Marketing: Promotion and advertising (Продвижение и реклама)

The promotion of a product may refer to any marketing effort to encourage people to buy it, including advertising. However, promotion is often used to refer to specifically to marketing activities other than advertising; offers such as discounts, cut-price vouchers, free gifts (known as freebies), competitions, and displays or events at the point of sale. Discounts may be given in a sale at a particular time of year such as summer or January, often get rid of remaining stock.

Promoting a product involves developing USP (unique selling preposition). USP is the features and benefits that make it unlike any competing product. There are four stages in promotion:

• attract the ATTENTION of the potential customers;

• arouse INTEREST in the product;

• create the DESIRE for its benefits;

• encourage the customers to take quick ACTION.

Advertising tells people about products, for example in newspapers, on television in commercials, or in the street on hoardings or billboards. Advertising is often designed and managed by advertising agencies.

An advertising campaign consists of a series of advertisements, adverts, or ads, which are run in various media.

Another way of telling people about products is by direct marketing, using techniques like mailing, also known as mail shots: these are often referred to as “junk mail”.

№ 15

My Hobby (Мое хобби)

What is a hobby? It is what you can and like to do, when you have free time. We choose hobby according to our character and taste. When we have a hobby our life becomes more interesting. People do different things for their own enjoyment.

We can learn a lot of new things from our hobby. Many people are interested in music. They collect records. I like music very much, my favourite group (singer) is ... Other people like to read and collect books. My favourite books are historical novels, detectives and fantastic books. Many people are fond of playing computer games. It is a very popular hobby now.

Some people enjoy making things. It includes drawing, painting, making sculpture, designing costumes, handicrafts.

Many people are fond of sports and games. They go for skiing, skating, table tennis, swimming, volley-ball, football, body-building and so on.

But there is some difference between hobbies for men and women. Men, as a rule are fond of football, fishing, hunting and watching TV. As for women, they are keen on fitness, aerobics and shopping.

My hobby is … I like my hobby very much.

№ 16

Our University (Наш университет)

Krasnoyarsk State Agrarian University was opened in 1953 to create the scientific base for agriculture in the Siberian region. Today it ranks among the best 10 Agrarian Universities in Russia. The University trains qualified specialists for different branches of agroindustry. They are trained at 13 departments (now 11 institutes) – at the veterinary department, department of electrification and mechanization, at the departments of law and management and so on.

Our specialists deal with different problems of agroindustry, among them intensification of food production, improvement of soil fertility and yield increase, mechanization and electrification of agroindustry. They try to solve problems of soil improvement and yield increase by proper irrigation and drainage practices.

Our students have 2 old buildings and some new and quite modern buildings. There are many classrooms, lecture halls and different laboratories there. There is also a computer centre at the University. One of the new buildings is our library. Here we have a conference hall and some reading rooms.

In summer students of our University have their on-the-job training. They work at the crop-growing or livestock-breeding farm, or at the processing enterprise. Some students work as milkmaids and tractor drivers. It helps our students to get practical knowledge and skills and become good specialists.

At our department we study different subjects, among them English, economics, marketing, management, accounting, computer technologies, psychology, etc.

We study six days a week Monday to Saturday. We have lectures, seminars, role-plays, laboratory works. We have highly-qualified teachers who deliver lectures and conduct seminars. Sometimes foreign teachers come to our University.

№ 17