Abstract:

The changes occurring in new product marketing and business management that will require significant changes to Simulated Test Market (STM) models are addressed. Specifically, current STM models are not well suited for the future marketing world of one-to-one consumer targeting nor the changing retail environment. Nor are they well adapted to the increasing granularity with which businesses are managed - at the SKU level, at the individual store level, week by week. As the world changes, all current forecasting models will begin to break. A blueprint addressing the current limitations of STM models is provided.