Melinda Roberts
MKT/421
December 15, 2011 Gray Grubb
Using Perceptual Maps in Marketing Simulation Summary
In the simulation I was a marketing manager for Thorr Motorcycles. I was faced with three different situations. In order to decide on the right actions to take in the situations I had help from three co-workers; Benjamin Bao (Chief executive officer), Chris Winter (Chief engineer), and Meredith Kiligore (Vice President Brand communication). This paper will reflect on the situation individually, my decision, and the suggested advice.
The simulation helped show the relationship of differentiation and positioning. Differentiation is how the product is different from their competitors. CruiserThorr is different in many ways such as price and the lifestyle that comes with that motorcycle. Whereas, positioning is how a company position itself in the market. CruiserThorr is positioned as a high class motorcycle in the market. Even repositioning the product did not change this. I thought it would stay the same or get worse. However, by providing financing and other options the CruiserThorr improved their position in the market. As shown in the three situations.
Situation one For the first situation I had to look at different information and decided on a new marketing plan for the CruiserThorr. CruiserThorr needs a new marketing plan due to a decrease in sales because the target market is getting old and the younger target market looks for cheaper motorcycles to buy. The CruiserThorr sells for $25,800 and provides a certain lifestyle for their customers. After looking at all the information I had to decide on four elements to apply to a perceptual map to show where the CruiserThorr is compared to the competition; Anzai, and Espritique. I first looked at the competitor product comparison which showed that CruiserThorr had superior engine design however was at the top of selling price. Then I