Settling in on ‘Product Simulation Marketing’

Coming up with the correct wording is essential for any task.  I have been uncomfortable with the terms “simulation-based marketing” and “simulation-based advertising”, because they sound like one is simulating the marketing or simulating the advertising.  However, I have liked those terms because they can get meaning from analogy to “simulation-based training.”

I have come to a new term which I believe is descriptive yet distinctive: product simulation marketing.  Now all that is left to do is fill out what this means!

Digging into Simulation Research for Sim-Based Marketing

I am still pretty consumed with thoughts of fleshing out simulation-based marketing, or perhaps it is more appropriate as ‘simulation-based advertising.’   Of course part of the process in thinking out this area is to dig into research about what makes simulations effective for training.

Ever since I met Will Thalheimer of Work-Learning.com several years ago, and since then, following his blog and research, I knew he’d be a great person to turn to in thinking some of this out.  Around the turn of the century (neat to be able to use that phrase, though of course I mean the 21st century), he identified five key aspects of simulations that make them particularly effective for practicing real-world skills: Context Alignment, Retrieval, Repetition, Feedback, and Spacing (apologies to Will if I misquoted any of these–I can’t seem to find the article on his web site).

In any event, I spoke briefly with Will recently and he felt that clearly Retrieval, Alignment, and possibly Repetition would be at play in these contexts.  As in training, marketing and advertising activities have their own goals to achieve.  We talked about the idea of coming up with a good diagram to illustrate the process, perhaps a funnel or maze (possibly with multiple entry points and multiple end points–I can see the relevance of David Scott Meerman’s “buyer personas” here).

Another interesting point he made was that for most any significant purchase, say over $100, people don’t decide to buy at once.  Ideally, you want not only to recognize when those people to return, but also trigger the information you have already conveyed about the product.

In all, it is clear that many aspects of simulation-based training have parallels/counterparts in sim-based advertising (or marketing), but potentially at different priorities, due to the overall goal (skill transfer/building, for training, vs. awareness/sales/product research for marketing).  Since simulation-based training has been explored much more fully, it would be wise to use that experience in hypothesizing potential parallels to advertising/marketing.

Did I mean to say “Simulation-Based Advertising”?

As I delve a bit more into what we want to address in “simulation-based marketing,” I realize that a lot of what I have said relates specifically to how we are introducing or portraying products to the prospect or customer.  In other words, it deals with the ‘advertising’ side of product marketing, not so much with other aspects (such as determining the product, target audience, pricing, etc.).  A friend of mine came up with the name of “educational advertising,” which is appropriate, but sounds kind of academic.  “Simulation-based Advertising” sounds a bit technical, so I’m still searching for the right combination of words.