Talk about business and advertising

B2

Talk about business

and advertising
Learn how to market and advertise for businesses
by describing a product or service.

© 2021 Babbel GmbH, all rights reserved 1

 Talk about business and advertising

Mind map

Word or
topic
Word or Word or
topic topic

Advertising

Word or Word or
topic topic
Word or
topic

© 2021 Babbel GmbH, all rights reserved 2

 Talk about business and advertising

Read and discuss

Edward Bernays, whose parents emigrated from
Austria to the USA in the 1890s, was one of the most
influential figures in the field of advertising and
propaganda as he revealed their power in shaping
societies.

His ideas on how to successfully manipulate

consumers were adapted from the psychoanalytic
theories of his uncle, Sigmund Freud. Bernays posited
that humans were driven by unconscious desires that
could make them act dangerously. In order to save the
masses from themselves, he suggested that a
corporate elite should create new, conscious desires in
order for people to believe they were being supplied
with whatever their hearts desired so their endless
consumption led to economic benefit.

One of Bernays’ most famous campaigns was to

increase the number of female smokers in the 1920s by
rebranding cigarettes as “Torches of Freedom”.

© 2021 Babbel GmbH, all rights reserved 3

 Talk about business and advertising

Read and discuss

Helen Lansdowne Resor was born in 1886 in Kentucky

and became the first woman in American history to
head national advertising campaigns.

She started out writing retail advertisements for a

Cincinnati-based newspaper, but it was not long
before she moved into copywriting. This led to a
long-serving role at the agency of J. Walter Thompson
Co., where she eventually became vice president.

Lansdowne Resor’s contributions to the industry

cannot be overstated as she knocked down doors for a
lot of women, believing that whoever you are, you
should be welcomed into the workplace. In fact,
Lansdowne Resor’s gender perhaps gave her a fresh
perspective which resulted in one of her most
impactful campaigns from 1911 that marketed soap
with the tag “A skin you love to touch” and introduced
sex appeal into the world of advertising.

© 2021 Babbel GmbH, all rights reserved 4

 Talk about business and advertising

Whoever, whenever, whatever

We can use whoever as a relative pronoun to express someone or anyone who does a
particular thing:

...believing that whoever you are, you should be welcomed into the workplace.

We can use whenever as a conjunction to join clauses that express no restriction on time or
every time that a particular thing happens:

We’ll release the advert whenever it’s ready.

We can use whatever as a relative pronoun to refer to anything or everything that happens
or is available, wanted, needed, etc:

…they were being supplied with whatever their hearts desired…

© 2021 Babbel GmbH, all rights reserved 5

 Talk about business and advertising

Complete the sentences

1. _____ I travel, I fly business class.

2. I read _____ I can about the latest advertising theories.

3. _____ is the matter?

4. Tell _____ is waiting that the meeting has been delayed.

5. I skip forward _____ that advert comes on as I can’t stand it!

6. _____ gives the best pitch, will get the company account.

© 2021 Babbel GmbH, all rights reserved 6

 Talk about business and advertising

Ask and answer

● What’s your favourite/least favourite advert?

● Is all advertising coercive?

● What makes an advertising campaign

successful?

● Is there too much advertising?

● Can companies advertise whatever they want

to whoever they want or are constraints in your
country?

● Does a businesses success rely on its

advertising campaign?

© 2021 Babbel GmbH, all rights reserved 7

 Talk about business and advertising

Your turn!

● You and your partner host a podcast that relies

on advertising for financial support.

● Create an advert for a business to read out on

your podcast. Think about:

○ The topic/subject of your podcast

○ The type of business you’re advertising.

● Read out your advert.

© 2021 Babbel GmbH, all rights reserved 8

 Talk about business and advertising

In this class, I was able to...

IMPROVE PRACTISE REVIEW

Remember to
save the chat!

© 2021 Babbel GmbH, all rights reserved 9

 Talk about business and advertising

And now? Practise more with Babbel!

With your Babbel App With our podcasts With our magazine

Remember to
save the chat!

© 2021 Babbel GmbH, all rights reserved 10