Vocabulary notes

data (pl от datum) – данные, факты, сведения, информация

meaningful – полный значения, смысла; выразительный

inherent – присущий, свойственный

track – прослеживать

primary data – первичные данные

secondary data – вторичные данные

survey – опрос, анкета, обследование

bias – отклонение; предвзятость

twisted – (зд) искажённый

respondent – респондент ( отвечающий, опрашиваемый)

lead astray – сбить с пути, ввести в заблуждение

stem – останавливать, выдерживать натиск, оказывать сопротивление

archcompetitor – главный конкурент

mount – (зд) предпринять, организовать

salvage – спасать, сохранять

public outcry – общественный протест

rocky course – тернистый путь

TEXT 13

SELLING DREAMS

Ferrari, Italy’s maker of sports and racing cars, is among the three most recognizable brands in the world. The company got its high profile among the world’s corporate giants without the help, for most of its existence, of an advertising department. Only as recently as 1993 did Ferrari create a marketing department. “Just parking our exciting automobiles is enough to draw the crowds,” writes Gian Luigi Longinotti-Buitoni, the author of a book called Selling Dreams.

Customers are now spending more money on products they desire rather than on products they simply need. All companies must therefore produce goods of very high quality. More importantly, they must establish a brand for years to come by giving it emotional qualities that match customers’ strongest desires. Like Ferrari, all companies must create and sell “dreams”.

Longinotti-Buitoni gives some interesting statistics about markets for luxury goods worldwide: Switzerland, with 220 Ferraris sold in 1997, is the largest market per capita for the car maker’s products; the company, on the other hand, sells only 2.7 percent of its cars to women; Rolex and the highest number of luxury watches are sold in Italy, while Japan has been consistently the leading market in the world for leather goods from Gucci, Ferragamo, Hermes and Louis Vuitton. China, amazingly, appears to be drinking a lot of Hennessy cognac.

Vocabularly notes

high profile – (зд) прекрасный имидж

luxury goods – предметы роскоши

per capita – на душу населения

TEXT 14

ADVERTISING

Advertising is the lifeblood of every free-market economy. It creates product awareness and stimulates consumer demand. People who don’t know a product won’t buy it. Advertising not only determines what we buy, but it shapes our view of the world. It tells us which remedies to take for headaches and indigestion, how we should dress, and what we should eat. The power of advertising is the art of taking little and making it much.

You have only to look around to agree with the estimate that the average person in this country is exposed to hundreds of advertising messages, perhaps as many as several thousand, every day. It’s a numbers game. If ads are shown to 10 million consumers, only a very small percentage will go to the store and buy the product. But if ads are shown continuously, year after year, an image is created and maintained.

The prevalence of advertising underscores its many advantages. It is the form of promotion over which the organization has the greatest control. In an advertisement, you can say whatever you want, as long as you stay within the boundaries of the law and conform to the moral and ethical standards of the advertising medium and trade associations. Of the various forms of promotion, it is the best for reaching mass audiences quickly at a low per-person cost.

Little wonder then that businesses of all kinds spend large amounts of money on advertising. The percentage of income that a company spends on advertising varies according to the product and the market. A cosmetics company Estee Lauder may spend 30 percent of total earnings to promote its products in a highly competitive market; a company that manufactures heavy industrial machinery may spend less than 1 percent. In most small businesses, the typical advertising budget is 2 to 5 percent of income.

Besides the budget differences, small businesses also handle their advertising differently from larger organizations. For example, in small companies, advertising is often handled by someone in the sales or marketing department – or directly by the company president. Large advertising projects are typically outsourced to noncompany advertising agencies or firms of marketing specialists who assist companies in planning and preparing advertisements. In contrast, larger companies often have enough personnel and resources to maintain a separate advertising department. Typically, internal advertising departments are responsible for establishing and maintaining an advertising budget, assisting the outside agency with developing advertising strategies, approving ad campaigns and handling miscellaneous advertising functions.