An unusual selling method

Before you read

1. Do you ever buy magazines? Why (not)?

2. Which magazines do you like?

Reading

3. Read this article adapted from the Financial Times and answer the questions.

Women's magazine is surprisingly successful

Candis is probably the most popular women's magazine you don't know. It does not appear in any newsagent's and is not advertised on television, yet it sells more then Elle, Vogue, Company and Grazia.

The women's magazines market is strongly competitive. Monthlies, such as Candis, have been under particular pressure recently as women's weeklies have increased. Yet Candis is the UK's eighth-biggest selling women's monthly.

The magazine is different from almost every other women's title because you can only buy it on subscription, and it is still 100-percent owned by the family that started it. It supports charities, giving 10 per cent of subscription revenue to healthcare and community projects. Up to now, it has given more than ₤ 50m.

We did a lot of research to see why members buy the magazine,' says the Marketing Director. 'They like to spend time sitting down reading a magazine that they know is helping someone at the same time.'

Until recently, their sales people still sold the magazine door-to-door. But this was becoming more difficult. However, Candis sold best when there was face-to-face contact with the customer. So they tried selling the magazine in shopping centres, and this has been quite successful and will continue.

Financial Times

4. Complete these sentences with words from the article.

If the market is c …. e, there are many companies offering similar products.

Magazines which are sold every week are called w …. s.

If you join a club, you pay a s …. n each year.

R …. e is money which you earn from work or selling.

С …. у projects are ones which help local people.

If you do r …. h, you find out as much as you can about something.

Visiting people's houses to sell a product is selling d ….- to - d …. .

5. Decide whether these sentences are true or false.

You can buy Candis in any newsagents.

Candis sells more magazines than Elle or Vogue.

Candis comes out every week.

It is a family-owned magazine.

It gives money to charities.

Research shows that members like the magazine because it supports charities.

Discussion

Do companies sell door-to-door in your country?

Do you think this is a good way to sell a product? Why (not)?

Over to you

1. Talk to someone who has their own business. Find out how they started it. Was it easy or difficult? Is their company profitable?

2. Choose another country with a business culture that is very different from your country, e.g. China, South Korea, Brazil, Saudi Arabia. Use newspapers, magazines, books or the Internet to find information about doing business in this country. Make a list of dos and don'ts for that country. Create a class file on “Business Culture”.

3. Interview two people you know about their jobs. Find out about the benefits and rewards they get from their job. Tell the class.

4. Find a job advertisement in your own language or invent one. Translate it into English. Give it to a friend and ask them to write a letter applying for it. Write an application letter for the job advertisement they give you.