BA464 – TED University
Learning Outcomes
1. Define the steps involved in brand management process
2. Recognize the importance of branding for a successful marketing plan
3. Identify the brand elements and brand associations
4. Describe the vital role marketing communications play in building brands
5. Prepare a comprehensive marketing plan for a new brand idea
6. Discover the ways to grow and sustain brand equity
Learner Evaluations:
Positive Comments
“Constructive criticism is an aspect of education that plays a pivotal role in enhancing a given course. Said practice should ideally be a two-way street through which both the instructor as well as the student is able to improve. However from past experiences, I had gathered that said criticism is more often than not taken personally in Turkey. The instructor of BA 464 is a rare yet welcome anomaly that showcases how powerful of a tool feedback is and can be going forward. Very level-headed, objective, sincere and respectful throughout. Thank you for the semester.” (BA464, Spring 2024, TED University)
“Psikoloji öğrencisi olarak aldığım bu dersin içeriği kapsamlı ve detaylı olsa da hocamızın bizlerin tüm sorularını sabırla yanıtlaması ve sınıfta tartışma ortamı yaratması bu derse ve alana olan ilgimi arttırdı. Bu dersin içeriği gereği yaptığımız üç sunumla beraber hocamızın detaylı değerlendirmesiyle sunum yaparken nelere dikkat etmem gerektiği üzerine oldukça kapsamlı bir eğitimden geçtiğimi düşünüyorum. Mezun olmadan son dönemimde bu alanda da bu dersle beraber kendimi geliştirme fırsatı bulduğum için şanslı hissediyorum.” (BA464, Spring 2024, TED University)
“Excellent! Mr. Alkış is the best in Marketing!” (BA464, Spring 2024, TED University)
“Aras Hoca is an amazing person. I would really consider switching to business administration department just so that I could have more classes with him.” (BA464, Spring 2022, TED University)
“If you have even a slight interest in Business Administration, Marketing, or Management, take a course from Aras Alkış.” (BA464, Spring 2022, TED University)
“I have no suggestions, but I do have some comments. They are mainly about the instructor Aras Alkış. Unfortunately, I took this course in my last semester of four years of education at TEDU. I say unfortunately because I would like to know Mr. Alkış beforehand. He is so sweet, caring, professional, knowledgeable, and excellent at his expertise. I know Mr. Alkış does not like hierarchical statuses and does not consider himself a “Teacher or Hoca,” but he was the best professor/educator I had the chance to meet. I feel blessed that I took this course and l earned so much about so many things, thanks to Mr. Alkış. It was the only course I wanted to come and listen to and learn about new things. When I was abroad, I missed one of the classes, and it actually made me sad that I missed a class of his, and it was a first for sure. The content of the course has been prepared very carefully and with care. It had a content that made it very easy to understand with full of real-life examples. He cares about whether you learn or not. The fact that he shared speakers, videos, presentations, and books that he was interested in and thought we could benefit from it shows how great he was. It was the best course I have ever taken in my education life. Also, it was the most interactive course, which I believe is what makes this course and Mr. Alkış so great and loved. Everything about the course materials, teaching methods, course content, assignments, use of technology, grading, and feedback was literally perfect. TEDU and students who took a course from Aras Alkış should be lucky. For me, it was an eye-opening and life-changing experience. So I would like to thank Mr. Alkış for everything; he was like a friend rather than an instructor. You can’t even imagine how it affected my life; that is why I would like him to know all this and who this is coming from. I think he does, but I will include my initials just to be sure. Thank you, my best regards, U.E.” (BA464, Spring 2022, TED University)
“Dr. Alkış was an amazing lecturer, professor and a person. I haven’t had a class that has this participation rating from the students in the online up to now. I think he should give insight to other professors on how to do that, and not just for BA courses but everything else, especially engineering courses.” (BA464, Spring 2021, TED University)
“I would like to thank the instructor since he gave us a broader understanding of learning methods not just regarding the course content but also regarding any of the disciplines we are planning to enter. Also, I found his way of giving feedback method very effective throughout the course , because I was able to improve myself at the end of each activity by the help of rubric tables. To sum up, I’m very lucky and glad to be able to take this course from him.” (BA464, Spring 2021, TED University)
“I would like to say thank you to our instructor because the lecture was not only a lecture more than a real brand manager experience.” (BA464, Spring 2021, TED University)
“Innovation is key and he knows it as well.” (BA464, Spring 2021, TED University)
“Our teacher was student-friendly and very helpful throughout the semester. In addition, I gained a lot of information that will help me throughout my life and expand my perspective. It was a lesson that I enjoyed very much.” (BA464, Spring 2021, TED University)
“Bu ders kadar keyifli dinlediğim başka bir ders yoktu. Mükemmel birisidir Aras Hocam.” (BA464, Spring 2021, TED University)
“Aras Alkış was the greatest teacher of my university journey.” (BA464, Spring 2020, TED University)
“The professor used distance education tools very effectively. That’s why it was highly beneficial and also fun to experience this class online.” (BA464, Spring 2020, TED University)
“I want to thank Mr.Alkış for his support and effort. He teaches us the keypoints and this lesson helped me gain a different perspective. It was one of the lectures that I enjoyed most while doing assignment/project and in-class activities.” (BA464, Spring 2020, TED University)
“I believe that in normal situations this lecture would be more beneficial for us because it is an interactive and dynamic lecture and zoom meetings are not sufficient for this lecture unfortunately. But even though the structure of the lecture is not suitable for online meetings, Mr.Alkış does his best to encourage us to actively participate in lecture aswe did in classrooms.” (BA464, Spring 2020, TED University)
“Hocaam her şey için çok teşekkür ederim, kendi adıma çok keyifli ve bakış açımı genişletici bir dönem olduğunu kesinlikle söyleyebilirim. İyi ki ek dal derslerimden birini bu dersten ve sizden yana kullanmışım. Mezun oluyorum ama, benim için sizin yeriniz hep üniversitedeki son yüz yüze dersimi yaptığım hocam olarak kalacak ve bu durumdan son derece memnunum. Tekrar çok teşekkürler.” (BA464, Spring 2020, TED University)
“Dersi tartışarak işlemek çok faydalı oluyor, bu sayede hem sınıfta aktif oluyoruz hem derse karşı ilgi yüksek oluyor. Çok keyif alarak aldığım bir ders oldu.” (BA464, Fall 2019, TED University)
“Aras hocadan ders almak bu okulun bana kattığı en iyi şeylerden birisiydi. Bana göre çok mükemmel bir öğretmen, okulumuza böyle bir hocayla çalıştığı için, Aras hocanın da okulumuzu tercih ettiği için teşekkür ederim.” (BA464, Fall 2019, TED University)
Negative Comments
All negative comments are from Spring 2023.
“There are some project that take too much time for an elective course. Projects are not clear and students dont know what to do. There is always some problem with understanding the project and I think it is not because of students. I wanted to increase my gpa but i might fail this course. This course has many unnecessary project details than the other ba courses.” (BA464, Spring 2023, TED University)
“Group works usually made by one person for especially the excel report part so I hope it will be change. Mostly I need to remind the others it is hard to get zoom meetings because we were in different departments.” (BA464, Spring 2023, TED University)
* Context: In Spring 2023, there were two devastating earthquakes followed by an election with emotionally overwhelming campaigns. The Higher Education Council enforced hybrid teaching, without consideration of whether the infrastructure is compatible with hybrid teaching or not, yet with occasional interventions, e.g., postponing all assignments to June, effectively the last week of the semester at TEDU.
An Example of Course Evaluation Surveys
These reports (in a .pdf format) have become available after 2023 Fall.