimester/semester programs
• Onsite or at distance
• On its own or in addition to lectures, readings and cases

WHERE?

• In the latter part of a basic marketing course, such as marketing management or marketing principles
• In second level marketing courses, such as marketing strategy or advanced marketing management
• In Marketing or general management executive programs

StratX Simulations is built on 30 years of experience in running programs with Markstrat. Our Team will be happy to assist with your program design to ensure the best integration of Markstrat into your class.

StratX Simulations also proposes a marketing simulation software which focuses on operational marketing aimed for entry-level marketers and undergraduates.

TESTIMONIAL

I got an excellent experience of organizing and conducting Makstrat. My students were excited by the opportunity to check their knowledge in marketing like in a real life, in competitive conditions, and to develop their team-working skills.

Irina Neganova, Assistant Professor, Ural State University of Economics

Markstrat comes with a comprehensive and free toolkit specifically designed for instructors to guarantee smooth programs:

–        Instructors Guide to cover the course setup and management

–        Instructor platform to set up your course and manage it

–        Introduction slides to present the first two rounds

–        Debrief template

–        Graphing tool to prepare your debrief

–        Coaching sheet to provide insights on what teams are doing as well as suggested actions to help professors in giving each and every team a very specific targeted coaching

–         Recorded introduction slides

Our online questionnaire platform allows professors to test what has been learnt and conduct peer-to-peer evaluations within teams:

–        Template questionnaires on key Marketing lessons and on peer-to-peer evaluation are available

–        Possibility to create your own questionnaires and to export results to Microsoft Excel

TESTIMONIAL

I must say your new coaching sheet is simply amazing. It really made my job a lot easier. Whoever came up with this is a great marketing analyst. Thank you and congratulations on a job well-done.

Steven Sweldens, Assistant Professor of Marketing, INSEAD

The team interface and graphics look great. Very nice work.

Jonathan Bohlmann, Marketing Lecturer, North Carolina State University

Even before the creation of StratX, our founder, Jean-Claude Larréché, and his colleague, Professor Hubert Gatignon, had the idea that would eventually become Markstrat. Here’s their story.

Jean-Claude Larréché  explored for the first time the concept of a computer-based marketing training simulation during his PhD at Stanford. He later refined it during his early days as an INSEAD professor. Jean-Claude’s theory was quite simple: if you give MBA students a way to apply under real market conditions the theory they learned during their lessons, they will not only devote more energy but will also learn from their mistakes and successes alike.

In short, it would be the first time anyone ever attempted to bring the marketer’s real world into the classroom. Jean-Claude called it: action-based learning.

The initial version of Markstrat was developed from 1974 to 1977, with the collaboration of Professor Hubert Gatignon. The software was at first distributed on an ad-hoc basis by INSEAD, but it soon became very popular and extensively used in the university’s MBA, Executive and company-specific programs. It was soon after licensed for external use by business schools as well as corporations such as Nestlé, DEC and General Electric.

By 1983, the first PC version of Markstrat went into development, thus laying the foundations of StraX. The idea was to build a firm that would specialize in executive development via two main activities: software development and distribution, and in-company seminars. Jean-Claude opened the first StratX office in Paris in mid-1984 and the rest is, as the saying goes, history.

The release of Markstrat allowed StratX to take marketing simulations to an entirely new level: administration and distribution would become even easier, while instructors would be offered greater control.

Please click below to discover the list of publications using Markstrat
LIST OF ARTICLES

MARKETING STRATEGY - ROBERT W. PALMATIER