Texts . Завдання 4. Прочитайте та перекладіть тексти.

Text 1: SOME BASIC PRINCIPLES OF MARKETING

Marketing refers to the understanding that a company must develop about its role in the market, i.e. how the consumer reacts to its products, which consumers buy, how competition affects the progress of company sales, how the organization should promote itself and its products, and so on.

Text 2: THE IMPORTANCE OF MARKETING

Marketing has become a major focus of business in the 1980s, and will continue to be. The success of business and thus the success of the economy depends on business's ability to market.

A popular slogan that describes modern-day marketing is "Find a need and fill it". What does "Find a need and fill it" mean?

It means that businesses must do some market research to find out what goods and services people and organizations want and need. Listening should come first. Then marketers must do whatever it takes to satisfy wants and needs. The ultimate goal is to make money (profit) by producing and selling goods and services. Marketing, then, can be defined as follows:

Marketing is the process of studying wants and needs and satisfying those wants and needs by exchanging goods and services; this results in satisfied buyers and creates profits for sellers.

 

Text 3: MARKETING MANAGMENT: THE FOUR P’S

To maintain some control over the marketing functions in a firm, many businesses have created a position called marketing manager. A marketing manager plans and executes the conception, pricing, promotion, and distribution of ideas, goods and services to create exchanges that satisfy individual and organizational goals.

When developing programs to satisfy markets wants and needs marketing managers work with several variables known as the marketing mix. A marketing mix is the strategic combination of product decisions on packaging, pricing, distribution, credit, branding, service, complaint handling, and other marketing activities.

FIGURE 1-1.

The four P's and the marketing manager's role.

Traditionally the important elements that make up the "marketing mix" were defined as the four P's:

Product (quality, product range, packaging);

Place (where product is available and how it is distributed);

Promotion (how the potential consumers should be reached and how the company should push its products);

Price (credit, retail margins).

 

These variables are partly controllable by the marketing manager. (See Figure 1-1)

Over the past twenty years, the steady growth of service based companies (retail outlets, data processing, leisure, food) has emphasized other factors which are equally important:

people (the involvement oi* staff will be crucial for most service based companies);

process (the way in which the service is provided);

physical (the environment in which the service is provided).

 A good example of these additional factors in operation is the success of Mc Donalds. The company spends a large amount of time training its people and has established a central training college or "Hamburger university". Its managers keep rigid control over the length of time customers will have to wait to be served, in other words, the process. Mc Donalds also maintains the outlets to a high standard of decor and cleanliness, keeping up the standards of the physical environment.

Competition is so severe today that the design of a product with some special appeal for consumers is critical. The creation of benefits and an image for a product that captures the imagination of the public is called product differentiation.

In today's competitive marketplace, price is a critical component of the marketing mix. No doubt you have noticed how the price of home computers has fallen as the market became more competitive.

The promotion function in marketing includes listening as well as talking. In any relationship, including marketing relationships, communication seems to be vital link.

The last element in the four P's is place (distribution). The idea is to make goods and services available where and when they are needed. That means transporting them and storing them. The major institutions involved in distribution are wholesalers and retailers.

For companies operating in the service it is essential that both employer and employees have a clear and common idea about standard of the service they are striving to achieve (how quickly should customers be served, how should complaints be handled, what rules exist for payment methods, etc.) The involvement and training of people to achieve company objectives will be essential for the majority of service companies. The quality of service provided by company's employees needs to be backed by the speed and efficiency of the service process.

The nature of the environment has a relatively more significant impact on the success of service companies than on industrial and product based organizations. There is a wide body of evidence showing these effects of environmental factors on sales in retail chains and it is likely that many of the same criteria operate in other service operations.

1. Lighting. Many people suffer from slight claustro-phobia; reducing this effect with good lighting may improve turnover.

2. Heating. Air conditioning in one West London grocery store increased turnover by 30 per cent during the summer.

3. Layout. Where the most expensive items are kept, how they are displayed, all have an effect on sales.

(d) Colour. The use of colour can either stimulate or depress potential purchasers.

(e) Noise. Certain studies suggest that the use of music can increase the level of purchase. Carpets on the floor can also reduce the level of noise and make the environment more pleasant.

(f) Smell. The introduction of fresh bakeries into stores is thought to increase overall sales of non-bakery products

5. C comprehension questions. Завдання 5. Підготуйте письмові відповіді на питання:

 

1. What is marketing?

2. What are the functions of the marketing manager?

3. What is product differentiation?

4. What is the marketing mix?

 

6. Discussion questions. Завдання 6. Підготуйте коротку інформаціюб використовуючи запитання як план:

1. Which of the four P's of marketing do you think is the most important?

2. What are the interrelationships among the four P's?

3. Many people believe that marketing is synonymous with promotion. Would the four P's help you to show them that their concept of marketing is incorrect?

7. G roup activities. Завдання 7. Підготуйтесь до бесіди, використайте задану ситуацію:

3. Talk to several people who work in marketing (for example retailers, sales their jobs. Discuss with them what experience had their firm or organization of experimenting with changes in the physical environment to see whether this will improve sales? Discuss your findings with the class.