Практический курс английского языка = Practical Course of English for Students of Economics. Учебное пособие для студентов экономических специальносте

sometimes even the official approval – of the marketing research department. As a result, some marketing research directors rise to high levels in the organization.

Most large companies have a separate marketing research department to plan and carry out research projects. These departments often use outside specialists – including interviewing and tabulating services – to handle technical assignments.

Small companies usually don’t have separate marketing research departments. They often depend on their salespeople or managers to conduct what research they do.

The basic reason for doing marketing research is to get information that people can trust in making decisions.

Good marketing research requires much more than just technical tools. It requires cooperation between researchers and marketing managers. Good marketing researchers must keep both marketing research and marketing management in mind to be sure their research focuses on real problems.

Marketing managers must be involved in marketing research too. Many marketing research details can be handled by company or outside experts. But marketing managers must be able to explain what their problems are – and what kind of information they need. They should be able to communicate with specialists in the specialists’ language. Marketing managers may only be “consumers” of research. But they should be informed consumers – able to explain exactly what they want from the research. They should also know about some of the basic decisions made during the research process so they know the limitations of the findings.

The marketing research process is a five-step application of the scientific method that includes:

1.Defining the problem.

2.Analyzing the situation.

3.Getting problem-specific data.

4.Interpreting the data.

5.Solving the problem.

Defining the problem is the most important – and often the most difficult – step in the marketing research process. Sometimes it takes over half the total time spent on a research project. But it’s time well spent if the objectives of the research are clearly defined. The best research job on the wrong problem is wasted effort.

When the marketing manager thinks the real problem has begun to surface, a situation analysis is useful. A situation analysis is an informal study of what information is already available in the problem area. It can

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help define the problem and specify what additional information – if any is needed.

The situation analysis usually involves informal talks with informed people. Informed people can be others in the firm, a few good middlemen who have close contact with customers, or others knowledgeable about the industry. In industrial markets – where the relations with customers are close – researchers may even call the customers themselves. Their inputs can help to sharpen the problem definition too.

The next step is to plan a formal research project to gather primary data. There are different methods for collecting primary data. Which approach to use depends on the nature of the problem and how much time and money are available.

In most primary data collection, the researcher tries to learn what customers think about some topic – or how they behave under some conditions. There are two basic methods of obtaining information about customers: questioning and observing. Questioning can range from qualitative to quantitative research. And many kinds of observing is possible.

It’s usually impossible for marketing managers to collect all the information they want about everyone in a population – the total group they are interested in. Marketing researchers typically study only a sample, a part of the relevant population. How well a sample represents the total population affects the results. Results from a sample that is not representative may not give a true picture.

In the problem-solution step, managers use the research results to make marketing decisions. Some researchers – and some managers – are fascinated by the interesting tidbits of information that come from the research process. They are excited if the research reveals something they didn’t know before. But if research doesn’t have action implications, it has little value -- and suggests poor planning by the researcher and the manager.

When the research process is finished, the marketing manager should be able to apply the findings in marketing strategy planning – the choice of a target market or the mix of the four Ps. If the research doesn’t provide information to help guide these decisions, the company has wasted research time and money.

This step is very important because it is the reason for and logical conclusion to the whole research process. This final step must be anticipated at each of the earlier steps.

Use the above text and say which statements are false and which are true. Correct the false ones.

1. It is possible for managers to keep up with all the changes taking place in their markets.

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2.Managers in some consumer product companies make any major decisions without the support of the marketing research department.

3.The basic reason for doing marketing research is to get information that people can trust in making decision.

4.Many marketing research details can be handled by company or outside experts.

5.Defining the problem is the most important – and often the easiest – step in the marketing research process.

6.The situation analysis usually involves informal talks with consumers.

7.There are two basic methods of obtaining information about customers: questioning and observing.

8.Marketing researchers typically study only a sample, a part of the relevant population.

9.In the situation analysis step, managers use the research results to make marketing decisions.

10.When the research process is finished, the marketing manager should be able to apply the findings in the marketing strategy planning.

Text 4

Read the text and get ready to define all the variables in the marketing mix: Product, Price, Promotion, Place. Give some examples of product decisions marketing managers make: Place decisions. Promotion decisions. Price decisions.

Marketing Mix

There are many possible ways to satisfy the needs of target customers. A product can have many different features and quality levels. Service levels can be adjusted. The package can be of various sizes, colours, or materials. The brand name and warranty can be changed. Various advertising media – newspapers, magazines, radio, television, billboards – may be used. A company’s own sales force or other sales specialists can be used. Different prices can be charged. Price discounts may be given, and so on. With so many possible variables, is there any way to help organize all these decisions and simplify the selection of marketing mixes? The answer is yes.

It is useful to reduce all the variables in the marketing mix to four basic ones:

Product area is concerned with developing the ”right” product for the target market. This offering may involve a physical good, a service, or a blend of both. Merchandise generally similar in appearance, that is, in

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style or design, but varying in such elements as size, price, and quality is collectively known as a product line. Product lines must be intimately correlated with consumer needs and wants.

In order to develop a line effectively, marketing research is conducted to study consumer behaviour. Changing attitudes and modes of living directly affect the salability of products. For example, the trend to informal dress has changed clothing styles drastically. Also, a high-income economy triggers a demand for products very different from those selected in a declining business cycle. The availability or lack of disposable income, meaning income over and above that spent for basic necessities such as food, shelter, and clothing, affects the buying pattern for socalled luxury products. Similarly, the purchase of durable or long-lived goods, such as refrigerators, cars, and houses, may be deferred when the economy is declining and may increase rapidly in periods of prosperity. Staple goods, such as food and clothing, tend not to be seriously affected by the business cycle.

Consumers today expect product innovations and tend to react favourably to new features. This has an important bearing on the usable life deliberately designed into a product, which in turn has a significant effect on the costs to the manufacturer and ultimately on the price to the consumer. Competition between manufacturers of similar products naturally accelerates the speed of changes made in those products.

Price. The two basic components that affect product pricing are costs of manufacture and competition in selling. It is unprofitable to sell a product below the manufacturer’s production costs and unfeasible to sell it at a price higher than that at which comparable merchandise is being offered. Other variables also affect pricing. A company policy may require a minimum profit on new product lines or a specified return on investments, or discounts may be offered on purchases in quantity.

Attempts to maintain resale prices were facilitated for many years under federal and state fair-trade laws. These have now been nullified, prohibiting manufacturers from controlling the prices set by wholesalers and retailers. Such control can be still maintained if the manufacturers wish to market directly through their own outlets. Attempts have also been made to maintain product-price competition in order to minimize the danger of injuring small businesses.

Promotion is concerned with telling the target market about the “right” product. Promotion includes personal selling, mass selling, and sales promotion. It is the marketing manager’s job to blend these methods.

Personal selling involves direct communication between sellers and potential customers. Personal selling usually happens face-to-face, but sometimes the communication occurs over the telephone. Personal sell-

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ing lets the salesperson adapt the firm’s marketing mix to each potential customer. But this individual attention comes at a price; personal selling can be very expensive. Often this personal effort has to be blended with mass selling and sales promotion.

Mass selling is communicating with large numbers of customers at the same time. The main from of mass selling is advertising – any paid form of nonpersonal presentation of ideas, goods, or services by an identified sponsor. Publicity – any unpaid form of nonpersonal presentation of ideas, goods, or services – is another important form of mass selling.

Sales promotion refers to those promotion activities – other than advertising, publicity, and personal selling – that stimulate interest, trial, or purchase by final customers or others in the channel. This can involve use of coupons, point-of-purchase materials, samples, signs, catalogues, novelties, and circulars. Sales promotion specialists work with the personal selling and mass selling people.

Place is concerned with all the decisions involved in getting the “right” product to the target market’s place. A product isn’t much good to a customer if it isn’t available when and where it’s wanted. A product reaches customers through a channel of distribution. A channel of distribution is any series of firms (or individuals) from producer to final user or consumer.

Some products are marketed most effectively by direct sale from manufacturer to consumer. Among these are durable equipment, for example, computers, office equipment, industrial machinery and supplies, and consumer specialties, such as vacuum cleaners and life insurance. The direct marketing of products such as cosmetics and household needs is very important. Formerly common “door-to-door products”, these are now usually sold by the more sophisticated “house party” technique.

Most consumer products, however, move from the manufacturer through agents to wholesalers and then to retailers, ultimately reaching the consumer. Determining how products should move through wholesale and retail organizations is another major marketing decision.

Wholesalers distribute goods in large quantities, usually to retailers, for resale. Some retail businesses have grown so large, however, that they have found it more profitable to bypass the wholesaler and deal directly with the manufacturers or their agents.

Retailing has undergone even more change. Intensive preselling by manufacturers and the development of minimum-service operations, for example, self-service in department stores, have drastically changed the retailer’s way of doing business. More recently, warehouse retailing has become a major means of retailing higher-priced consumer goods such as furniture, appliances, and electronic equipment.

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Transporting and warehousing merchandise are also technically within the purview of marketing. Products are often moved several times as they go from producer to consumer. Products are carried by rail, truck, ship, airplane, and pipeline. Efficient traffic management determines the best method and timetable of shipment for any particular product.

Sometimes a channel system is quite short. It may run directly from a producer to a final user or consumer. This is especially common in business markets and in the marketing of services. Often the system is more complex – involving many different kinds of intermediaries and specialists. And if a marketing manager has several different target markets, several different channels of distribution might be needed.

Text 5

Read the text and be ready to fulfill the task that follows it.

International Marketing

Stated simply, international marketing is marketing across national boundaries. Since the end of World War II, improved travel, communications, and technology have fostered a tenfold increase in trade among nations.

The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) was an international agreement established in 1948 that sought to “liberalize world trade and place it on a secure basis, thereby contributing to economic growth and development and to the welfare of the world’s peoples”. It assisted in reducing trade barriers around the world and in creating more favourable conditions for world trade. Since GATT was established, this agreement has helped build world trade from $60 billion to $6 trillion annually. However, GATT negotiations “to liberalize world trade” could bog down and extend for years because of the desire of countries to protect jobs in their domestic industries.

Benefits and difficulties. A company choosing to enter international markets can achieve many benefits, but it can also encounter many difficulties.

The main reason for companies to do international marketing is to exploit a better business opportunity in terms of increased sales and profits. Either firms are limited in their home country or their opportunities are great in the foreign countries.

Many companies find themselves with little room for growth in their domestic market. Competition may increase and leave a smaller portion of the pie to enjoy, or demand may shift to a newer, better product. The economic environment in the home country may be undesirable

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because of higher taxes or a recession. It would seem logical to turn to other markets in any of these cases, as Japan’s Honda has done.

So foreign markets can offer an opportunity for growth. A product that is mature and facing dwindling sales at home may be new and exciting in other countries. For example, France’s Sodima whose Yoplait yogurt was in a mature phase of its product life cycle at home, was happy to license its product to General Mills for sale in the United States, where yogurt sales were growing rapidly. Similarly, Kellogg hopes that its Corn Flakes will catch hold in France, where the product is at an early stage in its product life cycle and competition in the ready-to-eat cereal market is less intense than in the United States. The following list summarizes the main reasons why U.S. companies consider entering international markets.

1.To counter adverse economic factors in the home market.

2.To extend a product’s life cycle.

3.To reduce or avoid competition.

4.To enhance economies of scale in production and marketing.

5.To spread fixed costs over more units sold.

6.To dispose inventories.

7.To export (and import) new technology.

8.To increase profits/shareholder economic well-being.

Is international marketing easy? Not in the least. For the U.S. firms anxious to enter the Japanese market and make profits quickly, strategy consultant Kenichi Ohmae reminds them it took perhaps 50 years to build their U.S. firm and 15 years to develop their European business. So he asks these firms to recognize that in entering the Japanese market – one of the toughest markets in the world – it may take at least 25 years to achieve the same success it found in the United States or Europe. Although international marketing involves the same principles of domestic marketing, those principles must be applied with care.

Campbell Soup, the company with 60 percent market share in the U.S. wet soups category, lost $30 million in Great Britain. The problem was that Campbell didn’t clearly communicate that the soup was condensed, and consumers saw it was a poor value compared with the larger cans stocked next to it.

Americans recognize the brand names of foreign products that have been introduced successfully here: Honda and BMW cars, Sony TV sets, Nestle candy bars, and Shell gasoline products.

Global versus customized products. As international marketing grows, firms selling both consumer and industrial products in foreign countries face a dilemma: should they use a global or customized strategy in the products they sell, or a strategy in between?

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A global approach is an international marketing strategy that assumes that the way the product is used and the needs it satisfies are universal. Therefore, the marketing mix need not be adjusted for each country. In contrast, a customized approach (or local approach) is an international marketing strategy that assumes that the way the product is used and the needs it satisfies are unique to each country. This then requires a marketing mix tailored to the needs, values, customs, languages, and purchasing power of the target country. The global approach is less common but has been successful for some firms.

McDonald’s – the undisputed world hamburger rule – seems to have achieved the ideal hybrid between a global and a customized strategy. Although it has standardized much of its menu, it gives a degree of flexibility to franchisees to allow for local customer preferences in their countries. Experts have coined the term globalization to describe the McDonald’s approach, which is an international marketing strategy that seeks to combine the best features of both the global and customized (local) approaches by encouraging local managers to modify the global strategy, where appropriate, to the needs of customers in their country.

McDonald’s in Germany and France has beer on its menu, and its restaurants in Japan offer saki. In the Philippines, where noodle houses are popular, its customers can find – what else? – McSpaghetti!

Speak on the following:

1.Benefits and difficulties of international marketing.

2.The main reasons and alternatives of entering international marketing.

3.Global versus customized product.

;Language

1.Practise reading aloud the following words. If necessary, use a dictionary.

Transact; consumption; society; luxury; guide; allocate; purchase; scarce; supply; wholesale; challenger; market share; monopoly; niche; concept; procedure; approval; decision; analysis; qualitative; quantitative; suggest; research; target; consumer; manufacturer; minimize; coupon; sample; catalogue; technology; customized; globalization.

2.The word market can be used in many word combinations. Consult the dictionary and give the Russian equivalents of the following:

a) to enter the ~; to manipulate the ~; to meet with a ready ~; to oust from the ~; to rule the ~; to spoil the ~; to suit the ~; to play the ~; to split the ~; to congest the ~; to affect the ~;

b) black ~; buyers’ ~; capital ~; commodity ~; competitive ~; domestic ~; Eurocurrency ~; foreign/overseas/international ~; forward ~; free ~;

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heavy ~; job ~; narrow ~; outside ~; primary ~; secondary ~; sagging/ sick/soft ~; steady/stiff/strong ~; stock ~; world/embracing ~.

3. Look through the following list of derivatives and complete the sentences given below

Market; to market; marketeer; marketing; marketable; marketability; marketer

1.Fruit and vegetables are much cheaper from/in/on the … than in supermarket. 2. … were trying to convince men that such products were not just for women. 3. We like to get the … done on Thursday so we can have the weekend free. 4. How do you expect us to sell something that has such low … . 5. She’s hoping for a career in …, advertising or public relations. 6. We estimate the potential … for the new phones to be around one million people in this country alone. 7. We put our house on the … as soon as house prices started to rise. 8. The indoor flower … is a big tourist attraction. 9. Dad’s gone … but he’ll be back in an hour. 10. Thanks for the offer but I’m not in the … for another car at the moment. 11. Our

…people have come up with a great idea for the launch of the model. 12. This is a highly … product. 13. Free … are vehemently opposed to the safety regulations which they say will increase employers’ costs. 14. They are asking $60000 for their flat, but the … price is nearer $55000. 15. The product would have sold more if it had been … better.

4.Complete the following passage using the word produce or its derivatives.

… is a very important economic activity. Whether for lack of skill and resources or just lack of time, most people don’t make most of the … they use. Picture yourself, for example, building a 10-speed bicycle, a compact disc player, or a digital watch – starting from scratch! We also turn to others to … …services – like health care, air transportation, and entertainment. Clearly, the high standard of living that most people in advanced economies enjoy is made possible by specialized … .

Although … is a necessary economic activity, some people overrate its importance in relation to marketing. Their attitude is reflected in the old saying: “Make better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door”. In other words, they think that if you just have a good … , your business will be a success.

The “better mousetrap” idea probably wasn’t true in Grandpa’s time, and it certainly isn’t true today. In modern economies, the grass grows high on the path to the Better Mousetrap Factory – if new mousetrap is not properly marketed.

The point is that … and marketing are both important parts of a total business system aimed at providing consumers with need-satisfying goods and services. Together, … and marketing supply five kinds of eco-

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nomic utility – form, task, time, place, and possession utility – that are needed to provide consumer satisfaction. Here, utility means the power to satisfy human needs.

Read the passage again and answer the following question: How does marketing relate to production?

5. Give the synonyms to the following:

Goods, scarce, to demand, viewpoint, wage, profit, to offer, to buy, desire, competition, to encourage, frequently, entire, competitor, to expand, attempt; to increase, recession, pervasive, to enhance, warehouse, durables, staple products, to accelerate, to convince, utilization, potent, manufacturer, drastically to meet the needs, research, basic, reason, to make decisions, purpose.

6. Match the verb with the correct preposition, then give their Russian equivalents.

to allocate; to concentrate; to approve; to focus; to spend; to involve; to depend; to have contact; to be devoted; to do; to succeed; to communicate; to specialize; to have effect; to adapt; to refer; to be concerned.

7. Match the definitions with the words given below.

Market research, marketer, consumer, compete, consumerism, market price, market forces, target market, marketing mix, central markets, middleman, channel of distribution, substitutes, market development, market penetration, market segment, trademark

1. A social movement that seeks to increase the rights and powers of consumers. 2. Try to do or be better than someone else. 3. A price which is likely to be paid for something. 4. The controllable variables the company puts together to satisfy the target group. 5. Someone who works in or supports a particular market system. 6. A person who buys goods or services for their own use. 7. The collection and examination of information about things that people buy or might buy and their feelings about things they have bought. 8. The forces that decide price levels in an economy or trading systems whose activities are not influenced or limited by governments. 9. Convenient places where buyers and sellers can meet one-on-one to exchange goods and services. 10. Any series of firms (or individuals) from producer to final user or consumer. 11. Trying to increase sales by selling present products in new markets. 12. A fairly homogeneous (similar) group of customers to whom a company wishes to appeal. 13. A person who buys goods from a producer and makes a profit by selling them to a shop or a user. 14. Products that offer the buyer a choice. 15. Trying to increase sales of a firm’s present products

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