You run one real business — all semester.

1. 1

   Welcome — you run one real business

   You've been dealt one business to run for the whole semester — a hardware store, a craft brewery, a B2B software company, something. It's yours alone; there's no group to hide in.

   Every decision you make is judged against whether it makes sense for THIS firm — not a generic business. That framing is the whole game.

2. 2

   19 periods, one per chapter

   The sim runs 19 periods, each tied to one chapter of Marketing, Unlocked. Each chapter unlocks one new decision — mission, then ethics, then pricing, and so on — until you've built a full marketing plan one lever at a time.

   Most decisions carry forward: a price or budget you set once keeps applying every period until you change it. Set-and-forget is a real (and sometimes risky) choice.

3. 3

   How a decision becomes results

   Each period you fill in that chapter's form and submit. When your instructor advances the class, the engine simulates the period and shows your results.

   The "Why your numbers moved" panel names which of your decisions moved which number, and by how much. Read it every period — it's how you learn what's working.

4. 4

   Coherence beats cleverness

   There's no single winning trick. The engine rewards a consistent strategy — your stance, price, quality tier, and target all pointing the same way. That consistency is your "coherence" score, shown next to your drivers.

   A "cost leader" who charges premium prices gets taxed; a disciplined, boring, consistent strategy compounds. Pick a lane and stay in it.

5. 5

   Your league and your grade

   You compete only against classmates dealt the SAME business, plus a few AI "phantom" firms filling out your league. Apples to apples — a hardware store never has to out-market a software company.

   Your Performance Index (0–100) is how you rank in that league on profit, market share, brand, and customer experience. It's league-relative, and it's what a modest slice of your grade is based on — never raw cash.

6. 6

   Shocks will hit — everyone's, differently

   Your section gets three macro shocks (a recession, a regulation change, and a late surprise). The same shock hits everyone, but how hard depends on your specific business's exposure.

   That's why Chapter 3 asks you to pre-commit a response before the shock fires. Check your firm's exposure and plan for it.

7. 7

   Where to get help

   Every decision field has a "What does this do?" link that explains how that lever affects your results. Use them freely.

   The "How scoring works" button (next to your KPIs) and the Help & glossary page explain the Performance Index, coherence, and every key term any time you need them.

How scoring works

Every term, in plain language

Archetype

The business you were dealt for the semester (e.g., family hardware store, B2B HR software). It sets your category, your baseline price, and how exposed you are to each kind of shock. You don't choose it, and it doesn't change.

Period

One turn of the game, tied to one textbook chapter. There are 19. Your instructor advances the whole class from one period to the next.

Performance Index

Your 0–100 score for a period, based on how you rank in your league on four things: net income (35%), market share (25%), brand equity (25%), and CX score (15%). It's relative to your league, so it measures how well you ran your firm — not how big your firm is. A modest part of your grade uses it.

League

The small group you're ranked against — classmates dealt the same archetype as you, plus AI "phantom" firms to fill it out (usually 4 firms total). You never compete against a different kind of business.

Phantom

An AI-controlled competitor that fills empty seats in your league. The three personas — a steady incumbent, a low-cost insurgent, and a premium upstart — each play a fixed strategy every period, so they're a consistent benchmark to beat.

Coherence

How consistently your stance, price, quality tier, and target reinforce each other (shown as a 0–1 score next to your drivers). High coherence makes every brand dollar work harder; low coherence (like a premium-priced "cost leader") burns your brand spend. The engine has no dominant trick — coherence is the closest thing to one.

Macro shock

A section-wide event — a recession, a regulation change, or a late-game surprise — that hits every firm at the same period. How hard it hits YOU depends on your archetype's exposure. Chapter 3 lets you pre-commit a response before it lands.

Standing policy (carry-forward)

Most decisions stay in effect every period until you change them. A price, brand budget, or channel mix you set once keeps applying — so does forgetting to update it.

Drivers ("Why your numbers moved")

The plain-language panel that names which decision moved which result, and by how much, each period. It's the fastest way to learn what your levers actually did.

Trust

A hidden stock set by your Chapter 2 ethics posture. Higher trust cushions reputational shocks and helps good service build brand faster; lower trust amplifies the damage when a shock lands.

Brand equity

A 0–1 stock that decays a little every period unless you invest. Returns are concave — past a point, more spending barely helps — and your coherence multiplies how efficiently it builds.

CX score

Your customer-experience score (0–100), driven mostly by service quality plus brand, trust, and channel fit. It sets how many of this period's customers come back on their own next period — free repeat demand.

Segments

The three kinds of buyers in every market: Value-Seekers (largest, most price-sensitive), Mainstream (balanced), and Premium-Aspirational (smallest, most brand-driven). Each shops different channels and reacts differently to price.