Vocabulary focus

Ex. 1. In the text, find the terms that mean the following. Reproduce the contexts in which these words are used.

1. free advertising, when satisfied customers recommend products to their friends;

2. advertising that mentions a company’s name but not specific products;

3. companies that handle advertising for clients;

4. a contract with a company to produce its advertising;

5. the amount of money a company plans to spend in developing its advertising and buying media time or space;

6. the statement of objectives of an advertising campaign that a client works out with an advertising agency;

7. the advertising of a particular product or service during a particular period of time;

8. a defined set of customers whose needs a company plans to satisfy;

9. the people who choose where to advertise, in order to reach the right customers;

10. the fact that a certain amount of advertising is necessary to attract a prospective customer's attention;

11. choosing to spend the same amount on advertising as one's competitors;

12. advertising during periods or seasons when sales are normally relatively poor.

Ex. 2. Fill in the missing word(s) in each of the following sentences. Choose from the alternatives beneath each sentence. The first has been done for you.

1. Large companies tend to use the services of large advertising …agencies….

a) agencies b) companies c) campaigns

2. Providers of goods or services use ….. advertising to inform consumers about the existence and benefits of their products.

a) made b) paid c) free

3. The most talented advertising people generally prefer to work for agencies as this gives them the chance to work on a variety of advertising …….

a) accounts b) projects c) ideas

4. The ….. company generally gives the advertising agency an agreed budget.

a) customer b) hiring c) client

5. An overall advertising strategy concerns the message to be communicated to the ……. customers.

a) aimed b) potential c) target

6. Advertising people pay much attention to the threshold effect - the point at which advertising becomes …..

a) ineffective b) effective c) the most profitable

Ex. 3. In small groups, discuss what you understand by the terms media and medium. Think of as many different uses of these two terms as you can, and then write a “dictionary” definition for each. Discuss your definitions with the rest of the class.

Ex. 4. Now read the dictionary definitions of ‘media’ and ‘medium’ given below and answer the questions:

1. What differences and similarities are there between your definitions and the dictionary ones?

2. How would ‘media’ be defined in your culture in everyday context?

3. Would it include both senses of the definition of media?

4. In what meaning is this word used in the text?

media 1 all the organizations, such as television, radio, and the newspapers, that provide information for the public, regarded as a group: The letter was leaked to the media by a White House official. [also + plural verb BrE ]: The media have launched a bitter attack on the Health Minister.

2 the plural of medium.

In English, a distinction is made between the first and the second use of the term media by the use of a definite article. People talk about the media when they are referring to newspapers, magazines, TV and radio, but media when they are using the word as the plural of ‘medium’.

medium 1 way of communicating information and news to people, such as newspapers, television etc: Politicians prefer to use the medium of television.

2 a way or means of expressing your ideas or of communicating with people: the novel as a medium for satire / the visual media.

3 medium of instruction a language that is used for teaching: English is still the main medium of instruction in Nigeria.

4 medium of exchange money or other ways of paying for things.

5 technical a substance or material in which things grow or exist: acid medium.

6 technical a substance through which a force travels: Air is a medium for sound.

Ex. 5. A) Study the meaning of the prefix counter. Translate the sentences containing the words with this prefix in the text. Can you think of any other contexts for these words?

counter- prefix 1 the opposite of something: a counterproductive thing to do (=producing results opposite to what you wanted); 2 matching something: my counterpart in the American system (=someone who has the same job as mine); 3 done or given as a reaction to something, especially to oppose it: proposals and counter-proposals; 4 acting to prevent something: a counterinsurgency strategy (=to prevent insurgents).

B) Translate the sentences below into Russian. Explain the meaning of the words with counter.

Sending young offenders to prison can be counterproductive.

His fear of his father is counterbalanced by a genuine respect.

The government is imposing new countermeasures against terrorism.

I decided on a swift counterattack.

Belgian officials are discussing this with their French counterparts.

COMPREHENSION

Ex. 1. Answer the following questions.

1. What is the best kind of advertising?

2. Why do most companies use advertising agencies?

3. When a company hires an advertising agency, what are the roles of both parties?

4. What is a media plan?

5. What problems do the agency's media planners have to solve?

6. Why does advertising become ineffective after a certain point?

Ex. 2. Say if the statements are true or false. Correct the false ones.

1. The best form of advertising is probably word-of-mouth advertising, that’s why most of providers of goods or services rely on this alone.

2. The most talented advertising people working for individual companies enjoy the opportunity to work on a variety of advertising accounts.

3. Institutional or prestige advertising is of great importance though designed to build in a company reputation rather than to sell particular products.

4. The client company generally gives the advertising agency an agreed budget and a brief while an overall advertising strategy is worked out by the agency.

5. These are market planners who are responsible for choosing advertising media.

6. Alternative ads or commercials are created to help to make a final choice of advertising media.

7. The choice of advertising media is generally strongly influenced by the comparative cost of reaching 1,000 members of the target audience

8. There are two main factors that the timing of advertising campaigns mostly depends on.

9. The comparative-parity method is rather popular when deciding how much to spend on advertising.

10. A good advertisement is always effective and productive.

Ex. 3. Think out the definitions for

• word-of-mouth advertising

• prestige advertising

• ad budget

• advertising wars

• counter-productive advertising

Ex. 4. Find the sentences giving the main point of the text. State the main idea of the text.

Ex. 5. Find key words and phrases which the best express the meaning of each paragraph.

Ex. 6. Scan the text again to answer the question: which of the following paragraphs most accurately summarizes the text, and why?

a) Advertising informs consumers about the existence and benefits of products and services, and attempts to persuade them to buy them. The best form of advertising is word-of-mouth advertising, but providers of goods tend to use the services of large advertising agencies. The client company gives the advertising agency an agreed budget, a brief, and an overall advertising strategy. The agency creates advertisements and develops a media plan. The timing of advertising campaigns depends on factors such as purchasing frequency and buyer turnover. The comparative-parity method is rather popular when deciding how much to spend on advertising.

b) Advertising informs consumers about the existence and benefits of products and services, and attempts to persuade them to buy them. Although the best form of advertising is word-of-mouth advertising, virtually no providers of goods or services rely on this alone, but use paid advertising instead.

Large companies could easily set up their own advertising departments and write their own advertisements but they tend to use the services of large advertising agencies as these are likely to have more resources and more knowledge about all aspects of advertising.

The client company gives the advertising agency an agreed budget, a brief and an overall advertising strategy. The agency creates advertisements and develops a media plan.

The agency's media planners decide what percentage of the target market they want to reach and the number of times they are likely to see them. The timing of advertising campaigns depends on factors such as purchasing frequency and buyer turnover.

How much to spend on advertising is always problematic as once the most promising prospective customers have been reached, there are diminishing returns.

c) In order to inform consumers about the existence and benefits of products and services, and to persuade them to buy, companies use paid advertising and address large advertising agencies. These are likely to have more resources and more knowledge about all aspects of advertising and advertising media.

The client company gives the advertising agency an agreed budget, a brief and an overall strategy concerning the message to the target customers. In its turn the agency creates advertisements and develops a media plan specifying which media will be used and in which proportions.

The choice of advertising media is strongly influenced by the comparative cost of reaching 1,000 members of the target audience. The timing of advertising campaigns depends on purchasing frequency and buyer turnover.

How much to spend on advertising is always problematic. Companies must take into account that excessive advertising is counter-productive because, once the most promising prospective customers have been reached, there are diminishing returns.

Ex. 7. Speak about how companies advertise using the information from the text.

T e x t 3

Read the text and think of a title to it. Then do the tasks that follow.

Businesses need to advertise. If they did not advertise no one would even learn of the existence of their wares. In part, advertising is aimed at conveying information to potential customers and clients, but it is also used to persuade the public to buy. This is the area in which advertising is often criticized. Advertisements are sometimes misleading. Although it is illegal for advertisers to make untrue statements about their goods, services or prices, they still make their wares seem unduly attractive. They pander to our egos and our vanities. They create a demand which would not otherwise exist.

It is easy to say, “I’m not influenced by the adverts!”. Everyone is influenced to a certain extent. There was recently some research on subliminal advertising. The word 'coffee' was flashed on to the television screen. It happened so quickly that no one was aware it had happened. For just a fraction of a second it registered on the viewers' subconscious. The result? A surprising number of people chose to make coffee at that precise moment. Of course, it could have been a coincidence but it was highly unlikely.

Yet, for the typical manufacturer advertising is form of insurance. The nature and extent of consumer's needs have to be constantly assessed. If the needs are over-estimated it is possible, through advertising, to soak up the surplus goods which have been produced. As a demand for a product sags, it can be stimulated. There are all sorts of useful by-products. Without the possibility of advertising, workforces would have to be laid off when sales fell. The warehouses would become overfilled and the stocks would deteriorate, perhaps even becoming obsolete.

An alternative to advertising would be to lower prices when sales fall. This would suit the purchasers but introduce an element of uncertainty for the manufacturers. They are always concerned to ensure that their revenue exceeds their costs, and where would they be if there were daily fluctuations in the prices of their products?

Advertising goes far beyond television and hoarding, newspapers and magazines. The manager of a clothes store is advertising by putting models wearing the store's clothes in the window. A bicycle manufacturer is advertising when he sends a new price-list through the post to his retailers. How could trading be carried on without such devices?

Some would even go so far as to say that advertising actually enriches our lives. Commercial television is able to provide us with free programs thanks to its advertising revenues. National newspapers derive much of their revenue from advertising. Look at a typical newspaper and you will discover the proportion of the pages devoted to advertisements. We also have advertisers to thank for the free colour supplements accompanying the Sunday newspapers.

COMPREHENSION

Ex. 1. Having read the above text answer these questions in your own words.

1. What is meant by informative advertising?

2. Why is persuasive advertising criticized?

3. What is subliminal advertising?

4. What should be done to counter a fall in sales?

5. How do national newspapers benefit from advertising?

6. How can window-dressing be seen as a form of advertising?

7. How does advertising help the workforce?

8. Why is it expensive to hold stocks unnecessarily?

Ex. 2. Decide which of the following statements are correct.

1. It is legal to make untrue statements about goods.

2. Adverts influence all the people.

3. Advertising creates an extra demand.

4. Advertising stimulates sales.

5. The manufacturers want their revenue to exceed their costs.

6. Advertising enriches our economy.

7. Advertising enriches our culture.

Ex. 3. Which of the following expresses the main idea of the text best of all? Justify your choice.

1. Businesses need to advertise.

2. Advertising has many different aims.

3. There are many different types of advertising.

4. The text explains what advertising is and how it works.

Ex. 4. Annotate the text. Give the main points of it in 5 – 8 sentences. You may use the following clichés:

The text … is devoted to (deals with) … . … are discussed. It is spoken in detail … . … is analyzed. Much attention is given to … . The author comes to the conclusion that … .

Ex. 5. Speak on the notion of advertising and its functioning in our life.

T e x t 4