Grammar

Task 1. Put the verbs in brackets into the Present Perfect Tense, and fill the spaces by repeating the auxiliary.

1. You (see) him lately? - No, I...

2. Where you (be)? -1 (be) to the dentist.

3. You (have) breakfast? - Yes, I...

4. You ever (play) cricket? - No, I...

5. How long she (work) there? - Since 2007.

Task 2. Fill the spaces in the following sentences by using/or or since.

1. I have known that___a long time.

2. She has driven the same car___1975.

3. Things have changed___I left school.

4. I have been working in this office___a month.

5. Mike has been ill___a long time. He has been in hospital___Octo­ber.

6. My aunt has lived in Australia___15 years.

7. Nobody lives in those houses. They have been empty___many

years.

8. The bus is late. We've been waiting___20 minutes.

Task 3. Match the two halves of these sentences.

1. I caught a cold ...	a) all day;
2. I started school...	b) since May;
3. The last bus left...	c) when we went out in the rain;
4. Mr. Brown hasn't been abroad ..,	d) ten minutes ago;
5. My sister has been asleep in bed	e) last night;
6. I have been interested in arts ...	f) for ages;
7. We went to the theatre ...	g) when I was six;
8. Hello, Ann! I haven't seen you ..	h) ever since I was a schoolgirl.

Lesson VIII marketing today

Marketing is a new science. What has been around previously is the art of salesmanship. Salesmanship is the art of manufacturing something and making another want it. Marketing is the art of finding out what the other person wants, then manufacturing it for him.

In a market of multiple choice, it is no longer sufficient to produce and show your customers that it satisfies one of their basic needs, you must show them it provides benefits other products fail to provide, that it can be supplied at a competitive price and above all, supplied reliably. But in this fast changing world, competitors catch up more quickly then ever prefe­rences that consumers leave for this or that product work for shorter and shorter periods. Choice makes marketing work. Companies need to be con­stantly engaged in product development, if they wish to grow and make profits. Coca-Cola was successful for many years with one product in one size until Pepsi Cola challenged them with a bottle double the size at the same cost to the consumer. Since then Coca-Cola has made many changes. Today Coca-Cola has many different soft drinks, cheeses, wines, movie companies, television production companies. Multiple choices for the con­sumer are the motor that drives the marketing vehicle.

Market segmentation. Research is the basic tool of marketing. A mar­keter must determine what customer's needs are. Marketing experts have developed techniques for determining the needs of prospective customers. It's done by way of market segmentation. How can market segmentation be of help to a manager who wants to develop a new product? Every market can be divided into segments or in other words, into separate groups of con­sumers. First there are demographic factors like age, income, educational background, occupation, size of family, type of home and neighbourhood, etc.

Then a product is compared with the goods already established in the market by quality or quantity standards. To be a success you must be ahead of your competitors.

How to win a market? If you want to market your product abroad for the first time you will be highly competitive with very many manufacturers chasing the same customers. It is very difficult to take business away from current suppliers. To be successful the newcomer must have a compelling offer to make the customer switch to his product. In business and industrial marketing, there are three compelling things: price, function and source.

Price: a firm has to decide on its pricing policy for list prices, discount for bulk-buying and credit terms. Price variations are very important in mar­keting. For example, a low price may make consumers think: "this product is cheap and not good" or they can think that "it is cheap and good". If the price of the product is too high then the company may get itself out of the market. If the price of the product is higher than that of the competitors then it must be justified in some way, e.g. because the quality of the product is higher.

Function: The product must always perform the function for which it is intended and meet quality standards. However, in a world of rapid technolo­gical development customers are always looking for new products that do the job better, faster, more efficiently. This presents a good opportunity to our enterprises that can offer new products based on advanced science and technologies.

Source: A company's reputation for quality and reliability of delivery are increasingly important. Quality and timely delivery are essential to cus­tomers. Purchasing people are primarily interested in price. Engineers are primarily interested in function. Management is interested in source. Mar­keting communications therefore must be on three levels: our prices are competitive, our products are good or superior, and our company is depend­able. Each message must be targeted for the right audience and efficiently delivered through the right channel. Articles and advertising in technical and professional publications, trade shows and exhibitions - all are basic tools of the industrial marketer. The extensive use of advertising builds in the minds of consumers the company's image for quality.