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 Forum index » Diversions » TimeWasters
[Puzzle]Solve a Math Puzzle
Moderators: Giskard, ndemeter, ScarpeGrosse
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Silent
Boot

Joined: 05 Aug 2007
Posts: 56

 		[Puzzle]Solve a Math Puzzle
This is a part of the whole CI debate, but since it is rather unlikely for it to work, I might as well post it to see how it is, anyway, for my enjoyment.

Solve this puzzle! Please! For the good of Science.

Quote:
Currently, we are experimenting with a brand new artform known as "alternate reality gaming" or "viral marketing", with a way of gaining reveune through the selling of monthly subscriptions to the content. The game would be about a future war between Allied forces battling against an evil terrorist group known as the "Occidental Jihad" in a unstable fictional nation, where players would act as codebreakers and resistance fighters. Focus groups state that this would be very popular amongst the masses, after all, and I think such a game would honor those who are currently fighting the War on Terror.

The problem is, currently we are debating over two seperate ad campagins that we could use:
--a high-cost campagin where we will extensive advertising campagin, using television ads, billboards, and gurellia marketing. This would cost up $50,000 upfront and will lead to high demand in the first year when the game is released, low demand in the second year, and then zero demand in all subsequent years due to market oversaturation.
--A low-cost campagin where we rely solely on word-of-mouth about our ARG. It is free, but we'll start off with low demand for the first year. In the second year, we will have high demand, and then in all other years, zero demand due to market oversaturation.

Our economists state that high and low demand are estimated to be p=24-Y and p=20-Y respectively. P representing the price and Y representing how much quanity of subscriptions would be demanded. The cost to produce 'content' would cost $4 per each subscription, and that can basically be held constant.

However, we got ourselves a compeitior. Kompuclone will be able to produce a clone of our game within a year of its introduction The cost to produce 'content' for the game would still be $4 per game but Kompuclone must also pay a fixed set-up cost of $30 to begin production. Competition between our company and their company will be very harsh indeed, but we would be the only two major producers, and we would be a duopolist. If Kompuclone doesn't make any profit at all.

What we need to know is this: What sort of marketing campagin should we use and what would be the profit maximizing price of the game that we would slap onto the game during the marketing campagin? Our main goal would be to maxamize profit at all cost, so keep that in mind. It would be nice to tell us exactly how much profit we can stand to generate from it, but it's really up to you to decide what to tell us. Hopefully, you have a huge team of supporters who could easily help you solve this task.


PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 10:42 pm
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Jas0n
Decorated


Joined: 19 Aug 2006
Posts: 244

 		This does not present a problem that could be solved by a collective intelligence, or anything other than a general guess... especially if you're somehow able to have an extensive ad campaign that costs you $50,000 and is inclusive of television advertisements, magazine ads, radio, billboards, and others. You're either getting one heck of a deal or you're not doing much of either and thus it wouldn't be extensive.

For your opponent to produce the same game at a cost of $30 is ridiculous, and producing the same ARG is impossible. A very similar ARG is not nearly as impossible, but a cost of $30 is ridiculous.

Now assuming larger budgets you have to, also, take into account the various methods used to launch and spread the word virally (word of mouth) about the game. If you've got a good product/brand/game you'd be able to do so with ease, if you don't have something that would attract a large number of individuals' interest by word of mouth, it would fail.

Without knowing all of the variables of the problem, you would have to guess at the variables, and thus each of us would have a different solution - though collectively we would know that we couldn't solve the problem as is.

Is the hive mind with me on this? LOL
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PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:20 pm
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Silent
Boot

Joined: 05 Aug 2007
Posts: 56

 		*slaps forehead*

Thing is, all the variables you need are in there. The demand curve, the price of adversting, the cost of your opponent making the same game. The word of mouth will be effective and will cause for a higher demand curve in the second year.

Yes, the numbers are small, but if I add zeroes to the end of it, it will just turn the subscription cost up to a huge number which would also be unrealistic.

You are given all the info and variables you need to solve the math problem. Prehaps the info may be wrong, but procceed as if the info they provide you is correct rather than just question it (as doing so is kinda destroys the illusion).

PostPosted: Tue Dec 04, 2007 11:58 pm
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Rogi Ocnorb
I Have 100 Cats and Smell of Wee


Joined: 01 Sep 2005
Posts: 4266
Location: Where the cheese is free.

 		Re: [Puzzle]Solve a Math Puzzle
Not being a bean counter, I have no clue what to do with the 24 or 20 in your equation and no idea where to start researching it. But, the subtraction seems... wrong.
So, in the world of CI, I'd let someone with more experience in that area take on that aspect while I tried another tack, such as grammar and spelling.
Silent wrote:
Currently, we are experimenting with a brand new artform known as "alternate reality gaming" or "viral marketing", with a way of gaining reveune through the selling of monthly subscriptions to the content. The game would be about a future war between Allied forces battling against an evil terrorist group known as the "Occidental Jihad" in a unstable fictional nation, where players would act as codebreakers and resistance fighters. Focus groups state that this would be very popular amongst the masses, after all, and I think such a game would honor those who are currently fighting the War on Terror.

The problem is, currently we are debating over two seperate ad campagins that we could use:
--a high-cost campagin where we will extensive advertising campagin, using television ads, billboards, and gurellia marketing. This would cost up $50,000 upfront and will lead to high demand in the first year when the game is released, low demand in the second year, and then zero demand in all subsequent years due to market oversaturation.
--A low-cost campagin where we rely solely on word-of-mouth about our ARG. It is free, but we'll start off with low demand for the first year. In the second year, we will have high demand, and then in all other years, zero demand due to market oversaturation.

Our economists state that high and low demand are estimated to be p=24-Y and p=20-Y respectively. P representing the price and Y representing how much quanity of subscriptions would be demanded. The cost to produce 'content' would cost $4 per each subscription, and that can basically be held constant.

However, we got ourselves a compeitior. Kompuclone will be able to produce a clone of our game within a year of its introduction The cost to produce 'content' for the game would still be $4 per game but Kompuclone must also pay a fixed set-up cost of $30 to begin production. Competition between our company and their company will be very harsh indeed, but we would be the only two major producers, and we would be a duopolist. If Kompuclone doesn't make any profit at all.

What we need to know is this: What sort of marketing campagin should we use and what would be the profit maximizing price of the game that we would slap onto the game during the marketing campagin? Our main goal would be to maxamize profit at all cost, so keep that in mind. It would be nice to tell us exactly how much profit we can stand to generate from it, but it's really up to you to decide what to tell us. Hopefully, you have a huge team of supporters who could easily help you solve this task.


There's a lot to work with, there. And English isn't my strongest suit, either. I was just hitting the easy stuff.

If this were a real world scenario, I'd definitely be turned-off by
Quote:
a brand new artform known as "alternate reality gaming" or "viral marketing"

as well.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 05, 2007 6:07 am
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