Week 1:

What do you expect from this course? I expect to get a firm understanding of what marketing
is and the different ways it can be applied in business.

What do you expect to give, in order to get what you want from this course? In order to
get what I want from this course I expect to give and receive feedback in order to produce the
best quality work and gain an understanding. I also expect to give myself the appropriate
amount of time in order to complete my assignments.

What do you expect from me as an instructor? I expect support and flexibility.

What do you expect from each other as team members in this class? I expect my
classmates to be supportive and people who I can look to when completing assignments. I also
expect helpful feedback when having assignments looked over in order to expand my learning.

Week 2:
Why you chose it (why you loved it/why you hated it)
I grew up watching the super bowl with my family and always remember the ads being
something that stuck with me besides the super bowl itself. I never considered the different
ways companies advertise their products and this activity helped me to get an idea of how they
advertise their products. The ad I chose is from Chipotle, it has a young boy talking about the
pros of using organic foods and the pros of supporting local farmers. The ad starts off with the
boy saying, “What if this could change the world?” talking about his burrito. It ends with text on
the screen saying “How we grow our food is how we grow our future.” This shows that the
people of today should consider supporting brands that are organic and brands who support
local farmers, like Chipotle. Myself being someone who is aware of the effects of carbon
emissions and the positives of supporting local farmers, finds this ad to stand out more than
other ads I have seen so far this year.
Target Audience (as specific as possible):
The target audience looks to be preteens to people in their 20’s. The main spokesperson
being a young boy contributes to younger generations showing how one burrito may affect the
future for the best or worse if actions aren't taken.
The ad is given from a child's point of view showing that the children of today should
consider supporting brands that are not only eco-friendly but also organic.
Psychographics (what need are they trying to satisfy by purchasing the product/service,
how does it make them feel, etc.)
Chipotle is trying to reduce its carbon footprint and become more eco friendly while also
supporting local farmers. Chipotles efforts give local farmers business while also contributing to
the wellness of the environment, while at the same time promoting their food.

Week 3:
3 things Nike can do about its tarnished image:
 Nike could find ways to treat the factory workers better. Having a net worth of $34.8
billion, as of 2020, they could find a part of their budget to supply proper housing and wages to
factory workers. If Nike considers the treatment of their workers their image may become more
positive.
They could consider finding more eco friendly ways to dispose of their unwanted
material or find a way to reuse those materials in order to reduce the amount of waste they
produce. If they are left with having to burn the materials they could burn them in a safer place
where the smoke will not affect the wellbeing of children playing. If Nike considers more eco
friendly ways to use their materials or dispose of their materials they may be viewed more
positively.
Nike could also take into consideration their views and apologize for the company's
hypocrisy. When Nike says they care about the poor, fighting against injustice, and seeking out
the causes of poverty, it goes against their whole brand. After watching the video, it is evident
that Nike doesn't care about the poor, fighting injustice, or poverty. An example being their
factory workers in Indonesia living in unstable conditions, who are paid the very least where
they have to choose between what they can and can’t get. If Nike changes their views and
actually follows them their image may be changed.
After watching the video, my view of Nike has changed. The video made me realize that
I am supporting a company that is inconsiderate to its workers and the environment. Being such
a large and popular company, Nike should consider how it displays itself before it loses
consumers and celebrity reps. In order to become a better brand Nike should take into
consideration changing their views, environmental impact, and the way their workers are
treated. When Nike eventually changes they should show consumers that they have changed
for the better and hope that they will bring in more profit.

Week 4:
Given the methods used to communicate the survey and to encourage customers to
participate, in terms of customer relationships (that is, light/medium/heavy user), which
customers were more likely to participate in the research and why?
The customers that were more likely to participate in the surveys are the heavy and
medium users. Since the heavy and medium users were most likely to participate this could be
because they are frequently checking online banking and going into the bank where they would
see the survey and want to take it.
Given your answer in Q1, how accurate is the 90% customer satisfaction score as a
reflection of ALL the bank’s customers?
I feel the 90% customer satisfaction is not an accurate score of all the bank’s customers.
Due to the lack of participation from the bank's lighter users it is difficult to get a sense of how
the whole of the bank’s users feel about the customer service. If the lighter users were to take
the survey as well as the heavy and medium users, that number would be different in terms of
customer satisfaction.
As one of their goals is to grow through increased engagement of inactive/light users,
how helpful would the findings of this research be (keep in mind that the questionnaire
was broader than just customer satisfaction questions)?
 I feel the findings of the research would not be very helpful because the light/inactive
users may not respond. Even if they did respond it is unsure how helpful their answers to the
questions will be.

Week 6:
The marketing plan assignment outline is posted in week 13's classroom. The
assignment asks you to create a comprehensive marketing plan for an existing company.
The company can be based locally, regionally, nationally or internationally, but should be
a company that interests you and/or that you currently buy products from or that you
work for. Please review the marketing plan assignment and give some thought to what
company you would like to do your marketing plan on. Once you have some ideas,
please post them in the forum, detailing why you are interested in creating a marketing
plan for them. Please post by Thursday and be sure to ask questions of other students,
responding to any questions asked of you.
A business I am thinking about looking into for the marketing plan project is Patagonia. I
love everything patagonia is about, from their apparel to their mission. Myself having a few
products from Patagonia is very satisfied with the brand and would love to create a marketing
plan for them. While having interest in Patagonia I do not see many ads when scrolling through
social media or watching TV.
Another business I am considering for my marketing plan is 4Ocean while they also
have a good mission statement they also have more advertising than Patagonia. I like the cause
they support but also their products.

Week 7:
https://ncmccaskill.tripod.com/patagonia/marketingstrategy.html#:~:text=Since%2C
%20Patagonia's%20target%20market%20are,seeks%20quality%2C%20durability%20and
%20innovation.
https://blog.crobox.com/article/psychographic-segmentation#:~:text=1.,the%20audience%20that
%20they%20do.

Thinking about the company you're profiling for your marketing plan, describe who their
target market is. They likely have more than one, but for the purposes of this discussion
keep it to one target. What defines this target? Age, gender (if applicable), geographic
location, psychographics, are they buying for a specific occasion, what motivates them,
what do they expect to gain from the product (emotionally and otherwise)?
The company I chose is Patagonia, their target market is people who love the outdoors
and people who are environmentally conscious. Generally people who invest in products from
Patagonia are outdoorsy and look for high quality outdoor wear. The age and gender of
Patagonia's outdoorsy target market is men and women from ages 18-35. Patagonia has
psychographics that allow consumers with different interests to explore on their social media
and website, some psychographics including the climate activist, the adventurer/explorer, the
nature lover, and many more. Having good quality clothing motivates consumers to use them
and make the best out the money they spent. If consumers get a product they dislike or is
damaged Patagonia offers a lifetime warranty.When people of the target market buy Patagonias
products they are expecting high quality, durable, products that could last them through their
adventures and through life.

Week 10:
https://digital.hbs.edu/platform-rctom/submission/patagonia-dont-buy-this-
jacket/#:~:text=Premium%20Pricing%3A%20The%20quality%20of,buy%20fewer%20items
%20over%20time.
https://www.statsocial.com/insights/deep-dive-the-north-face-vs-patagonia-customers/

For this week's discussion, please share your thoughts on how the company you're
focusing on for your marketing plan approaches pricing. What pricing strategies do they
use? How does their pricing differ from their competitors? How will you recommend they
approach pricing in the marketing plan you're creating?
The company I chose is Patagonia. Patagonia chooses to approach their pricing by
charging higher prices. Patagonia charges a higher price because of the extended life and high
quality of their products. This goes along with what Patagonia is all about, buying less. The high
price of their product allows consumers to purchase less at a time and use the product until they
can no longer be worn. Although this strategy is good for reducing waste, it can sometimes lead
consumers to buy from competitors. Patagonia pricing differs from competitors because they
sell along the lines of sustainability and not over buying, making their prices higher than
competitors. I would recommend Patagonia to approach their pricing by staying true to their
roots and continue to be different from competing brands. I agree with the pricing strategy
Patagonia is currently using, it allows people to really think before they buy their products in
order to reduce product waste.

Week 11:
https://www.mytotalretail.com/article/multichannel-marketing-the-patagonia-way-39064/all/
https://medium.com/@rachael.mclaughlin/in-a-world-dominated-by-consumers-it-seems-that-
for-every-one-social-media-marketing-strategy-2fcc7d4b6fa3
https://cipcommunity.org/essays/marketing-and-distribution-channel-patagonia-101/
https://medium.com/@vmcgowan/how-patagonia-is-doing-social-media-right-b3bc6e1b06d7

Thinking about the business you're focusing on for your marketing plan, please share
their primary and secondary marketing channels. How do they bring goods or services to
their customers? Does their channel marketing strategy give them a competitive
advantage over their competitors? Why or why not?
I would say that Patagonias primary marketing channel is in stores, whether it be in
Patagonia stores or through other retailers who sell their products. Patagonia uses wholesale as
a way to distribute their products to a wider range of consumers in order to sell more. There are
also many Patagonia store locations around the U.S. and the world that allow customers to go
inside and shop. Patagonias second marketing channel is digital. Patagonia has a website that
allows customers to view and buy products but also view videos that show what Patagonia is all
about and how other consumers are using their Patagonia products. Patagonia is also very
active on social media, primarily Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter which allows them to market
their products in many ways. Patagonia brings their products to consumers by selling them in
stores and online. Patagonia’s channel marketing strategy is very similar to competitors in terms
of how they sell their products. Similar to Patgonia many of their competitors use wholesale and
their own stores in order to get their products to customers.

Week 14:
How do communication breakdowns occur? It's a question no one in marketing wants to
be in a position to have to answer...but it's difficult to avoid. Communicating effectively is
always important in business, but even more so when you're advertising during the
Super Bowl. Jeep found themselves in this very position in the 2015 Super Bowl: they
were defending their ad after harsh criticism. Take a look at the Week 13 Lecture
Document to get a sense for what people were saying. Please view the ad below and in
your post, describe how such a communication breakdown occurs.
Communication breakdowns occur when the message or purpose of something is not
perceived the way it was intended by the creator. Communication breakdowns can be harmful in
terms of how people view the creator after having a communication breakdown. Communication
breakdowns can occur from many different things like assumptions, misinterpretation, and
cultural differences. In this situation the ad was misinterpreted by viewers and judged based on
viewers opinions and perspectives. The use of the song, This Land is Your Land, and the use of
different countries led viewers to interpret the ad in a different way than it was intended. Some
viewers felt the use of the song was inappropriate to use with other countries and culture around
the world because the song is about America. Viewers of the ad interpreted it differently than
what Jeep intended. Jeep’s intention of the ad was to show that the Jeep brand’s evolution and
by showing different places around the world. The ad also goes along with the text at the end of
the ad, “The world is a gift.” The communication breakdown and misinterpretations of the ad led
to some viewers to boycott Jeep.