IELTS SPEAKING 6.

5 ADVERTISING

TASK 1 Which of the different kinds of adverts and advertising in the box are shown in the illustrations?

Where would you find the others.

sponsorship commercials pop-up ads brochures billboards

banner ads telemarketing jingles flyers

TASK 2 Listen to two people discussing advertising. Which types of advert/ advertising do they mention?

Tick the adjectives which describe what the speakers think of the adverts/ advertising.

Types of advert/ advertising Adjectives

− persuasive − disappointing
− irritating
− convincing − distracting
Speaker 1 …………………… − ubiquitous
− repetitive
− compelling
− persuasive − infuriating
− invasive
− slick − irritating
Speaker 2 …………………… − disturbing
− catchy − effective
− unavoidable

TASK 3 Listen to a third speaker. He describes four types of advert. What are they?

TASK 4 Are the words in the box marketing tools, verbs or people?

jingle reassure vendor ploy gimmick client

appeal assure pressurise consumer convince induce

logo customer oblige urge branding entice

distributor sales representative seduce twist your arm slogan manufacturer

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ADVERTISING IELTS SPEAKING 6.5

TASK 5 Choose the correct alternative to complete the sentences.

a Customers can often feel pressurized/ reassured into buying a product they don’t need.

b Many competitions are simply a marketing branding/ ploy to help boost sales.

c You are more likely to remember a humorous advertisement/ advertising than a boring one.

d Department stores often use smells and sounds to induce/ entice shoppers into their stores.

e The famous Nike slogan/ logo was drawn by a design student who was only paid $35.

f Retailers prefer their customers/ clients to make impulsive purchases rather than planned ones.
buy on impulse
TASK 6 You will hear part of an interview with a man called Don Cooper, who makes TV commercials. For

questions 1-4, choose the best answer A, B or C.

1 According to Don, what is the key factor when making a TV commercial?

A the type of location B the choice of actors C the depth of storyline

2 When developing the script, Don believes it is vital to

A time the overall message.

B feature the product by name.

C use a lot of beautiful language.

3 According to Don, if the same advertising company produces several commercials for a product,

A it could create a sense of boredom with the brand.

B it may attract new clients with similar advertising needs.

C it can be beneficial to include a familiar element in the series.

4 Before booking airtime for a TV commercial, Don recommends

A targeting a product to a suitable channel.

feature which products? --> which company (information)
B finding out accurate viewing figures.
when you came across the ad?
C giving priority to cost over timing. the ad centers on ...
some ingredients that make the ad convincing!
TASK 7 Brainstorm ideas for the following topics.
Cleft sentences
Describe a persuasive advertisement that you What makes the ad very convincing is ...
watched. the characters
You should say: Another magic ingredient is ... message
when you watched the ad
where you watched the ad Last but not least/ On top of that: channel
what it is about
discourse markers
and explain why you think it is persuasive.

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IELTS SPEAKING 6.5 ADVERTISING

TASK 8 Match a word from each box to form collocations. Then use an appropriate one to complete the

sentences.
consumer behavior brand identity product placement free airtime
marketing campaign
income bracket
market ing free product placement behavior identity

income consumer brand campaign airtime bracket

1 product placement
I enjoyed the film, but there was a lot of _______________________in it. All the top-brand cars, phones,

watches and so on. It was a bit distracting.

2 brand identity
We want to build a really strong _______________________ as a trustworthy company.

3 consumer behavior
One of the aims of our research was to identify certain patterns of _______________________: specifically

where they bought our products and how much they spent.

4 income bracket
This is a luxury brand, clearly aimed at consumers in the higher_______________________.

5 marketing campaign
Our latest _______________________was very successful – sales increased by over 20%!

6 The company were really lucky – there was a whole news item on their latest innovation, so they got a lot
free airtime
of _______________________as a result.

TASK 9 Complete the collocation forks. Use a dictionary to find one more word to add to each list.

customer brand

flagship
retain retention
market
product

lifecycle

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 ADVERTISING IELTS SPEAKING 6.5

TASK 10 You will hear part of a talk about advertising jingles. For questions 1- 10, complete the sentences

with NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer.

THE COMMERCIAL JINGLE

• company name
One example of the contents of a basic jingle is a (1) _____________________ .

• cereal
The first modern jingle in 1926 advertised a (2) _________________________.

• direct promotion
The rules on radio advertising in the 1930s forbade the use of (3) _______________________ of goods

during peak listening periods.

• dessert
The programme about a family began with a jingle for a (4) ______________________ which was the

first of its kind in the USA.

• songwriters
In the 1950s, jingles were often created by (5) ________________________.

• pop songs
When the jingle became less popular, advertisers started to use (6) ______________________ .

• lifestyle
From the late 1980s, commercials have had to reflect a complete (7) ______________________ .

• downloading
Payments from advertisers have covered earnings lost due to (8) ______________________ of music.

• emotional connection
According to some psychologists, music that has a (9) _______________________________ to the

listener is easier to remember.

• 30s
An 'ear worm' is up to (10) _______________________________ long.

content (v, a) = satisfied contentment

TASK 11 Here are some issues that concern people today. Talk to your partner about how much advertising

contributes to these issues. toys

fast food products consumerism

unhealthy eating increased materialistic

habits attitudes in children unconfident cosmetics

poor self-image

have inferiority complex about their

appearance
How much do you think advertising
contributes to these issues?

pay in instalments

dissatisfaction apply for a loan

car, apartment
discontentment and envy
of what others have people getting into debt

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IELTS SPEAKING 6.5 ADVERTISING

AUDIO SCRIPT

TASK 2

Speaker 1: I really don’t like it when I’m online and visit a new website and suddenly I’m bombarded with adverts for products I don’t want or
need. I find those ads really get in the way of my work. Don’t they realise who annoying it is? Especially when you see the same image over
and over again. I know my young son often get sidetracked when these images suddenly appear and entice him to “click here to win $1 million”!

Speaker 2: What I find most annoying is when I’m getting dinner ready, the phone invariably rings and it’s someone trying to sell me something.
How and why they persist in ringing at that time, I just don’t know. It infuriates me and I can’t believe they ever manage to sell anything that
way.

TASK 3

Speaker 3: Yeah, look, it's everywhere, isn't it? There's a street I walk down every day and the walls are plastered with flyers for new bands
and events. They don't remove the old ones – they just put new ones up over the top, so I think people just tend to shut them out and ignore
them. I think they're a bit ugly, really. But then sometimes you'll see an ad that helps you escape from where you are. I was stuck in traffic the
other day. It was raining and I was feeling pretty down but then I saw a huge ad for some island somewhere and it looked amazing. At least
while I was stuck there, I could sit and dream about a better place. And I think that's what ads are all about, aren't they? Selling us an idea of
something better. Then on the radio I heard this jingle for a new toothpaste and it's one I've heard a lot and I couldn't get the tune out of my
head after that! And then of course there’s the issue of sponsorship. I think a lot of sports team and athletes wouldn't be able to survive now
without advertising. And I really can't see the situation changing at all. I guess we just have to learn to live with it.

TASK 6

Interviewer: In the ·studio with me today is Don Cooper, who has been very successful in producing commercials for television. Don, what is
the most important thing to get right in this type of advertising?

Don: Well, I've made at least thirty commercials for television over the last few years, so I reckon I know pretty much what the magic ingredients
are. I used to think that the setting was all-important, but I've come to realise that you can have the most exotic location in the world and a truly
fantastic storyline, but your commercial will not succeed if you ignore the people factor. It takes time and effort to select the perfect individuals
to play your characters but by getting this right, you'll draw your target audience in, make them relate to what's on the screen, and hopefully
persuade them that they want a piece of what they're seeing. It's as simple as that.

Interviewer: Mmm, I see. And what advice would you give to anyone writing a script? What's crucial there?

Don: The average TV commercial runs for just 30 seconds so you haven't got long to get your message across. Don't opt for long, flowery
sentences – keep it short and punchy. Not only that, but remember that some people might not actually be watching the screen while the
commercial is on. My golden rule is to mention the product itself in the audio so that anyone who has wandered off to make coffee or check the
kids' homework will still pick up on it.

Interviewer: Right! Now, your work is very creative, but is it difficult to keep coming up with new way of promoting the same product?

Don: That can become a challenge, yes. If a company likes what you're doing, as likely as not you'll be asked to make more than one commercial
for a product over time, so it seems to me that consistency is an important issue. If you use the same voice-over. or a jingle that echoes the last
one m some way, you start to strengthen the company's image and if the viewer begins to recognise the brand through links like these, you're
halfway there already. The drawback with all of this is that you may have to walk away from new business, in order to concentrate on a small
number of favourite clients.

Interviewer: And when you're ready to broadcast a commercial, how do you decide on where to show it - and when?

Don: Selecting the most appropriate time and place for your finished commercial is absolutely crucial. Having it go out at three in the morning
will save you money. but in actual fact, there's little point in doing this if your core audience, however large or small, is fast asleep! The same
holds true for where you choose to broadcast your ad: a bad match between product and station can only spell disaster, so avoid it at an costs.

Interviewer: Well many thanks Don, we'll be back to you with listeners' questions a bit later in the programme. In the meantime ...

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ADVERTISING IELTS SPEAKING 6.5

TASK 8

Today I'm going to consider the history of the commercial jingle. So, first of all, what is it? Well, it's a type of slogan that is set to music. It could
be very simple, for example just a company name, if that's the most important message lo get across.

Jingles have been in existence since the birth of commercial radio in the USA in the 1920s. It is generally believed that the modern commercial
jingle took off on Christmas Eve 1926, when a group of four singers was heard performing a jingle for a breakfast cereal. The product in
question had not been selling well but sales increased noticeably after the broadcast. In the early 1930s, listening to the radio was very popular
in the States - there was no television then of course. The rules on advertising did not permit the direct promotion of products during peak
listening hours. The jingle was a clever way round this problem, and so advertisers started using them a lot. For example, one long-running
radio series called “The adventures of the Kenkins Family” began with a short rhyming jingle for a dessert. Interestingly, this product was the
first of its type to be marketed in the United States, and the catchy rhyme made a big impact on the public.

In the 1950s, jingles became more sophisticated and famous songwriters were often signed up to write them. But by the 1980s, the public
had grown tired of listening to jingles like these. Advertisers had to look for something else and they turned to pop songs. In 1987, the Beatles'
tune Revolution was chosen for a Nike shoe campaign and this marked a revolution in advertising too. Showing a good product was simply not
enough any longer - to be successful a commercial now had to represent a whole lifestyle, which is essentially where we are today. Drawing on
the shared cultural experience of music has become the most effective way to sell a product and, with the record industry losing money because
of downloading, advertising companies have been very welcome business partners.

Psychologists who study the effects of music on the brain have found that music with a strong emotional connection to the listener is more
memorable, and this has become an important area of research at one American university. Apparently, some songs contain a feature called
an 'ear worm' - the term comes from a German word. An ear worm is a tiny piece of music of between 15 and 30 seconds that gets stuck in
your head and tends to repeat itself. Popular examples include Queen's anthem We will rock you and the Mission Impossible theme tune. The
world of advertising is excited by the possibilities here, so we can expect our heads to be full of ear worms before too long!

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