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Teaching notes · lesson 3 · a 20-minute class

Mental and physical availability

Be thought of, then be easy to find. Tracks: Retail, Media.

Open the lesson

Learning goalsBy the end, students can

  • Define mental and physical availability and give a lever for each.
  • Explain why the two multiply rather than add in Countermove's model.
  • Diagnose which one is holding a brand back from a short description.

The 20-minute classMinute by minute, with the lab on the projector

  1. 0:003 min, to 3:00

    Cold open

    Ask for a brand everyone in the room knows but can rarely find in their local shop. Then one they can always find but never think of.

  2. 3:004 min, to 7:00

    The idea

    Define both. Write the rule on the board: think of it, then find it. Either near zero and the brand barely sells.

  3. 7:005 min, to 12:00

    Lab on the projector

    Set memory high and listings low, then the reverse, then both middling. Ask the room to predict sales before each run.

  4. 12:003 min, to 15:00

    Pairs

    Pairs pick a lever from each seat in the game (brand media, listings and trade terms) and say which availability it builds and how fast.

  5. 15:003 min, to 18:00

    Discussion

    Take the weighted distribution question. Push for why a kiosk counts for less.

  6. 18:002 min, to 20:00

    Check

    Three lesson questions, then one sentence each: which of the two is your favourite brand short of?

Discussion questionsWith what a strong answer covers

  1. Your brand is well known but listed in half the stores that matter. Where should next quarter's money go, and why?

    A strong answer covers
    • Physical availability is the limit, so listings and trade terms first.
    • More media would build memory people can't act on.
    • Notes distribution gains sell fastest when shoppers already know the brand.

  2. Why does weighted distribution count a supermarket for more than a kiosk?

    A strong answer covers
    • It weights stores by how much of the category they sell.
    • Being in the stores that sell most matters more than store count.
    • Links it to the chance a shopper finds the brand.

  3. Which builds faster, and which lasts longer: mental or physical availability?

    A strong answer covers
    • Listings can move in a quarter; memory builds slowly.
    • Memory also fades slowly, so it keeps selling after spend stops.
    • Both are needed because they multiply.

The lab as homeworkAbout 15 minutes for a student

Use the lab to show that the two kinds of availability multiply.

  1. Run memory high with listings low and note the result.
  2. Run listings high with memory low and note the result.
  3. Run both at middle settings and compare.

They answer: Which of your three settings sold most, and what does that show about how mental and physical availability combine?

A strong answer covers
  • Quotes the lab result for each setting.
  • Shows that one side near zero holds sales back however strong the other is.
  • Concludes a brand needs both, and names a lever for each.

Students also answer the lesson's three questions. Their score is worked out on the server from their answers.

Set this lab as homework

Students open a link, do the lab, answer the three questions and write what they found. You see each student's quiz score and finding on your class page.

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