management marketing

EXERCISE 1
All the words in the box form strong collocations with the word consumer. Match up the terms in
the box with the definitions below.

consumer behaviour consumer boycott

consumer confidence consumer credit
consumer durables consumer goods
consumer market consumer panel
consumer profile consumer spending

1. A description of the characteristics of the consumers of a particular product, in terms of age, class,
income, and so on.
2. A group of shoppers who record their purchases of all or selected products, for use in market
research.
3. Goods in everyday use, such as food, clothing, household goods, and services such as hairdressing,
retail banking, and so on.
4. Goods that last a long time, such as cars, 'white goods' (fridges, cookers), 'brown goods'
(televisions, stereos), and so on.
5. How people in general feel about their job security, future economic prospects, and so on.
6. How different people react to marketing stimuli, depending on their psychology, their cultural and
social background, and their economic situation.
7. The amount of money being spent on consumer goods and services, which fluctuates with
recessions and booms.
8. The amount of money borrowed by people to buy goods and services, depending on confidence
and the economic cycle.
9. The individuals and households that buy products for their own personal consumption.
10. When customers refuse to buy the products of a company they disapprove of for ethical or political
reasons.

EXERCISE 2

Complete the paragraph with collocations from Exercise 1.

A government spokesman yesterday insisted that the latest figures showed that (1) was
returning, and (2) was increasing. Several retailers disagreed, and suggested that sales of
(3) had only increased in January because all the major stores had had extended Winter
Sales and discounted prices by up to 20%. The High Street banks say that the level of (4) .
remains low, with many people paying off earlier debts, and afraid to take on new ones.

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 management 3.21 marketing

Marketing Channels

EXERCISE 1

Rearrange the sentences below to make a complete text about marketing channels.

a. If there's only one intermediary, it could be a dealer or retailer for consumer goods, or a sales
agent or broker for industrial goods.

b. In other words, decisions about the location of manufacturing and assembly plants and ware-
houses, inventory levels, and transport methods should ideally begin with the needs of customers.

c. More complex channels add further intermediaries such as transport companies, wholesalers, and
independent distributors.

d. Most producers, however, use a marketing channel involving one or more specialised
intermediaries.

e. Of course, the choice of which physical distribution channels to use should not come at the end
of the marketing process.

f. On the contrary, according to the logic of marketing, companies should begin with considerations
such as the location of target customers, and work back to raw material sources and manufacturing.

g. Some manufacturers do direct marketing, selling their goods directly to the end-users.

h. These are essentially a short delivery time and a guarantee that products arrive in good condition.

i. They can reach these consumers with their own door-to-door sales reps; by direct mail (sending
catalogues, leaflets, brochures, order forms, and so on by post); by telephone selling; or by
advertising and receiving orders via the Internet.

j. Yet the demands of retailers and customers clearly also have to be balanced against excessive
inventory costs, as large inventories tie up capital and increase the risk of spoilage or obsolescence.

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 management 3.21 marketing

EXERCISE 2

Add appropriate words from the text to these sentences:

1. We do marketing, by mail and telephone.

2. Last year we mailed our to over 10 million homes.
3. Obviously most goods are sold through retailers.
4. Producers of goods often have a large network of sales agents.
5. It's logical to store finished products close to your customers.
6. This is a key element in choosing the of a warehouse.
7. Both retailers and customers generally demand a short time.
8. The trouble with having a large is that it immobilizes a lot of money.

EXERCISE 3
Down

I 2 1. I'm a (11). I stock and resell car

J
parts to half the garages in this city.
4
2. He's an (5) for three German
companies. He's responsible for selling their

}-J
5

products in Britain.

6
3. (and 8 Down) I'm a (5, 3) for a
clothing manufacturer. I'm part of a team,
8 but I have my own territory and try to sell to
9
customers in this district.
7. See 4 Across.
8. See 3 Down.
Across

1. She's an art (6). She buys paintings from artists and sells them in her gallery.
4. (and 7 Down) We don't use any intermediaries, but sell directly to the (3-4)
5. Look, I'm a (8), and these are my prices. I can't give you a wholesale price, even if you
buy my entire stock.
6. I'm an insurance (6). I advise customers where they can get the best deal. In other
words, I bring together sellers and customers, and the seller pays me a commission.
9. This warehouse is owned by a big (10) which stocks goods from lots of suppliers, and
distributes them to retailers when they place orders.

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 m an ag em ent 3.23 m a rk et in g

Advertising

EXERCISE 1

Select the correct alternatives to complete the text.

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 free (1) advertising, which
occurs when satisfied customers recommend products or services to their friends, but very few
companies rely on this alone.

Large companies could easily set up their own advertising departments, but they tend to hire the
services of a/an (2) A contract to produce the advertisements for a specific company,
product, or service is known as a/an (3) . . . . . . . . .. . The client company generally decides on its
advertising (4) , the amount of money it plans to spend in developing its advertising and
buying media time or space. It also provides a (5) , or a statement of the objectives of the
advertising, as well as an overall advertising strategy concerning what (6) . . . . . . . . . . is to be
communicated. The choice of how and where to advertise (newspapers and magazine ads, radio and
television commercials, cinema ads, posters on hoardings (GB) or billboards (US), point-of-purchase
displays in stores, mailings of leaflets, brochures or booklets, and so on), and in what proportions, is
called a (7) . . . . . . . . .. . The set of customers whose needs a company plans to satisfy, and therefore
to expose to an advertisement are known as the (8) market. The advertising of a particular
product or service during a particular period of time is called an advertising (9) .

Favourable mentions of a company's products or services, in any medium read, viewed or heard by a
company's customers or potential customers, that are not paid for, are called (10) .

1. a. mouth-to-mouth b. mouth-to-ear c. word-of-mouth

2. a. advertising agency b. advertising company c. public relations company
3. a. account b. arrangement c. deal
4. a. campaign b. budget c. effort
5. a. brief b. dossier c. message
6. a. facts b. message c. opinions
7. a. medium plan b. medias plan c. media plan
8. a. aimed b. segmented c. target
9. a. campaign b. mix c. plan
10. a. promotions b. publicity c. public relations

EXERCISE 2

Complete the following collocations:

1. to persuade customer . 4. to communicate a message .

2. to hire advertising
. agency 5. to satisfy needs .
3. to buy media,stage/time
.. 6. a target market .

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 m a n ag cin e n t 3.24 marketing

Personal Selling

EXERCISE 1

Complete the text using these words:

advertising channel closing collaborate

communicating competitors customers diversified
gathering maximizing quota salary

What do I do? I'm a salesman. Well, actually, because there are several women in our sales force, I
guess I should say I'm a salesperson or a sales representative, or a sales rep for short. My job is to contact
existing and prospective (1) customers Some salespeople are based in companies' offices, but I've
always worked "in the field", travelling and visiting customers.
You know, sales reps are often the only person from a company that customers ever see, so we're an
extremely important (2) channel of information. Someone calculated a long time ago that the
majority of new product ideas come from customers, via sales reps. So our tasks include prospecting for
customers, (3) communicatinginformation to them about our company's products and services, selling these
products and services, helping the customers with possible technical problems, and (4) gathering .
market research information. Since we have to be able to recognize customers' needs and problems, we
often (5) collaborate with engineers, particularly for technical products, and with market researchers.
The trouble with personal selling is that it's the most expensive element in the marketing mix, so
most firms only use it sparingly, often as a complement to (6) advertising Sales reps like me are more
often necessary for (7) closing deals than for providing initial information.
But these days we think about more than making a single deaL I mean, head office keep reminding
us of "the marketing concept", and telling us not to think about making short-term sales but about
solving customers' problems, bringing back information, achieving long-term sales, and
(8) maximizingprofits. We have to know all about the company and its products, about the customers,
and about (9) competitors Of course, we also have to know how to give an effective sales presentation!
In this company, each salesperson is allocated a particular territory in which to represent our entire
range of products. This allows us to cultivate personal contacts, and means we don't have to travel too
much. But I know other companies with highly (10) diversified products or customers that prefer to
have different sales reps for different products, or for different sets of customers.
Like most salesmen, I receive a fixed (11) salary plus commission on the quantity I sell. I'm
also set a quarterly sales (12) quota that I'm expected to meet, as part of the company's annual
marketing plan.

EXERCISE 2

Complete the following collocations:

1. prospective customers. 6. to solve a problems .

2. a channel of information. 7. to achieve long-term profits/sales
.
3. new product ideas . 8. to give a sales presentation
.
4. to recognize customers' . 9. to cultivate personal contacts .
needs/ problems
5. to close a deals . 10. to meet a sales .
quota

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 management 3.25 marketing

Sales Promotions

EXERCISE 1

Match the terms on the left with the definitions on the right:

1. brand-switcher a. a certificate offering consumers a price

reduction on a particular product
b. a consumer who shows no loyalty to a
2. brand image
particular brand, but changes among
competing products
3. brand loyalty c. a popular product sold with no profit, in order
to attract customers to a store
4. free sample d. a small amount of a new product given to
consumers to encourage them to try it
e. someone who purchases goods or services
5. industrial buyer that will be used in the production or supply
of other goods or services
6. initial trial f. strongly influenced by the price when buying
goods or services
g. the average length of time between a
7. loss leader consumer's repeat purchases of the same
product
8. price-conscious (adjective) h. the commitment of consumers to a particular
brand
i. the first time a consumer buys a product to
9. purchasing cycle
see what it's like
j. the public's beliefs and perceptions about a
10. redeemable coupon particular product

b j d i f g a
h e c

EXERCISE 2

Match up the following collocations:

1. to attract a. a competitor's promotion

2. to counter b. a price reduction
3. to maintain c. a new product
4. to offer d. customers
5. to stimulate e. market share
6. to try out f. sales

1 d 2 f 3 e 4 b 5 a 6 c

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 management 3.25 marketing

EXERCISE 3

Insert the ten terms from Exercise 1 in the gaps in the text below. You may need the plural.

Sales promotions such as free samples, price reductions, redeemable coupons, and competitions,
are short-term tactics designed to stimulate either earlier or stronger sales of a product.
(1) . . free
. . .sample
. . . . . . . . . , for example, combined with extensive advertising, may generate the
(2) Initial trial of a newly launched product. Price reductions or (3) redeemable coupon
can be
used to attract (4) price-conscious brand-switchers to try a mature brand, or to reward regular users
for their (5) brand loyalty and to maintain market share. But brand-switchers being brand-
switchers, sales promotions are only likely to produce a short-term response, unless the brand has
good qualities that non-brand users did not know about.

Apart from attracting new users, price cuts in supermarkets can be used to counter a promotion by a
competitor, or to sell excessive inventories, while the company reduces production. Retailers, rather
than manufacturers, also often regularly reduce the prices of specific items as (6) loss leader .
which bring customers into the shop where they will also buy other goods. Manufacturers' sales
promotions are generally temporary, lasting the average length of the (7) purchasing cycle , because a
product on offer too often appears to be cheap and therefore of low quality, which can seriously
damage its (8) brand image .

Sales promotions can also be used to encourage distributors and dealers to stock new items or larger
volumes, or to encourage off-season buying. Companies can aim promotions at their own sales force,
encouraging them to sell a new product or model, or to increase their activities in selling an existing
one.

Sales promotions can also be used in the business market, by suppliers of components and supplies, for
example. Yet (9) industrial buyers are generally more interested in high quality and reliable delivery;
unlike (10) brand-switchers , they tend not to be attracted by occasional price reductions.

EXERCISE 4

Now complete the following sentences about your own shopping habits:

I buy if the price is reduced.

I enter competitions, especially if you can win. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. .
I remember buying after receiving a free sample.
I use coupons because .
I am loyal to various brands, including .
On the other hand, for . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .. I often switch between brands.

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 m an a g em ent 3.26 marketing

Industrial Marketing

EXERCISE 1
Ten sentences in the text are unfinished. Choose the correct sentence endings from a to j below.

Quite apart from consumer markets, in which consumers buy products for direct consumption, there
exists an enormous producer or business or industrial market consisting of all the individuals, businesses
and institutions which acquire goods and services that are used in the production of other goods, or in
the supply of services. The industrial market is actually larger than the consumer market, because
[1. ...]. All of these have to be marketed, and there is more industrial than consumer marketing,
although few ordinary consumers realize this because [2....].

The buying process for industrial goods is different from that used for consumer goods. The customer
base - the number of buyers - is generally small, because [3 ]. The buyers of industrial goods are
less easy to persuade than most ordinary consumers, because [4 ]. The sales representatives working
for industrial marketers have to be equally well,trained and competent, because [5....].

The demand for industrial goods is a derived demand, because [6....]. Furthermore, demand is largely
inelastic, because [7....]. This is especially true of companies working with a just-in-time system,
which are interested in high quality, frequent and reliable delivery and long,term relationships, rather
than occasional price reductions.

The demand for capital goods such as plant and equipment, is also more volatile than that of consumer
goods, because [8....]. This pattern of investment is often described as the most important cause of
the business cycle.

Industrial marketers have to understand who is responsible for buying in companies and institutions,
and what criteria determine their choices, because [9. . . .]. Companies often require products
customized to their own specifications, so sellers are expected to understand a lot of technical details.
Yet even long,term relationships are no guarantee of future sales, because [10....].

a. companies are unlikely to buy larger quantities and increase their inventories in response to a
temporary sales promotion.
b. companies only make large expenditures on new production capacity when consumer demand is
increasing, and usually stop all capital investments if consumer demand stops growing.
c. industrial and institutional customers are often required to invite sealed bids and to give the
contract to the lowest quotation or tender.
d. industrial customers often develop close relations with sellers.
e. in this area, personal selling is generally more important than advertising, sales promotion and
publicity.
f. it depends on the demand for the consumer goods sold by the industrial producers.
g. many industries are dominated by only two or three large companies.
h. producers and suppliers of services require capital equipment such as buildings and machines, raw
materials and manufactured parts and components, supplies such as energy, pens and paper, and
services from cleaning to management consulting.
i. they are seldom exposed to it.
j. they are well-trained professionals who know exactly what they are doing.

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 management 3.26 marketing

EXERCISE 2

According to the text, are the following statements TRUE or FALSE?

1. The marketers of industrial goods frequently target TRUE/FALSE

a small number of customers.

2. Advertising, sales promotion and publicity are TRUE/FALSE

unimportant in industrial marketing.

3. In industrial marketing, there is often a direct TRUE/FALSE

relationship between price and the quantity sold.

4. The demand for industrial goods usually rises TRUE/FALSE

and falls along with consumer demand.

5. Just-in-time producers are not interested in TRUE/FALSE

low-cost suppliers.

6. The demand for capital goods is often cyclical. TRUE/FALSE

7. Industrial marketers often have to produce a TRUE/FALSE

unique product for a single customer.

8. In industrial markets, sellers often have to offer a price TRUE/FALSE

without knowing what prices their competitors are bidding.

EXERCISE 3

Add appropriate words from the text to these sentences:

1. All the and raw materials that make up manufactured products have to be
marketed.
2. Companies only invest in equipment when demand is increasing.
3. Manufacturers of specialised industrial goods usually have a fairly small customer .
4. In industrial marketing, the most important promotional tool is often selling.
5. The demand for industrial goods is from the underlying demand for consumer
goods.
6. The demand for industrial goods is generally , as manufacturers are unlikely to
respond to sales promotions.
7. The level of investment in production capacity is an important cause of changes in the business

8. Many manufacturers require unique machines that are specifically for them.
9. Companies often invite bids to build factories or supply machines, and give the contract to the
.............. tender.
10. When you make a bid, you don't know what your competitors are offering.

91