My speciality. Customs inspector

Lead-in:

1. Goods Management – товарознавство

2. Customs Activity – митна справа

3. cargo – вантаж

4. to prevent smuggling – запобігти контрабанди

5. various duties – різноманітні збори

6. drug law enforcement – виконання закону про наркотики

 

 

I am a student of the faculty of Marketing, Trade an Customs Activity at Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade named after M.Tugan-Baranovsky. There are 3 departments here: the department of Marketing, Goods Management and Customs Activity.

My speciality is Customs inspector. Until recently Ukraine had no institution to train Customs specialists. But now some higher educational establishments, and Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade among them, train such specialists.

The work of Customs inspectors is very important and many-sided. They deal with passengers, cargoes, transport. The passengers going through customs have to declare certain items they are bringing into the country. Customs inspectors are trained to recognize the passengers who are carrying things into a country illegally to prevent smuggling.

As with merchandise processing, modern computer technology and communications are being used extensively to facilitate the processing of the ever – increasing numbers of travellers entering different countries.

Besides, working with passengers, checking imports and exports there are many other types of work done by Customs inspector. They control payments of various duties, see that appropriate licences are held, inspect the books and accounts and see that the right amount of tax is paid.

According to Customs regulations, one of the duties of a Customs inspector is to prevent drug smuggling. Drug smuggling is a very serious problem nowadays. Drug traffickers use any and every means of transport to smuggle drugs from source area to their market destination.

There are many effective ways of detecting cases of drug smuggling but the best tool for drug law enforcement is a well-trained and experienced Customs experts. The majority of the drugs seized resulted from the work of such officers.

In order to be specialists our students study foreign languages, mathematics, chemistry, psychology. Cooperation between Customs services in different countries is an important element in this work, that is why foreign languages are very important for Customs inspectors. Besides, great attention is paid to special subjects.

I like my future speciality and I think that we, young specialists, must do all we can to meet the requirements of Ukraine in full.

 

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What is the name of your faculty?

2. What are the names of your faculty’s departments?

3. What is the name of your speciality?

4. What is the work of Customs inspectors connected with?

5. What is the most important duty of Customs inspectors?

6. What subjects do you study?

 

MARKETING AND PROMOTION

Lead-in:

1. storage – зберігання, склад

2. customer purchasing power – купівельна спроможністьпокупця

3. marketing research – маркетингове дослідження

4. promotion – просування товару

5. to persuade – переконувати

6. marketing mix – структура маркетингу

Marketing is an activity that includes different kinds of business dealings with the movement of goods and services from producer to consumer. It is a very complex process. It includes such activities as product planning, storage, buying, pricing, promotion, selling, traffic, distribution of ideas and research. The aim of marketing is to find out what the other person wants, then manufacture it for him.

So marketing is the management function which organizes and directs all business activities involved in assessing and converting customer purchasing power into effective demand for a specific product or service so as to achieve the profit, target or other objectives set by a company. Those who produce must know what goods and services, where, for what prices, why, for what purpose their customers would like to buy.

Marketing research in this respect helps producers very much. A marketer must determine what customer needs are. It’s done by way of market segmentation. 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 there are psychographic factors – the customer’s opinions and interests, hobbies, vacation spots, favourite spots, etc.

The ABC of marketing is the so-called Marketing Mix. It consists of 4 elements: product, price, place and promotion.

Place means the location of certain goods and services and their distribution.

Promotion includes all kinds of communications in marketing, say, advertising, sales, direct mail, free additions and fairs. The primary objectives of promotion are to inform consumers (potential customers) of the existence of certain goods, and services, to demonstrate their advantages and to persuade the consumer to buy them.

The third element of Marketing Mix is Product. It is often connected with research and development of a new product or service, testing it, searching the potential markets and introduction to the market.

Product is the most controllable of the 4 elements of Marketing Mix.

The most changeable element of all the 4 is Price. As prices rise, we can buy fewer things or only things of lesser quality; on the contrary, as prices fall, customers can buy more things or things of better quality.

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What is marketing?

2. What is the aim of marketing?

3. What segments can every market be divided into?

4. What is the ABC of marketing?

5. What does Marketing Mix consist of?

6. What is promotion?

7. What is the most changeable element of Marketing Mix?

 

 

TYPES OF GOODS

Lead-in:

1. consumer products – споживчі товари

2. convenience goods – товари повсякденного попиту

3. shopping goods – товари попереднього вибору

4. specialty goods – товари особливого попиту

5. advertisements – рекламування

6. durable goods – товари тривалого користування

7. luxury goods – предмети розкоші

8. necessities – предмети першої необхідності

Nowadays most marketing specialists divide the consumer products, into three groups: convenience goods, shopping goods and specialty goods.

Convenience goods are the products that consumers buy quickly and often and that are readily available, low priced and heavily advertised. Usually they are inexpensive items like toothpaste, soda, razor blades. People use them every day and don't even think about their prices or brands. A very important role in buying this or that item plays a habit to a particular sort of food, brand of cigarettes or whisky, to some familiar shops or supermarkets. But there exist some other goods the purchase of which requires more thought.

These are fairly important things that a person doesn't buy every day, like a new stereo, a washing machine, a good suit etc. These are shopping goods, products for which a consumer spends a lot of time in order to compare prices, quality and style. Various sources of information are consulted – advertisements, salespeople, friends and relatives.

People use a different approach when they shop for specialty goods, items that have been mentally chosen in advance and for which there is no acceptable substitute. These are things like Chanel perfume, M.Voronin suits, etc – goods the buyer especially wants and will seek out, regardless of location or price.

The English marketing specialists divide goods into almost the same subgroups, but name them normal, durable and luxury goods. Also they define the inferior goods which tend to be low-quality goods – for poor people. For low-quality goods there exist high-quality but more expensive substitutes.

It is also useful to distinguish necessities. All inferior goods are necessities; necessities, hovewer, also include normal goods. Poor people satisfy their needs for food and clothing by buying low-quality goods. As their income rises, they switch to nicer food and clothing.

Luxury goods tend to be high-quality goods for which there exist lower-quality, but quite adequate substitutes. As income rise the quantity of food demanded will rise but only a little. So food cannot be a luxury, but it is not an interior good either.

 

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What groups do marketing specialists divide the consumer products into?

2. What are convenience goods?

3. What plays a very important role in buying goods?

4. What are shopping goods?

5. What are specialty goods?

6. What examples of specialty goods can you name?

7. What groups do English marketing specialty divide goods into?

 

 

ADVERTISING

Lead-in:

1. advertising – рекламування

2. mass media – засоби масової інформації

3. setting the objectives – настанова завдань

4. drawing up a budget – розробка бюджету

5. appeal – звернення, заклик

6. total expenditures – сукупні витрати

7. steady demand – постійний попит

 

 

Advertising is the act of making a product, a job vacancy, an event publicly known. It is a non-personal form of communication through paid means of information distribution with a clearly Nationald source of financing.

In business billions are spent on advertising. Products and services are advertised through mass media (including radio broadcast, television, newspapers and magazines), billboards, handbills, booklets and so on. In big business the whole army of specialists is employed in the field of advertising. They work out advertising programmes, provide means for advertising purposes, discuss and solve many advertising problems with the owner or manager of a company.

Making advertisement is a complicated five-stage process which includes such stages as setting the objectives, drawing up a budget, the appeal, the choice of means of information distribution and assessment of the results.

The objectives should be clearly Nationald, no matter whether it’s informing, persuading or reminding. Informing prevails on the stage of introducing a new product on the market. Persuading forms a special demand for a certain brand of products. Some persuading adverts tend to be comparative, i.e. they tend to show advantages of one brand over the other one of the same trade class. Comparative adverts are used to promote such categories of goods as deodorants, tooth paste, tires and cars. Reminding is important to make the consumer remember the product but not to persuade or inform.

The budget can be drawn up according to such principles as “on the level of competitors”, “out of certain objectives and goals”, etc. Any advertiser should keep in mind the four AIDA points – attention, interest, desire, action – consequent stages of the consumer’s response before buying.

The choice of means of information distribution depends on setting the following questions: stating the range of frequency and the impact of the advert, choosing a specific advertising means and the right schedule.

The economics of advertising continue to be subject to much discussion. It is true that the total expenditure on advertising is high. Most of it is spent on promoting “branded goods”. This is almost inevitable: if advertised goods were not branded, the buyer would have no guide to enable him to recognise in the shops the goods he has seen mentioned in an advertisements.

Unless goods were branded, no mass market could be created under modern condition and there would be no steady demand.

 

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. What is advertising?

2. Is advertising expensive?

3. How can products and services be advertised?

4. How many stages are there in making advertisement?

5. What is intorming advertisement?

6. What is persuading advertisement?

7. What is reminding advertisement?

8. What four AIDa points should any advertiser keep in mind?

 

 

EXHIBITIONS AND FAIRS

Lead-in:

1. fair – ярмарок

2. exhibition – виставка

3. scope – розмах

4. transaction – угода

5. order – замовлення

6. potential customer – потенційний клієнт

7. to pave the way – прокладати шлях

8. consolidation – укріплення

9. on the spot – на місці, відразу

10. participation fee – внесок за участь

 

 

Every year a lot of international, national and specialized fairs and exhibitions are held all over the world. The number of countries and companies who take part in them is growing from year to year and the scope of fairs and exhibitions is becoming larger. Firms and companies are always eager to participate in them because they attract thousands of visitors, including many potential buyers. You will find no better chance for advertising your goods and making contracts and agreements with future customers. Exhibitions and fairs are a unique chance for establishing new markets because nothing else can cause your products or services to be known outside your region or country as well. There are many advantages of fairs and exhibitions – making transactions, getting new orders, making contracts and agreements, advertising your products, contacting potential customers expanding your market and opening up new ones. International fairs and exhibitions pave the way for the consolidation of friendship among countries and nations.

But there is a difference between an exhibition and a fair. At a fair you do not only exhibit your goods but also may sell it on the spot. At an exhibition you usually only exhibit, without selling directly – though every exhibition has a commercial center where one can make contracts and agreements for future supplies.

It is usually quite expensive to participate in a fair or an exhibition. The participation fee is often quite high. Next, you pay for the exhibition space – the greater the space is the more you pay. Then, you should prepare that space to exhibit your goods or services. That means installing a stand or a booth, which may cost quite a lot. Another expense is the booklets or brochures placed in your booth and on bulletin boards, advertising or giving information about your company and its products. Firms and companies try to make their own presentations during fairs and exhibitions, and often organize receptions.

These presentations and receptions provide opportunities of contacting potential customers, advertising the products, and greatly stimulating contract-signing. But they are expensive. So international or country – wide exhibitions and fairs provide much greater opportunities.

Ø Questions for comprehension check-up and discussion:

1. Are exhibitions and fairs becoming popular from year to year?

2. Who participates in exhibitions and fairs?

3. Why are exhibitions and fairs a unique chance for new markets?

4. What is the difference between them?

5. How much does participation in exhibitions and fairs cost?

6. Have you (or your firm) ever participated in exhibitions or fairs?