Managing the Customer Journey Marketing Simulation: Adobe's Data-Driven Operating Model (DDOM)

Adobe started monitoring Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), one of its primary metrics, when it shifted from selling its software in a box to selling the software as a subscription-based cloud service. They wanted to know when, where, and how much to invest in marketing. The goal of the Adobe Data-Driven Operating Model (DDOM) simulation is to allow students to visualize and to understand the impact of marketing budget allocation across the customer journey, and the effectiveness of this allocation on business growth.
This simulation asks students to allocate a quarterly budget across the five stages of the customer journey (Discover, Try, Buy, Use, and Renew) for two years, 2021 and 2022. The goal is to maximize net new ARR, including any cancellations. Students can make two types of investments each quarter, variable and fixed investments, which have different effects on the quarterly results. They also can describe their budget allocation rationale for each quarter. After completing the simulation, students can view, download, and print a final report that summarizes their overall performance.