Inglés aplicado a la Publicidad y las Relaciones Públicas

UNIT TEN

SALES TECHNIQUES. Fairs and Sales

SALES TECNIQUES. ADVERTISING

If a retail chain is to maintain its profits, it is essential that stock moves in and out of
store quickly. Here department store personnel are discussing the eight different ways of
encouraging turnover listed below. Which is each person talking about? Fill in the
spaces.
introductory offers money-off coupons competitions jingles
free samples gimmicks demonstrators window display

1. We could get in product………………………. who would draw the crowds.

They could give away ………………………. of products.
2. Repeating ………………………. with intermittent soft music are what people
are most influenced by, in my opinion.
3. I’m in favour of ………………………. because we can advertise the prizes all
over the shops.
4. We want something unusual to make our stores different from others,
………………………. are a good idea, balloons, stickers, ball points and so on.
5. What about having ………………………. on all new own brand lines for a
period of a week, say a 5% or a 10% discount.
6. Couldn’t we concentrate more on our own-brand goods and provide
………………………. so that people will return to our shops.
7. I think frequent ………………………. changes are a good bet, for example
bedrooms one week, bathrooms, etc.

Reading

Advertising informs consumers about the
existence and benefits of products and services,
and attempts to persuade them to buy them. The
best form of advertising is probably word-of-
mouth advertising, which occurs when people
tell their friends about the benefits of products
and services that they have purchased. Yet
virtually no providers of goods or services rely
on this alone, but use paid advertising instead.
Indeed, many organizations also use
institutional or prestige advertising, which is
designed to build up their reputation rather than
to sell particular products.
Although large companies could easily set up
their own advertising departments, write their
own advertisements, and buy media space

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themselves, they tend to use the services of large
advertising agencies. These are likely to have
more resources, and more knowledge about all
aspects of advertising media than a single
company. The most talented advertising people
generally prefer to work for agencies rather
than individual companies as this gives the
chance to work on a variety of advertising
accounts (contracts to advertise products or
services). It is also easier for a dissatisfied
company to give its account to another agency
than it would be to fire its own advertising staff.
The client company generally gives the
advertising agency an agreed budget; a
statement of the objectives of the advertising
campaign, known as brief; and an overall
advertising strategy concerning the message to
be communicated to the target customers. The
agency creates advertisements (the word is
often abbreviated to adverts or ads), and
develop a media plan specifying which media –
newspapers, magazines, radio, television,
cinema, posters, mail, etc.- will be used and in
which proportions. (On television and radio,
ads are often known as commercials) Agencies
often produce alternative ads or commercials
that are pre-tested in newspapers, television
stations, etc. in different parts of a country
before a final choice is made prior to a national
campaign.
The agency’s media planners have to decide
what percentage of the target market they want
to reach (how many people will be exposed to
the ads) and the number of times they are likely
to see them. Advertising people talk about
frequency or ‘OTS’ (Opportunities To See) and
the threshold effect – the point at which
advertising becomes effective. The choice of
advertising media is generally strongly
influenced by the comparative cost of reaching
1,000 members of the target audience, the cost
per thousand (often abbreviated to CPM, using
the Roman numeral for 1,000). The timing of
advertising campaigns depends on factors such
as purchasing frequency and buyer turnover
(new buyers entering the market).
How much to spend on advertising is always
problematic. Some companies use the
comparative-parity method – they simply match
their competitors’ spending, thereby avoiding
advertising wars. Others set their ad budget at a
certain percentage of current sales revenue. But
both these methods disregard the fact that
increased ad spending or countercyclical
advertising can increase current sales. On the
other hand, excessive advertising is counter-
productive because after too many exposures
people tend to stop noticing ads, or begin to feel
them irritating. And once the most promising
prospective customers have been reached, there
are diminishing returns, i.e. an ever-smaller
increase in sales in relation to increased
advertising spending.

Vocabulary. Find the terms in the text which mean the following:
1. free advertising, when satisfied customers recommend products to their friends.
2. advertising that mentions a company’s name but not specific products.
3. companies that handle advertising for clients.
4. a contract with a company to produce its advertising.
5. the amount of money a company plans to spend in developing its advertising and
buying media time or space.
6. the statement of objectives of an advertising campaign that a client works out with an
advertising agency.
7. the advertising of a particular product or service during a particular period of time.
8. a defined set of customers whose needs a company plans to satisfy.
9. the people who choose where to advertise, in order to reach the right customers.
10. the fact that a certain amount of advertising is necessary to attract a prospective
customer’s attention.
11. choosing to spend the same amount on advertising as one’s competitors.
12. advertising during periods or seasons when sales are normally relatively poor.

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 Inglés aplicado a la Publicidad y las Relaciones Públicas

Discussion
Which of the following claims do you agree with?

1. Advertising is essential for business, especially for launching new consumer

products.

2. A large reduction of advertising would decrease sales.

3. Advertising often persuades people to buy things they don’t need.

4. Advertising often persuades people to buy things they don’t want.

5. Advertising lowers the public’s taste.

6. Advertising raises prices.

7. Advertising does not present a true picture of products.

8. Advertising has a bad influence on children.

Packaging Design Packaging design is an important part when launching a new

product. Read the following extract and match each sentence below with the same idea
in the text. The answer to number one has been underlined for you.

Besides protecting the product and making it easier to handle, manufacturers and
retailers attach great importance to packaging as a means to lure shoppers. For example,
Griffin’s steak pie was recently redesigned – same content and box, just different
graphics – and, with subsequent marketing and promotion, sales reportedly went up 200
per cent.
For different types of product, different types of design may be more appropriate:
toiletries are not quickly thrown away so their design may be more stylish than, say,
baked beans which are kept in a cupboard. Packaging does have one basic design
principle, though: it should stand out on the top shelves. Design with flair, it can
promote the quality of a product.

a) Packaging can attract consumers and encourage them to buy.

b) Products that are used for a long time are worth smarter packaging than goods that
are stored out of sight.
c) Packaging can prevent damage to the goods inside.
d) The best packaging not only says what is inside it, but also suggests how good the
product is.
e) The fundamental rule about packaging is that it should be seen clearly in the shop.
Now find the words that correspond to these definitions. (They are in the same order in
the text):
f) Changed
g) What is inside something
h) Drawings and pictures.

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 Inglés aplicado a la Publicidad y las Relaciones Públicas

Practice:
A. These eight verbs are commonly used in advertising. Choose the right one to
complete each sentence.

attract spend promote appeal

boost launch persuade project

a) The copywriter created a slogan which would ………….. to a wide cross-section of

consumers.
b) The agency wants to ………….. a campaign targeting the under-16 market.
c) The consumers we want to ………….. are professionals who purchase up-market
products.
d) All advertising must ………….. the right product image.
e) Giving away free badges helped to ………….. ice-cream sales to children.
f) The number of TV commercials in a campaign depends on how much the client
wants to ………….. and who he wants to reach,
g) The function of advertising is primarily to inform and to ……………
h) Our plan is to ………….. the new product across a wide range of media.

B. Complete the following passage using a gerund or an infinitive. Choose from the
verbs in the boxes.
Coca-Cola and its advertising

build set up run bring make transform

John S. Pemberton invented Coca-Cola in 1886. His partner suggested …………… 1 an

advertisement for the drink in the Atlanta Journal that very year. In 1888, Asa Candler bought the
Coca-Cola business and decided …………… 2 the product known through signs, calendars and
clocks. The company began …………… 3 its global network when Robert Woodruff was elected
president of the company in 1923. He succeeded in …………… 4 Coca-Cola into a truly
international product by ……………5 a foreign department, which exported Coca-Cola to the
Olympic Games in Amsterdam in 1928. During World War II, he promised …………… 6 Coca-
Cola to everyday soldier in every part of the world.

decide reflect appear create

Coca-Cola’s advertising has always attempted ……………7 changing contemporary lifestyles.

……………8 an international advertising campaign requires the talents of professionals in many
areas, and extensive testing and research are always done before ……………9 which

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advertisements will finally be used. Celebrity endorsements have featured heavily – Gary Grant, Ray
Charles and Whitney Houston are just three of the big name stars who have agreed ……………10
in Coca-Cola commercials.

return change expand launch drink

After ……………11 Diet Coke in 1982, the company saw its sales grow quickly. The drink is now
the third most popular in the world. In 1985, the company tried ……………12 the secret formula
of Coca-Cola, but realised that Americans were very attached to the original recipe. The company
listened to its consumers and quickly responded by …………… 13 the original formula to the
market as ‘Coca-Cola classic´. Today, people in more than 160 countries around the globe enjoy
…………… 14 Coca-Cola. It is asked for more than 524 million times a day in more than 80
languages. The company intends …………… 15 global presence even further in the twenty-first
century, particularly markets.

C. The State of the Market. Match these metaphorical expressions to their

corresponding meanings.

be squeezed out of start competing in the market

is buoyant be prevented from competing
has collapsed the market is bigger than it used to be
has died up the market is smaller than it used to be
break into the market is in a good state
has grown the market is in a bad state
has suffered supply exceeds demand
enter describes a sudden process
depressed describes a gradual process
flood
the bottom’s dropped out
has shrunk
be pushed out of
penetrate
saturate

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 Inglés aplicado a la Publicidad y las Relaciones Públicas

TV ADVERTISEMENTS

[1] MILK TRAY

1. With your partner, describe the mise-en-scène of the advertisement. How does
this tie in with the brand image of the product?
2. What cinematic genre does the ad. explicitly make reference to?
3. At an unconscious level, what kind of emotions and sensations does the
advertisement arouse in you?
4. What does the young man say to the lady at the end of the advertisement?
5. What are the implications of this utterance?
6. Women and chocolate have been closely linked in society. Discuss this topic in
relation to how it functions in the advertisement.
7. What is the significance of the man leaving the box of chocolates in her room?
8. What do you think chocolate symbolises in the advertisement?
9. “All because the lady loves Milk Tray is a slogan that has passed over into
popular culture and has been parodied by many comedians. How does the slogan
function in relation to the message the advertisement tries to suggest, and what
do you think is its meaning?
10. Can you think of any other advertisements that employ stereotyped courting
rituals? What advertisements can you think of that subvert these men/women
roles established by society? What are those advertisements trying to say?

[2] KLEENEX DOUBLE VELVET

1. What does the advertisement challenge you to notice about the product?
2. What does KDV claim is new about its product?
3. What do they say it sis time you experienced?
4. What product are they advertising? How many times do they specifically
mention the product by its generic real?
5. What is the product image that the ad. is trying to establish?
6. There seems to be an erotic undertone to the advertisement considering the
product they are selling. Discuss this in relation to some specific scenes.

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