- Think of a recent purchase where you were pleased with your purchase. How important was price to your feeling of satisfaction?

i have been thinking about my recent purchases and it varies from a spoon to a bed frame. in some products that i don't have to buy as soon as possible such as a rug i looked for the best price with a higher quality i have looked for that rug almost 2 months, but what about my son's bed? my couch? the TV? we just went to Leon's, bought the beds; Teppermans, bought the couches; best buy, bought the TV. I had to have some pots and pans; so i went to walmart and bought the most needed pans regardless of the price and waited for a while for the rest to buy. because i would keep on living with what i had in my hands.

i had an idea that i could buy the coaches in a cheaper price, or buy much better coach to that price but we had to sit on something when we get back to our house, so we went there paid and bought. in 2 days our house was all settled. not all but it was a place to be lived in. 

but for the rest i am following the discounts and sales. if i get a good deal i will buy the steam iron and the patio heater which are in my wish list 

- How does a pricing strategy contribute to building a successful brand?

before i came to Canada i used to be more brand conscious than price conscious. i had my special brands and no matter how expensive that bag was i would buy that. but after i came here i feel that my point of view has changed. normally i have the idea that cheap is expensive. if i buy a siemens i will use it for years and the service is high quality. so i will be %100 confident with my product. but here i have the idea that i don't need lifelong products, i don't need 7 year warranty, i don't know i will still be here at February 2019 so why would i pay at least $350 for that vacuum cleaner. i went to walmart bought a bissell and it is fine for now.

getting back to your question; in my opinion pricing strategy is a very important tool that positions the product. it will implement the buyer as if it is a good quality or a high profiler product.

Identify a retailer that is struggling. Describe what is going wrong and how you could adjust the retailing mix to help move them towards profitability

we discussed about the Sears at class. historically it had a narrow range of products but then because of the growth of the company sears started to sell almost everything! it had been the largest retailer in the states but than walmart had popped out to the market with lower prices.  and then amazon came into the market with online selling! 


with that wide range and aggressive competitors sears could not keep up with the market. 


the company didn't pay the desired attention to digital market. and the company had started to make less revenues; which we can say as another major reason.

as i can remember Sears had a loyalty card but the company couldn't sort the data. if they had the ability to measure the products and customer's behaviors they would have taken the maximum utility.

How does marketing communications contribute to building a successful brand?

marketing communication tools are; advertising, public relations, sales promotion, direct response, event marketing and sponsorship, and personal selling.

advertising - a paid form of non-personal presentation and promotion of ideas, goods

personal selling - personal presentation by the firm's sales force for the purpose of making sales 

sales promotion - short-term incentives to encourage the purchase or sale of a product or service

public relations - building good relations between the company and the outer environment (public)  to make a good and corporate image

direct marketing - direct communications with carefully targeted individual consumers for immediate response

these tools can create a dependable company image, attention to new customers, loyalty for existing customers and can cause a long lasting relationships between customer and the brand (the company)

How does what you learned this week connect with other courses or other experiences in your life?

ongoing with the traditional media the new tools have entered the marketing area. now there is social media, technologically created designs, online ads, viral threads; and also the new research companies have existed. data collecting and analysis companies, spreadsheets flying everywhere. public relations have new ways of spreading the word.

What is your favourite brand? Why?

I am not sure, if i have to "own" my favorite brand right now but i am taking "NO" as an answer. I have many favorite brands from luxury goods to basic daily used products. It varies from a Louis Vuitton bag to a simple Burt's Bees lip balm. In some i have health consciousness in some i have never thought about it. But when it comes to think and write about it, it is a little bit hard. 

I have been thinking of my favorite brand and decided that it is Mercedes. I wish you asked me this question face to face and i had the chance to answer it in Turkish (the language which i speak much better than English :) ) 

So why Mercedes? Because i like it, i like the way i feel when i am in it, i like the confort, i like the sound. Now i am diriving a 1998 Toyota Corolla and trust me i know what i mean :) Above all the other facts the main reason is that i like it. 

Mercedes is a worldwide brand which has made its reputation on high tech, reliable, comfortable cars (and also buses and trucks but they are out of consideration right now). Nobody has suspects on is safety, and security issues. Not so many Mercedes cars are affordable to buy; but "Cheap is Expensive". When it comes to buying a safe and secure car; which also accompanies with millions of engine, construction, and manufacturing advantages, the choice is clear. Mercedes - of course - has competitors, and i am pretty sure it is those competitors which makes it "Mercedes". I am not a car expert but we cannot even compare Mercedes with other brands such as Toyota. 

What about BMW? Of course! These two brands are competing with each other which turns to us as better technology, better service, safer driving instruments. In my opinion when a person has the conditions to buy either a mercedes or a BMW decides by heart. And my heart says Mercedes.

It takes effort to be a good team member.

What lessons can you take away from the teamwork training today that could help you be a more effective team member for the marketing plan assignment?

I have a bachelor's degree on economics, I was a justice student before coming to Canada, I have been a student for almost 20 years of my life and i am 37 (well 38)... I have never been in a teamwork as a student! I see that it is not in my country's education culture. Everytime a teacher says "Teamwork" i tremble from head to toe :) But we know that people get used to many things so i have the hope that i will get used to it before i finish the school :) 

After such a whimpering introduction; what lessons i took away from the teamwork training today? What could help me be a more effective team member for the marketing plan assignment? I have to say it clearly that i figured out that i have to tell my strengths (experiences?) and weaknesses (language?) at the beginning; so that me and my teammates can forsee what is coming... and i am taking the job seriously in one hand; but i should stop exaggerating the presentation on the other hand. 

1.What do you know about survey research now that you didn’t know before you completed the SurveyMonkey assignment?

I have been in many surveys in my life, as a responder. This was my first time as a maker of a survey. In the course we learned about the structures of a survey, how they could be done. While i was preparing i really tought, i was doing the survey to collect data from the questionnaire. What differences would it make if females at some age replied more and asked for more cosmetic shops. What those single men at some ages want from the center. I understood that after a certain amount of data collected, schools, companies, governments can choose a pathway to improve their way of teaching, pricing, regulating.

2.Is there anything you would do differently next time?

As I got 0 (Zero) from the survey, I can say that I should be more carefull, I could think more overally, and keep in mind that I should not force or push the responders to know/remember anything.

Update: I just saw that it is updated :) i got 100 but i still should be more carefull :)

Based on your understanding of the Consumer Decision Process, describe what influences your decisions the most and why.

As we know there are psychological, socio cultural, situational and marketing mix influences on consumer behavior. Last week after class i tried to observe myself while purchasing something whether i was in the market or a store. It has been a month since i moved to Canada so i always compared my behaviors like before and after. For example i figured out that i was more brand loyal before i came here, but now i ask to people whom taste of mouth is close to mine. but when it comes to my frequently used products such as water, I am already a brand royal consumer. I am experiencing and deciding on things that fits my way of life. But for example - as also spken in the class- in laundry detergent i directly went to the isle and picked up "Tide" 

Before entering Canada i bought my car, we had a friend here and he was selling his car, without asking the brand, age or anything else, EVEN THE PRICE, i just bought it. Because i knew i had to buy a car as soon as i came here, having a car just a day after entering the country was so advantageous. Now i am going to buy another car and i am working on it - the brand, the price, the color - and have been thinking of it for at least 2 hours a day, 7 days a week :)

So getting back to the topic, i think the condition i am in changes my way of decision a lot. So I may say, my psychhology has more influence on me than socio cultural or situational influences.

What do you want to get out of this course?

I want to be able to figure out what to do or what not to do, when the time comes and I run my own business. I want to be aware of the facts and trends, what should i do before entering a market, choosing the right market.

What do you think are the 3 most important things you can do to be successful in this program?

Technically I should say, attend the classes, do the assignments, quizes and participte in the class. but this would be a short term answer; in the long term I should understand the research techniques, i should learn to have a different point of view than i had before, and i should be aware of the new trends in marketing area

What's the most important thing you have learned in this course in the past 2 weeks. 

I have enrolled to the program last week so i missed the 1st week and had so much trouble to catch up with the class. so the first thing i learned is: DON'T MISS THE CLASS!
except from this, I saw that in this world of technology which everyone can reach, success isn't a coincidence. the marketing speacialists are working really hard and their strategies should always lead the company/brand they are working for to an advantageous place. If they fail, the loss can cause a company even to shut down the business.