Total Expenditure on Advertising and Promotion £1 million

Writing

Write your own advertisement of a product or service following the five stages from Reading II Think

Ahead task 1.

Critical thinking

1. Look at the scheme and explain why it is more profitable to buy things by personal selling than in the shop.

Personal selling

Buying Things in the Shop

Manufacturer - intermediary 1 – intermediary 2 – intermediary 3 – shop - customer

2. What problems might the following cause in some markets? Why?

The advertisement for painkillers that shows three pictures from left to right: first, someone with a headache, who is next seen taking the pain killer and, finally, smiling.

3. What problems might the following TV advert cause in some markets?

A woman is shown coming out of the shower and getting dressed. In the following scene, a man is seen taking flowers from a restaurant table. In the final scene, the man gives the flowers to the woman, they look into each other’s eyes, and leave together.

Role play 1

Choose a product or service that you might talk about with friends: cars, hi-fi equipment, holidays, language courses, a builder/painter to do work on your house or flat.

Work with a partner. One of you wants to buy one of the things. The other has just bought the product or service and recommends the make they bought or the service they used. Role play the conversation.

Role play 2

Work with a partner. One of you is the Marketing Director for a chocolate company or a canned and frozen food company. The other is a Creative Director at an advertising agency that wants the Marketing Director to spend money on TV advertising. The Marketing Director does not want to spend money on this and suggests some of the alternatives: direct mail, tasting of the products in supermarkets. Internet advertising, sponsorship of sports/cultural events, coupons (pieces of paper showing a reduction that you can ask for when you buy something).

Role play the conversation, with each side giving reasons for their choice of marketing activities.

Project work

Presentations

Presentation situations:

• An architect shows plans for a new local museum and art gallery and talks about its benefits.

• A traffic expert talks about the benefits of a proposed development (a new road, bridge, etc.) to improve the traffic flow in your area.

• A film director goes to a film company with the plans for a new film and talks about a story, the stars, the budget, etc., trying to persuade the company about how profitable it will be for them.

1. Getting started. You are going to give one of the presentations above. Use your own name or invent a name for yourself.

2. Introducing the topic. Make a transparency with the titles of the main sections of your presentation, or write them on the blackboard. Begin your presentation with saying how sections your talk is divided into and what they are. Say how long you will speak.

3. Dealing with questions. Before beginning the talk itself, the speaker says if they are willing to answer questions during the talk, or if people should keep questions to the end.

After the speaker has started, one member of the group asks a question.

Different members of the group should speak as presenters, and the other members as the audience. Each speaker should only give a small part of their presentation, with one question from the audience.

KEYS