I. Learn the following words

Unit 7.1

The Main Elements of Marketing

Marketing is a four step process that begins with analyzing and defining a qualified universe of potential users or buyers. After this first phase in the marketing process, a marketing professional succeeds in capturing theattention of the intended buyers within the targeted universe. Third, systematic effort must be put into getting the prospects to accept the concepts or propositions. Finally, with all three of the previous steps achieved, the marketer must convert the prospective buyer into the actual buyer by getting them to take the desired action (purchase, rent, call, download, subscribe, refer, sell, follow the law, become a member, etc.).

Marketing methods are used by many of the social sciences, particularly psychology, sociology, and economics. Marketing research supports these activities.

In popular usage, the term “marketing” refers to the promotion of products, especially advertising and branding. However, in professional usage the term has a wider meaning that recognized that marketing is customer centered. Products are often developed to meet the desires of groups of customers or even, in some cases, for specific customers. McCarthy divided marketing into four general sets ofactivities. His typology has become so universally recognized that his four activity sets, the Four Ps, have passed into the language. The Four Ps are:

— Product — the product management aspect of marketing deals with the specifications of the actual good or service, and how it relates to the end-user’s needs and wants.

— Pricing — this refers to the process of setting a price for a product, including discounts.

— Promotion — this includes advertising, sales promotion, publicity, and personal selling, and refers to the various methods of promoting the product, brand, or company.

— Place or distribution refers to how the product gets to the customer, for example, retailing.

These four elements are often referred to as the marketing mix. A marketer will use these variables to craft a marketing plan. Industrial products, services, and high value consumer products require adjustments to this model. Services marketing must account for the unique nature of services. Industrial or b2b marketing must account for the long term contractual agreements that are typical in supply chain transactions.

For a marketing plan to be successful, the mix of the Four Ps must reflect the wants and desires of the consumers in the target market. Trying to convince a market segment to buy something they don’t want is extremely expensive and seldom successful. Marketers depend on marketing research to determine what consumers want and want they are willing to pay for. Marketers hope that this process will give them a sustainable competitive advantage. Marketing management is the practical application of this process.

Most companies today have a customer orientation (also called customer focus). This impliesthat the company focuses its activities and products on customer needs. Generally there are two ways of doing this: the customer-driven approach and the product innovation approach.

In the consumer-driven approach consumer wants are the drivers of all strategic marketing decisions. No strategy is pursued until it passes the test of consumer research. Every aspect of a market offering, including the nature of the product itself, is driven by the needs of potential consumers. The starting point is always the consumer. The rationale for this approach is that there is no point spending funds developing products that people will not buy. History attests to many products that were commercial failures in spite of being technological breakthroughs.

In a product innovation approach, the company pursues product innovation, then tries to develop a market for the product. Product innovation drives the process and marketing research is conducted primarily to ensure that a profitable market segments exists for the innovation. The rationale is that customers may not know what options will be available to them in the future so we should not expect them to tell us what they will buy in the future. It is claimed that if Edison depended on marketing research he would have produced larger candles rather than inventing light bulbs. Many firms, such as research and development focused companies, successfully focus on product innovation.

Text-study

I. Learn the following words

four step process -	четырехступенчатый процесc
qualified universe of potential users or buyers –   to capture the attention -	избранная генеральная совокупность потенциальных пользователей или покупателей завладевать вниманием
propositions -	предложения
desired action -	желаемое действие
to purchase -	покупать, приобретать
to download -	загружать
branding -	брендинг, создание бренда
customer centered -	ориентированный на потребителя
sets of activities -	направления деятельности
universally recognized - product	повсеместно признаваемый товар
specifications of the actual good - or service	спецификации (подробное описание) на реально существующий товар или услуги
end-user’s needs -	потребности конечного пользователя
pricing -	ценообразование
discounts -	скидки
promotion -	содействие в продаже
retailing -	розничная продажа
use these variables to craft - marketing plan	использование этих переменных для разработки маркетингового плана
to require adjustments -	требовать корректировки
b2b marketing -	маркетинг по принципу «бизнес-к-бизнесу»
to reflect -	отражать
to convince -	убеждать
sustainable competitive advantage -	длительное конкурентное преимущество
to imply -	предполагать
rationale -	разумное объяснение
approach -	подход
to attest to -	свидетельствовать о чем-либо
commercial failures -	коммерческие провалы
technological breakthroughs -	технологические прорывы
to pursue -	искать, добиваться
primarily -	прежде всего
options -	опции, варианты для выбора

II. Answer the following questions:

1. What are the four steps in marketing?

2. What can be a desired action in marketing?

3. What does the term “marketing” refer to in popular usage?

4. What are the Four Ps of marketing?

5. What is promotion?

6. What is marketing mix?

7. What is a customer focus?

8. What is the rationale for the consumer-driven approach?

9. What is a product innovation approach?

III. Translate into English:

1.Ма́рке́тинг — управление созданием товаров и услуг и механизмами их реализации как единым комплексным процессом.

2.Маркетинг — это искусство и наука правильно выбирать целевой рынок, привлекать, сохранять и наращивать количество потребителей.

3.Маркетинг — это осуществление бизнес-процессов по направлению потока товаров и услуг от производителя к потребителю.

4.Маркетинг — система планирования, ценообразования, продвижения и распространения идей, товаров и услуг для удовлетворения нужд, потребностей и желаний отдельных лиц и организаций, причем реклама является лишь одним из факторов процесса маркетинга.

5.Цель маркетинга — создать условия для приспособления производства к общественному спросу, требованиям рынка.

6.Основные функции маркетинга: изучение спроса, вопросов ценообразования, рекламы и стимулирования сбыта, планирование товарного ассортимента, сбыта и торговых операций.

7.Маркетинг начинается с исследования целевого сегмента рынка, для которого собирается работать компания.

8.Система маркетингового аудита позволит оценивать результаты проводимых мероприятий и степень их воздействия на потребителей.

9.В маркетинге соблюдается принцип постоянного обновления выпускаемой или реализуемой продукции.

10.«Комплекс маркетинга» - это набор маркетинговых средств, которые необходимо гармонично увязать друг с другом, чтобы добиться максимального воздействия на рынок.

IV. Comprise critical components of your marketing plan.

1. Marketing over view.

a) What business are you in?

b) What do you sell?

c) What are your target markets?

d) What are your marketing goals for next year?

e) What obstacles might keep you from achieving these goals?

f) What is your marketing budget?

2. Products and services.

a) What are the benefits of your products/services?

b) What makes you special?

3. Customers and prospects.

a) Who are your current customers? (Include age, gender, income, geographic location)

b) What are their buying habits?

c) How do your customers learn about your products/services?

d) Why do your customers buy your products/services?

e) Who are your best customers?

f) What is your market share?

g) Is it expanding, shrinking or stable?

h) Is your market changing in other ways?

4. Competitive Analysis.

a) What do your competitors do better than you?

b) What do you do better than your competitors?

5. Price, location and sales practice.

a) How do you establish prices?

b) How do your prices compare to those of your competitors?

c) What are the advantages and disadvantages of your location? (Traffic flow, convenient parking, etc.)

d) What are your sales practices?

e) How do you compare them to those of your competitors?

6. Strengths and weaknesses.

a) What are the internal and external strengths of your businesses? (Skilled personnel, outstanding technology, expanding market).

b) What are the internal and external weaknesses of your business? (Lack of sales support materials, aggressive competition).

7. Advertising and promotion.

a) What is your advertising and promotion budget?

b) What marketing tools can you implement within this budget?

c) What are your advertising and promotional objectives? (Change of your firm’s image, penetrate specialized markets, etc.).

d) What do you currently do to promote your business?

e) What previously used promotional methods have been most effective?

f) How will you evaluate the effectiveness of your advertising and promotional efforts?

8. Long-term strategic marketing.

a) How do you plan to solve marketing problems?

b) How do you plan to achieve new goals?

V. Give Russian equivalents to the following:

sound marketing plan; key to the success; manage the process of creating customers; motivate customers to buy smth; promotional objectives; their needs and preferences; awareness of your products or service; a successful promotion campaign; keep the campaign on the right track; message reaching the people.

Focus on Grammar

Articles. Prepositions

VI. Fill in the blanks with suitable prepositions

One … the major causes … small business failure is inadequate start-up financing. Before you open … business, it is very important to determine how much cash you will need. Many businessmen start operations until profits begin to roll in – which is typically three … six months. They have only enough money … a few months’ rent, some equipment and minimum inventory. Many experts advise having … least a 12-months financial cushion to handle all business and personal expenses. This will allow you to remain self-sufficient and minimize the risks should your business provide unprofitable.

Prior … starting …, carefully review your total financial needs. The checklist entitled “How much money do you need?” should assist you … this evaluation process. Don’t forget to add … the additional funds that will be necessary … personal and living expenses. Some examples include mortgage or rent payments, medical and insurance costs, entertainment, food, clothing, utilities and transportation.

VII. Fill in the blanks with articles if needed

Equally important is … preparation of … cash budget. This analysis forces the businessman to think ahead by estimating … firm’s income and expenses. It will also warn you about … possible deficits that could require additional funding. By carefully projecting your financial needs, you can avoid some of … crises that would otherwise arise from … shortage of funds in … future. A sound finance for … long term will help you to make … profit.

It is essential to distinguish … few different concepts of profit. Profit in everyday life means advantage or … good obtained from something. Besides it can mean … money gained in … business. Profit for … accountant means simply … difference between total receipts and total costs. For … economist profit has … much wider meaning. It is … revenue derived from … use of resources minus … opportunity cost of using those resources. The economist attaches … cost to … use of retained earnings, since they could have yielded revenues if used outside … business. Besides … economist would value the time of … owner-managers in accordance with what they could have earned outside … business.

VIII. Read the text about securities. Write a suitable word to fill each of the gaps.

bond convertible portfolio unit

gilts index preference value

inflation tend price

prices redeemable securities

Most investors seek, above all, security. They even call their investments ______. By building up a _______ of investments. You can be pretty confident that, in the long run, the _______ of your shares will stay a little ahead of _______. Many small investors pay their money to a _______ trust, which can invest more securely and profitably than the individuals could if they acted separately.

Every stock exchange has its _______, to show share _______ are moving from day to day, in London, the Financial Times-Stock Exchange 100-share index (known as the FT-SE 100 for short), which is pronounced “Footsie”, calculates the average _______ of shares of 100 major companies. This index started at 100 on 1 January 1984.

Instead of buying shares in a business, you may prefer simply to ______ money to it. You receive in return a certificate, called a ______. The safest business to lend money to is the Government. UK Government bonds are called ______ (because they are printed on gilt-edged paper). If you lend to a company, you may receive bonds or _______ shares. ______ preference shares give the holder the right to convert them into ordinary shares at a later date; ______ preference shares give the company the right to buy them back or redeem them.

IX. A businessman gives his partner advice on his investments in a number of ways. Perhaps the most obvious is when he uses the verb “advise”:

“I would strongly advise you not to go playing the market”. The pattern here is:

to advise (someone) to do (something).

You can also use the noun “ advice”:

“ Let me give you some advice”,

“ Let me give you a piece of advice”.

But there are many other ways of giving advice to people:

“I suggest that you (do) … “,

“If I were you, I’d (do)… “,

“ Why not (do) …“,

“ How about (doing) … “,

“ What about (doing) … “.

X. You meet a friend who has some money to invest. Give him some advice. Use the phrases listed in the tasks above.

Unit 7.2

Brand Names

Consumers always have incomplete information about product availability, quality, and alternative prices. Such “imperfect information” leads them to rely on brand names, which lessen the costs of acquiring product information. By relying on brand names and the company reputations associated with them, consumers can make reasonable purchases without searching or investigating products each time they buy.

Many economists have criticized the fact that consumers put so much reliance on brand names. The problem is that this consumer reliance gives companies with established brand names “market power” over the price they can charge. When companies “differentiate” their products with unique brand names and associated advertising and promotional campaigns, they can charge more than others for “truly” identical products. Brand names lead consumers to make what these economists consider to be artificial distinctions between different products. Companies with respected brand names, therefore, can increase prices without losing significant sales.

Because consumers rely on and pay for reputations, companies have incentives to establish reputations by maintaining and improving the quality of their products. This incentive would be lost if all companies were required by law to sell indistinguishable products. If consumers could not identify the companies that produced the products they bought, individual companies would have no incentive to improve the quality of their products. In fact, each company would have an incentive to decrease the quality of its products. Economist Marshall Goldman has pointed out that this is exactly what occurred in the Soviet Union when brand names were eliminated after the 1917 communist revolution. That is why firms in the Soviet Union were required to identify their output with “production marks.” Without brand names consumers do not know from current purchase experiences which products to buy and which ones not to buy in the future.

This mechanism of repeated purchase, where good past performance and a good reputation are rewarded with future profitable sales, and where poor performance is punished. As a result, companies with superior reputations, representing good past performance have something to loose if they perform poorly.

Because companies with valuable brand names that fail to perform have more to lose than companies without valuable brand names, consumers who buy brand name products are paying for something. They are buying the added assurancethat the brand name company took necessary measures to protect its reputation for quality.

Finally, it is important to recognize that brand names operate in marketplaces where the government sets product quality standards. The obvious question is: why not rely on government standards to assure company performance? There are two main answers. First, government standards often cannot easily show performance. For example, although the government may grade agricultural commodities, such as vegetables, for colour, size, they cannot define and grade characteristics such as taste that are quite important to consumers. Second, government agencies that rate and assure quality are far from perfect. To assure the quality of the products they buy, consumers are right to rely not just on government standards, but also on brand names.

I. Learn the following words

brand name - торговая марка, бренд

incomplete - неполный

availability - наличие

reasonable - разумный

reliance - доверие, уверенность

established brand names - известные торговые марки

unique brand names - уникальные торговые марки

artificial distinction - искусственное различие

to maintain - поддерживать, сохранять

incentive - побуждение, стимул

indistinguishable - неразличимый, неотличимый

to identify - определять

to reward - вознаграждать

withdrawal - лишение

superior - превосходный

assurance - уверенность

quality standards - стандарты качества

to grade agricultural commodities - классифицировать сельскохозяйственную продукцию

Дата добавления: 2015-10-24