II. Read the text carefully and then recollect the facts about advertising campaigns of the following brands. While summarising try to use your background knowledge.

Kimberly Clark

Kraft

Toyota

L'Oreal

Reckitt Benckiser

III. According to the text, are the following statements true or false?

1. Usually companies spend more money on advertising than they really need.

2. Decision-making is a responsibility of world-leading companies.

3. Tastes of viewers differ from country to country.

4. Those who launch their advertising campaign in autumn, often gain more profit.

5. Seasonal and cultural preferences are really an important part of an advertising business plan.

6. Arriving of euro helped to balance all advertising difficulties.

7. Investment point dominates over clients' tendencies.

8. To be successful in advertising sphere, you are to combine central control with local preferences.

9. Nowadays consumers can influence the change, which is now taking place in the world of advertising.

IV. Complete the following summary. You should use both words and word-combinations from the text. Make sure you use the right form of the word.

Media Audits supposes that companies could save more money if they _________ the cost of advertising space. According to the reports, too much responsibility was put into __________ __________ , which are not very experienced.

Media Audits mentions that companies should reduce __________ in some districts. Cultural differences play a significant role. In Italy, foe example, sport advertisements take the ___________ __________ .

Seasonal differences also effect promotion of advertisements. Kimberly Clark, for instance, achieved more than 6%, launching its advertising campaign during cheaper months, but Kraft, on the contrary, gained less __________ , having spent money on advertising during October and November.

Toyota and L'Oreal were praise for using __________ rules.

With arrival of euro, costs begin to be compared more ____________ .

Mr Cluff thinks that success or failure of advertising depends on clients' _________ , but not on ____________ .

5. Read the following text and be ready to summarise the main idea. Text II. Marketers Take Advantage Of The Information Age

A 1950s advertising jingle inviting people to “see the USA in your Chevrolet” helped turn the General Motors automotive into an American brand.

More recently, though, the “Chevvy” has been aimed at motorists in Kiev as much as Kansas, with the carmaker promoting it as a low-cost choice for Ukrainians and Russians.

In spite of fears that Europeans would always see Chevrolet and its sister brand, Cadillac, as too American for their tastes, the two cars were the fastest growing brands in GM’s European portfolio during the first half of 2007.

This vindicates GM’s belief that its customers are becoming more homogenous across Europe due to their use of the internet to research purchases. The internet, no respecter of national boundaries, is transforming traditional target audiences. As a result, the car group has put more emphasis on pan-European campaigns and less on national marketing.

Jonathan Browning, GM Europe’s vice-president of sales, marketing and after-sales, says: “The argument for doing so out of marketing efficiency is important. But the real driver is [that] European consumers are becoming much more aligned in use of information and media.

“If you search a vehicle’s name on the internet, you will see pretty much the same information across Europe.

“Consequently, you can have variations in marketing activity in different countries, but not in overall themes and thrusts in your advertising,” he says.

Jamie Kantrowitz, senior vice-president of marketing and content for Europe at MySpace, says: “Pop culture is certainly becoming more globalised . . . Because of things such as MySpace, it is easier for people in Rome to befriend people in Tokyo and be more influenced by one another’s tastes.

“Where you might have been used to positioning brands differently in markets, that is harder and less necessary.”

International web media owners such as Microsoft and MySpace have spotted an opportunity to sell to multinational advertisers by offering exposure on websites in different countries.

Microsoft executives estimate that international online advertising campaigns for brands such as Citibank and Motorola will be the fastest growing part of the US group’s advertising business this year.

Chris Dobson, vice-president of global sales, Microsoft online services, says international advertising sales more than doubled last year and were expected to do the same in 2008.

Ms Kantrowitz says MySpace has also seen increasing advertiser interest in pan-European campaigns.

If advertisers respond to consumers’ increasing web surfing with more international campaigns, online companies will not necessarily be the only beneficiaries. Television and print are still likely to be used as international campaigns are reinforced nationally.

Mr Browning cites GM’s “c’mons” as an example.

The 2006 effort, designed to launch the Corsa, mixed online and television exposure, pan-European and national marketing.

The over-arching theme was a group of puppets purporting to be a pop band. Audiences found their catchphrase “c’mon” cute or irritating. But their fame spread via publicity on MTV, YouTube and websites.

While there were often oblique references to the Corsa, the viral campaign was deemed a hit since it reached and engaged large numbers of prospective customers.

It was produced by Delaney Lund Knox Warren, a UK creative agency owned by Creston, the UK-listed group, and McCann-Erickson, part of Interpublic, the US marketing services group.

DLKW, a relatively small agency, has long argued that technological convergence is making it easier for smaller operations to provide multimarket campaigns, without incurring the expense of setting up their own overseas offices.

Bigger agencies contest this. They point out that even if a single regional advertising theme is agreed, the localisation and distribution of the work for national audiences are valuable skills only a big, experienced agency network can provide.

Above all, while the internet can reach large audiences across borders, it cannot resolve the perennial dilemma of how to interest them. Pan-European campaigns are often slated for blandness, and newer media face the same risk.. Some companies, such as those in the service sectors, are less suited to broad-brush international campaigns because their customer needs are specific to a national market.

The internet also brings the danger that any backlash against a brand can spread more easily from country to country.

Mr Browning, however, is undeterred. “The days of having different pockets of communications and positioning in different markets are over,” he says.