The Marketing Department controls each sensor’s:

• Price: Customers want sensors priced within expected price ranges;
• Promotion Budget: The department sets a promotion budget for each sensor, which creates awareness– 100% awareness means every customer knows about your sensor;
• Sales Budget: The department sets a sales budget for each sensor, which builds accessibility via salespeople and distribution systems– 100% accessibility means every customer can locate your product.

Promotion and sales budgets for each sensor affect sales. In general, higher budgets increase demand. However, the department can choose to hold the line on these budgets and increase demand with lower prices.

Each sensor product is intended for a primary group of customers, also known as market segments. Demand and growth rates for each segment vary. For each product, Marketing needs to determine a sales forecast by assessing:

• Last year’s sales
• The intended segment’s growth rate
• The relative merits of other products competing in the segment