Vocabulary notes

Indigestion – несварение, нарушение пищеварения

estimate – оценка

expose – выставлять напоказ

advertising message – рекламное сообщение по радио или телевидению

ads = advertisements – рекламные обьявления, реклама

underscore – подчёркивать

advertising medium – реклама в средствах массовой информации

per-person cost – затраты на одного человека

outsource – заключать соглашение с внешними организациями на

выполнение некоторых функций

noncompany advertising agency – рекламное агентство, не относящееся к

компании

miscellaneous – разнообразный; смешанный

TEXT 15

DIRECT MARKETING

Direct marketing as defined by the Direct Marketing Association is any direct communication to a consumer or business recipient designed to generate (1) a response in the form of an order, (2) a request for further information, or (3) a visit to a store or other place of business for purchase of a specific product or service. Direct marketing is both a nonretail sales vehicle and a form of promotion. Four of the most popular direct-marketing categories are direct mail, telemarketing, television infomercials, and electronic media.

Direct mail is the principal vehicle for direct marketing. It includes both catalog sales and single items marketed through Postal Service and private carriers. For many companies, mailing out letters, brochures, pamphlets, flyers, videotapes, diskettes, and other promotional items to customers and prospects is the most effective way to increase sales.

Another popular form of direct marketing is telemarketing,or selling over the telephone. Businesses like telemarketing because it keeps selling costs down and is an efficient way to reach a great number of customers. Many customers like it because it saves them time. Telemarketing can be broken down into two classes: Outbound telemarketing occurs when companies place cold calls to potential customers that have not requested a sales call; inbound telemarketing establishes phone lines for customers to call in to place orders.

Television infomercials are long, informative commercials that have the appearance of regular programs. Although only one out of 40 infomercials turns a profit, some recent infomercials have been quite successful. For instance, Ab gadgets that made it easier for you to do sit-ups racked in over $250 million in sales from television and over $200 million in retail sale.

Electronic marketing is becoming a sales medium with unprecedented speed. Although electronic shopping is still in its infancy, predictions about its near-term potential vary widely – from $7billion to $20 billion in Internet sales. Electronic catalogs (catalogs on computer disk or published over the Internet) allow marketers to reach an enormous number of potential customers at a relatively low cost. Consider AMP, an electronics manufacturer in Pennsylvania. The company was spending about $8 million to $10 million a year on its paper –based catalog, and as soon as it was shipped, some of the information was already out of date. So like many, AMP is switching to electronic catalogs. Electronic catalogs provide an easy way to search for products as well as up-to-minute information. A cybermall is a Web-based retail complex that houses dozens of virtual storefronts or Internet-based stores that sell everything from computer software to gourmet chocolates. Like their physical counterparts, these Internet storefronts rely on a lot of “walk-in” traffic. For instance, shoppers who come to the cybermall looking for a new CD might also click on the cyber shoe store.

Perhaps the most exciting development under way in electronic marketing is the marriage of television and computer technologies. Home shopping networks allow customers to call in their orders after seeing merchandise on TV, but interactive TV goes one step further, allowing consumers to use a computer keyboard and modem to communicate directly with sellers.