Glossary

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

A

B

Break Even Analysis
The use of a simple, mathematical formula to determine the sales level at which the business neither incurs a loss nor makes a profit.

The break even point, in mathematical terms, is simply the point where:
total expenses = net sales revenue.
Break Even Cannibalization Rate
The point at which a new product in the portfolio has contributed revenue gains equivalent to any revenue losses caused by cannibalizing an older product in the portfolio

C

Cannibalization Rate
The percentage of New Product Unit Volume that are sales that would have gone to the Old Product had the New Product not been introduced. The actual cannibalization rate must be lower than the Break Even Cannibalization Rate in order for the new product introduction to be profitable.
Chain Model
To understand the size and financial value of market segments, marketers must decide what market segments to target (i.e., what customers to provide products or services for), and how to price, promote, and distribute the offerings. The Chain Model is an approach to estimating segment value; this approach is called chain model because a series of terms are multiplied together.
CLV or Customer Lifetime Value
The financial value of the customer to the firm, beyond the usual time horizon of one year; takes into account the cost of acquiring a new customer and the cost of keeping (and/or) selling more to a current customer. CLV = SUM(t) Cumulative Retention Rate(t) x Net Customer Contribution(t)
Competitor's Lifecycle Cost
The total lifecycle cost (over the course of a given CLV) to the customer for the benchmark competitor's product, including price, start-up cost, post-purchase cost, and reduced by the competitor's incremental value
Cumulative Retention Rate
The probability that the average customer will still be active at time t; called this because it represents the cumulative effects of the single-period retention rates over time (e.g. if the percentage of customers retained in each period is r, then after t timer periods the Cumulative Retention rate is r (t-¹) (assuming that retention in the first time period is 100%)

D

E

EVC or Economic Value to the Customer
The Economic Value to the Customer (EVC) approach to pricing focuses on the customer and how the customer perceives the value of a product. With this view, the purpose of price is not to recover costs, but to capture the customer's perceived value for the product.

EVC = Competitor's Lifecycle Cost = Our Start-Up Cost - Our Post-Purchase Cost + Our Incremental Value.

F

Fixed Cost
The sum of all costs incurred by the firm that are required to produce and deliver the product but cannot be assigned on a per-transaction basis (depending on the situation costs that are shared across products, such as sales force expense, general and administrative expenses, overhead and taxes, may be excluded or may be allocated in some way across products).

G

H

I

Incremental Break Even Point
When evaluating a marketing tactic, you must show that the action will generate sales and margins that are sufficient to cover the cost of the action. incremental expenditures / unit contribution.
Incremental Value
Estimates the dollar value to the customer of any benefits provided by your firm's product that are not provided by a competitor's product.

J

K

L

M

N

Net Customer Contribution
The gross contribution of the average customer at time t less any direct costs associated with the customer (typically separated into acquisition and retention costs).
Number of Customers
Number of Customers = Population(adults) x Segment Size(%) x Segment Penetration(%)

O

P

Post-Purchase Cost
The customer's total cost of using and maintaining your firm's product until it is replaced.

Q

R

S

Segment Penetration
The percentage of the segment that actually makes at least one purchase of the product during the planning period.
Segment Size
The percentage of the total population that could potentially purchase the product.
Segment Value
Segment Value = Number of Customers x Value Per Customer
Start-Up Cost
The customer's immediate, one-time cost of switching from a competitor's product to the your firm's product.

T

Total Fixed Cost
See Fixed Cost

U

Unit Contribution
Equals Unit Price - Unit Variable Cost (and is sometimes called Unit Margin or Unit Profit Margin).
Unit Price
The price paid to the firm (i.e., Unit Price = End-User Price - Channel Margin).
Unit Variable Cost
The sum of all variable costs incurred by the firm that can be directly assigned to the product on a per-transaction basis.
Unit Volume
The number of sales transactions for a given product (.i.e.. good, service, or bundle of goods and services) for the time period of the analysis.
Usage Rate
The average number of purchases per customer during the planning period.

V

Value per Customer
Value per Customer = Usage Rate(per customer) x Unit Price($) x Unit Contribution(%).

W

wCPM
Weighted Cost-per-thousand

X

Y

Z