ADVERTISING - CURS ENGLEZA

ADVERTISING - CURS ENGLEZA

I. Reading Session

Read the text and answer the following questions:

1. What is the best kind of advertising?
2. Why do most companies use advertising agencies?
3. When a company hires an advertising agency, what are the roles of both parties?
4. What is a media plan?
5. Why doe advertising become ineffective after a certain point?

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 themselves, they tend o use the services of large advertising agencies. These are likely to have more resources, and more knowledge about all aspects of advertising and advertising media than a single company. The most talented advertising people generally prefer to work for agencies rather then individual people as this gives them 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 he advertising agency an agreed budget; a statement of the objectives of the advertising campaign, known as a 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 develops a media plan specifying which media - newspapers, magazines, radio, television, cinema, posters, mails, etc. - will be used in which proportions. (On television and radio, ads are often known as commercials that are pre-tested in newspapers, television stations, etc. in different part 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 mach 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 our counter-cyclical 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 find 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.

(English for Business Studies, Cambridge University Press, 2001, p.57)

II. Build your vocabulary

Find the terms in the text, which mean the following:

free advertising, when satisfied customers recommend products to their friends;

advertising that mentions a company's name but not specific products

companies that handle advertising for clients

a contract with a company to produce its advertising

the amount of money a company plans to spend in developing its advertising and buying media space or time

the statement of objectives of an advertising campaign that a client works out with an advertising agency

the advertising of a particular product or service during a particular period of time

a defined set of customers whose needs a company plans to satisfy

the people who choose where to advertise, in order to reach the right customers

the fact that a certain amount of advertising is necessary to attract    a prospective customer's attention

choosing to spend the same amount on advertising as one's competitors

Advertising during periods or seasons when sales are normally relatively poor.

Choose the most suitable word for each space

After more than fifty years of television, I might seem only obvious to conclude that it is here to (1) ..... There have been many objections to it during this time, of course, and (2)...... a variety of grounds. Did it cause eye-strain? Was the (3)....... Bombarding us with radioactivity? Did the advertisements (4) ........ subliminal messages, persuading us to buy more or vote Republican? Did children turn to violence through watching it, either because so (50) ...... taught them how to shoot, rob, and kill, or because they had to do something to counteract the hours they had (6) .... glued to the tiny screen ? or did I simply create a vast passive (7) ........... drugged by glamorous serials and inane situation (8)..........? On the other hand did it increase anxiety by sensationalising the news (or the news which was (9) ....... suitable pictures) and filling our living rooms with war, famine and political unrest? (10) ..........in all, television proved to be the all-purpose scapegoat for the second half of the century, (11) ........ for everything, but above all, eagerly watched. For no (12) ......... How much we despised it, feared it, were bored by it, or felt it took us away from the old paradise of family conversation and hobbies (13) ....... as collecting stamps, we never turned it off. We (14) ........ starting at the screen, aware that our own tiny (15) ..... was in it if we looked carefully.

1) A) long B) stay C) exist D) be

2) A) with B) over C) by D) on

3) A) screen B) danger C) machine D) reason

4) A) contain B) of C) take D) having

5) A) that B) far C) many D) what

6) A) almost B) spent C) quite D) madly

7) A) programme    B) personality C) audience D) tense

8) A) comedies    B) programmes C) perhaps D) consequently

9) A) taken B) presented C) capable D) accompanied

10) A) Taken    B) All C) Somewhat D) Thus

11) A) broadcasting    B) looking C) blamed D) ready

12) A) one B) matter C) difference D) reason

13) A) known    B) even C) described D) such

14) A) refused    B) received C) turned D) kept

15) A) fault B) reflection C) situation D) consciousness

III.       Focus on language: Adverbs

Adverbs usually describe verbs, adjectives, other adverbs or sentences. An adverb can be one word (carefully) or a phrase (in the morning). Adverbs can describe manner (how), place (where), time(when), frequency (how often), degree (to what extent), etc.

a) He drives carefully.

b) Your bag is here.

c) They'll leave tomorrow.

d) He sometimes goes fishing at the weekend.

e) She is very polite.

FORMATION OF ADVERBS

We usually form an adverb by adding - ly to the adjective.

Serious- seriously

Adjectives ending in -le drop the - e and take - y.

Gentle- gently

Adjectives ending in consonant + y drop the -y and take -ily

happy- happily

Adjectives ending in -l take - ly.

Awful - awfully

Adjectives ending in - ic usually take - ally

Dramatic- dramatically BUT:    public- publicly

Adjectives ending in - e take -ly

Polite - politely BUT: true- trule

- The following words end in -ly, but they are adjectives: elderly, cowardly, friendly, likely, deadly, lively, lonely, silly, ugly, lovely, etc.

She's a lively child.

We use the words way/manner to form adverbs: She greeted me in a friendly way/ manner.

She complained in a cowardly way/manner.

The adverbs loud(ly), cheap(ly), quick(ly), tight(ly), fair(ly) and slow(ly) are often used without -ly in everyday English.

Come here quick/ quickly.

Some adverbs have the same form as adjectives. These include: hard, fast, free, high, low, deep, early, late, long, near, straight, right, wrong. Also hourly, daily, weekly, monthly and yearly.

The lake is deep (adjective)

They went deep nto the forest (adverb)

These biscuits are very hard.

He tried hard in order to succeed.

ORDER OF ADVERBS

When there are two or more adverbs in the same sentence, they usually come in the following order: MANNER- PLACE- TIME

The baby slept quietly in his bed all night long.

If there is a verb of movement, such as go, come, leave in the sentence, then the adverbs come in the following order: PLACE- MANNER- TIME

He came to work by bus this morning.

Adverbs of MANNER go before the main verb, after the auxiliary verb or at the end of the sentence:

She easily passed the exam.

We are eagerly waiting for his letter.

He acted foolishly.

Adverbs of DEGREE (absolutely, completely, totally, extremely, very, quite, rather, etc.) go before an adjective, an adverb or a main verb, but after an auxiliary verb.

This is totally unacceptable.

They arrived rather early.

We absolutely love her sense of humour

I don't quite understand what you mean.

Adverbs of FREQUENCY go after auxiliary verbs and the verb to be, but before the main verbs.

He is always ready to help.

Sam often complains about his salary.

Adverbs of PLACE and TIME usually go at the end of the sentence.

There is a caf nearby.

I'll meet you tomorrow.

Some one-syllable adverbs of time such as soon, now and then, go before the main verb, but after the auxiliary verb or the verb to be.

She then told him what had happened.

He will soon inform us about his decision.

We can put an adverb at the beginning of a sentence if we want to emphasise it.

Slowly, he closed the door behind him. (MANNER)

In the living room, there is an antique grandfather clock. (PLACE)

Yesterday, I met the President. (TIME)

COMPARATIVE AND SUPERLATIVE FORM OF ADVERBS

The comparative and superlative forms of adverbs are formed in the same way as those of adjectives.

Adverbs which have the same form as the adjective usually take -er in the comparative and -est in the superlative.

Hard- harder- hardest; late-later-latest

Adverbs formed by adding -ly to the adjective take more in the comparative and most in the superlative form

Comfortably - more comfortably- most comfortably

IV.      Practice

A.     Translate into English:

Publicitatea cuprinde toate actiunile de comunicare impresonale, platite de un sustinator (firma, organizatie, individ etc.) identificat, realizate orin intermediul mijloacelor de comunicare in masa cu scopul influentarii comportamentului tintelor vizate (consumatorilor).

Dinamismul economico-social a determinat de asemenea si o puternica diversificare a formelor concrete de desfasuratre a publicitatii. Aceste modalitati pot fi grupate dupa o serie de criterii care vizeaza obiecul publicitatii, "tinta"acesteia, aria geografica de raspindire, ,virsat produsului pentru care se realizeaza publicitatea, tipul mesajului difuzat sau suportul mesajelor publicitare.

Realizarea unor actiuni publicitare eficiente presuune un efort intens din partea intreprinderii. Ea trebuie sa-si defineasca cit mai clar tinta si obiectivele campaniei promotionale, incercind totodata sa intocmeasca o schita a modului in care aceasta se va derula.

Inainte de a lua decizia de cumparare, consumatorul potential se informeaza cit mai amanuntit cu privire la produsul pe care il doreste. El foloseste mai intii propria sa expperienta si daca aceatsa nu ii este suficienta pentru luarea deciziei, apeleaza la surse de informatii externe (inclusiv la cele furnizate de publicitate) folosind (mental) un sistem de evaluare a plusurilor si minusurilor produsului, sistem alcatuit din trei niveluir psihologice:

nivelul cognitiv (ceea ce consumatorul cunoaste deja)

nivelul afectiv (in functie de informatiile cu privire la produs consumatorul realizeaza o evaluare a acestuia);

nivelul comportamental (transpunerea in practica a atitudinii fata de produs)

B.    Underline the correct item:

It was Lucy's birthday and she was very sad/sadly. She had been waiting hopeful/hopefully all morning for the postman to arrive. Sudden/ Suddenly, the letterbox rattled gentle/gently and the envelope fell soft/softly onto the doormat. Picking it up, Lucy noticed miserable/miserably that it was a bill. There were no cards, no presents and no pretty/prettily bouquets of flowers. Lucy near/nearly burst into tears. Just then, there was a loud/loudly knock on the door. Opening the door slow/slowly, Lucy saw all her friends holding brightly/bright wrapped gifs and shouting ,"Happy Birthday". Lucy immediatel/ immediately cheered up and greeted her friends warm/warmly.

C. For each gap, turn the adjective into an adverb.

Julia was walking (quick) down the street when she heard someone call her name (loud). She looked . (nervous) behind her, but the street was .. (complete) empty. There was nobody there. .. (Sudden), she heard her name again. She turned to see her brother running towards her, smiling. (cheerful). Didn't you hear me? 'he laughed ....... (happy). Nick! gasped Julia. ou ....... (near) frightened me to death!

D. Complete the second sentence so it has a similar meaning to the first sentence.

1. There was a slight fall in profits in April.

In April profits .

2. The was a dramatic improvement in our share price last month.

Last month our share price .

3. There has been a sgnificant drop in demand for oil over the last few months.

Demand for oil over the last few months.

4. Let's have a brief pause for coffee.

Let's for coffee.

5. There has been a steady improvement in the inflation figures.

The inflation figures

6. There was a slow recovery in consumer confidence last year.

Consumer confidence .last year.

7. There has been a gradual rise in unemployment.

Unemployment

8. There has been a considerable growth in Korean GDP over recent years.

Over recent years Korean GDP.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:

Ciuciuc, Olea, English for Business Purposes, Teora, Bucuresti 1999.

Emmerson, Paul, Business Grammar Builder, Macmillan, 2002.

Evans V. , Grammarway 4 Express Publishing House, 1999.

Evans V. , Grammarway 3 Express Publishing House, 1999.

MacKenzie, Ian, English for Business Studies, Cambridge University Press, 2001.

Paidos, Constantin, Gramatica limbii engleze, Institutul European, 1993.

Tullis, G., New Insights into Business, Express Publishing House, 2004.

Turcu, Fulvia, Limba engleza pentru intreprinzatori si oameni de afaceri, Editura Sagittarius Iasi, 1991.