Asked and Answered: From Sign-Up to Syllabus in Two Days

Novela’s digital marketing simulations are designed by marketing professors for marketing professors. We’ve spoken with educators from all over the world about the top challenges they face teaching social media, paid search, and AI to learners in courses from undergraduate seminars to executive MBA classes.

And over the course of designing Novela’s simulations, we’ve kept your syllabus top of mind. Easy integration, grading transparency, and out-of-the-box utility are at the forefront of our design.

Here are the most common questions we get from educators about adopting Novela for your course: Asked and answered.

How long does a simulation take?

Each simulation is built around a 120-minute course session, with time for a professor introduction to the simulation, a demo, two rounds of play, and two sessions of process reflection. Novela provides all course materials for the simulation introduction as well as video tutorials that walk students through the simulation step-by-step. Instructors can tailor the lesson for just one round or split sessions into two or three lessons using Novela’s customized lesson plans.

Can the simulation be shorter or longer?

Yes! We have partners who use Novela’s simulations to teach a full semester. The simulations benefit from repeat play too, so they can be used in multiple classes. It is up to you how many times students play our simulations; we set no limits on this. You can set a maximum of 3, 5, or 10 plays, for example, or leave it unlimited.

We have also designed the simulations so that one play can be completed within a 60 minute period.

How long students should play each simulation?

The first play takes from 45 to 60 minutes, or about 15 minutes per screen. Subsequent plays are typically a little shorter, around 30 to 45 minutes.

Novela provides discussion questions for five to ten minutes debriefs between rounds and a multiple-choice quiz to measure learning outcomes post-simulation.

How long should students play at home if they’re playing remotely?

At home, students should also play in 45 to 60 minute sessions, averaging about 15 minutes per screen.

Is there a guide to help students? What if they get stuck?

Novela provides tutorial videos for each round of play. But unlike other simulations, Novela also provides Ela: an AI-powered strategic copilot. Ela provides real-time responses to student queries about the simulation, strategy, and outcomes. She can quickly analyze the marketing insights provided for each round and offer useful tips for campaign success. Ela is designed to provide support, rather than answers, offering students hands-on experience with prompt engineering and the human-in-the-loop decision making skills they’ll need for real-world marketing scenarios.

What happens if there’s a technical issue during remote play?

Share this email with students: Support@novela.academy. We’ll get back to them right away.

Can students play in groups?

Novela is designed for individual play. It is still possible to play in groups, but only for in-person classes. Different pricing applies for group licenses.

How do rounds work? What changes between rounds?

After the first round, students receive campaign results, along with a detailed breakdown of their scores and strategy tips for performance enhancement in the next round. Our five-minute process reflection between rounds is designed by marketing educators to guide students through their decision making process for skill building in the next round. When they hit ‘play again’, students are taken back to the beginning of the simulation and must iterate on their previous strategy.

How do we get started? What does that look like?

Novela is browser-based with zero technical setup or IT coordination needed. Our instructor guides walk you through every step of the integration process, timing your lesson right down to the minute with all the course documents you need–from expert strategy tips to teaching guides to FAQs straight from students–available the moment you sign up. You will receive access to the Novela educator portal, where you can access your classes and all of Novela’s teaching support content.

Why Novela?

Novela is the only digital marketing simulation on the market designed by professors and based on real marketing scenarios from top brands like Burberry and Glossier. AI has rapidly transformed the digital marketing world, and marketing students need to understand how to use AI tools to make decisions from audience targeting to content creation. At Novela, AI technology isn’t an afterthought – our simulations are built to equip students with the skills they need while offering professors hands-on teaching aides to guide students through digital marketing strategy in real-time.

Here’s what professors are saying:

"It was interesting for me to observe how [students] think, what they prioritise, and which parts of their strategy they chose to change first when the outcomes weren’t what they expected." — Suncica Vukovic, University of Montenegro

“They loved it!” – Raymond Bilodeau, Northern Alberta Institute of Technology

Here’s what students are saying:

“The simulations definitely increased my confidence in doing real marketing work. They helped me move from theoretical understanding to practical decision-making, especially in interpreting performance data and adjusting strategy accordingly.” – Francesca Marialba Marino, MSc Strategic Marketing, Imperial College London

“My biggest "Aha" moment was when I figured out who to target once I utilized the AI feature. I feel more confident about applying for marketing roles. Novela helped prepare me to achieve KPIs and to learn best practices.” – Samantha Levine, 4th Year Marketing Student at the Ohio State Fisher College of Business