November 2008

Page 15

Master market speak

Looking for a marketing-themed filler or more substantial activity? These could be just the ticket
Marketing a new product
Focus: Discussion; creativity development; marketing Level: IntermediateAdvanced 1. Ask the class to brainstorm ten common objects. List these on the board. 2. Tell the class to forget this list for a moment and to brainstorm a new list of ten materials that objects can be made of/from (wood, glass, etc.). Write these on the board. 3. Ask everyone to speculate on the most unlikely combinations of materials and objects. 4. Discuss and vote on the strangest combination. 5. Form groups of 35 students and ask each group to prepare a 15-second radio advertisement for the product voted the strangest. Set a 1015 minute time limit. 6. Each group presents their radio advertisement to the class.
Adapted from:The Standby Book: Activities for the Language Classroom , Cambridge University Press (978-0-521-55860-0)

A new logo
Focus: Descriptions, making predications. Level: Mid-intermediate and above Students bring examples of their company/school logo, letterheads and other material that identifies the corporate image. They introduce their company/school and how the features, services and philosophy of the company are reflected in the materials. The Logo Factory (www.thelogofactory.com) has a large collection of logos created for different companies. Encourage students to look at some in groups and predict what companies might have these logos. Allow them time to look at the descriptions of the logos that interest them by clicking on the logo and going to the corresponding page. Bearing in mind what they have just seen, ask them to cast a more critical eye over their company/school logo and discuss/draw in groups what they think they might be able to do with it.
Adapted from: The Internet and the Language Classroom, Cambridge University Press(978-0-521-68446-0)

Brand associations
Focus: Exploring brands and brand images Level: ElementaryAdvanced Write a well-known brand on the board (e.g. Toyota) and ask students to brainstorm the feelings, ideas and images that they associate with it. Encourage them to do this as quickly as they can without much thinking. Explore with students where these associations come from. How much are they to do with the companys advertising? Repeat for another, contrasting brand.
Adapted from: Five-Minute Activities for Business English, Cambridge University Press (978-0-521-54741-3)

Favourite jobs
Focus: Ranking jobs from most popular to least popular Level: Pre-intermediatepost-intermediate Compile a sheet of job adverts covering a variety of jobs. Add explanations of words where necessary. Make a copy of this sheet for each student. 1. Begin the lesson by discussing the topic of jobs with students. Use prompt-questions to elicit their opinions, e.g. Which jobs do you think are interesting/difficult/well-paid? Which jobs do you think you could do well? 2. Give students a copy of the job advert sheet and allow them a few moments to read this quickly. 3. Ask your students to consider the jobs carefully and rank them from the job they would most like to do to the one they would least like to do. They should write their results as a list. 4. Form groups of three or four students and ask them to compare their lists and explain the reasons for their choices. 5. With the whole class, try to find out the three most popular jobs. Call out each in turn and ask for a show of hands if the job was first, second or third on a students list. If so, award the job one point. Add up the points to discover the top three choices.
Adapted from: Using Newspapers in the Classroom, Cambridge University Press (978-0-521-64526-3

Mini-presentations
Focus: Demonstrating presentations Level: ElementaryAdvanced 1. Choose one of the following topics for a very short presentation of 23 minutes that you will give to the students. My country/city Sales presentation of an article in the room My current/previous job 2. Give the presentation to the students, following the standard structure. The presentation does not have to be particularly good, or funny. The idea is to show them that youre willing to try and so encourage them to, and to show them the standard presentation structure: Introduction 2 or 3 points Conclusion/summary Inviting questions 3. Answer a few questions briefly in the remaining two minutes. 4. Students prepare and give their own mini-presentations in future lessons.
Adapted from: Five-Minute Activities for Business English, Cambridge University Press (978-0-521-54741-3)

Ad adjectives
Focus: Matching adjectives to advertisements Level: IntermediatePost-intermediate Cut out ten or more advertisements with large headings or slogans containing an adjective. Blank out the adjective from each (make a note of them for yourself) and display the ads around the classroom numbering each for reference purposes. Refer your students to the advertisements and explain that you have deleted one word an adjective from each advertisement. Tell your students to read the advertisements carefully and to make a note of suitable adjectives to fill each empty space. When your students are ready, ask them to compare their answers with a partner. Check the answers of the whole class and discuss the acceptability of the alternative answers they have thought of. Depending on the advertisements, an answer may be wrong in the sense that it does not collocate with, for example, a particular noun in the advertisement. In this case, elicit possible collocations.
Adapted from: Using Newspapers in the Classroom , Cambridge University Press (978-0-521-64526-3)

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