Grammar: Conditionals. Zero conditional and conditional I.

Topic: Marketing

Grammar: Conditionals. Zero conditional and conditional I.

“Selling focuses on the needs of the seller; marketing on the needs of the buyer. Selling is preoccupied with the seller’s need to convert his product into cash; marketing with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer…”

Theodore Levitt, marketing expert

Text A. What is marketing?

Marketing is the term given to all the different activities intended to make and attract a profitable demand for a product. On the one hand, it is made up of transporting, storing and selling goods and, on the other hand, a series of decisions you make during the process of moving goods from producer to user. Marketing operations include product planning, buying, storage, pricing, promotion, selling, credit, and market research.

Here people mostly talk about the marketing mix or 'The Four Ps’, that consists of:

choosing the right product (what a company produces/ makes or offers);

selling it at the right price (what it costs to the buyer / consumer);

using the right kind of promotion (the ways to make the product popular and well-known; this includes advertising);

making it available in the right place (where you sell the product and how it reaches the соnsumer; also known as distribution).

Marketing people's job is to match these things to the needs of consumers (the people who buy and use products). People who buy the products of a particular company are that company's customers/clients.

The ability to recognize early trends is very important. Market research helps the producer to predict what the people will want. And through the advertising he attempts to influence the customer to buy.

 

THE MARKETING CONCEPT

(we must produce what customers want, not what we want to produce)

 

this means that we

PUT THE CUSTOMER FIRST

(we organize the company so that this happens)

we must FIND OUT WHAT

THE CUSTOMER WANTS

(we carry out market research)

 

we must SUPPLY exactly what the

customer wants

we can do this by offering the right MARKETING MIX:

'The Four Ps'

the right PRODUCT

at the right PRICE

available through the right channels of distribution: PLACE

presented in the right way: PROMOTION

Text B. The four Ps

PRODUCT -the goods or the service that you are marketing. A 'product' is not just a collection of components. A 'total product' includes the image of the product, its design, quality and reliability – as well as its features and benefits. In marketing terms, political candidates and non-profit-making public services are also 'products' that people must be persuaded to 'buy' and which have to be 'presented and packaged' attractively. Products have a life-cycle, and companies are continually developing new products to replace products which sales are declining and coming to the end of their lives.

PRICE -making it easy for the customer to buy the product.

Pricing takes account of the value of a product and its quality, the ability of the customer to pay, the volume of sales required, and the prices charged by the competition. Too low a price can reduce the number of sales just as significantly as too high a price. A low price may increase sales but not as profitably as fixing a high, yet still popular, price.

As fixed costs stay fixed whatever the volume of sales, there is usually no such thing as a 'profit margin' on any single product.

PLACE - getting the product to the customer.

Decisions have to be made about the channels of distribution and delivery arrangements. Retail products may go through various channels of distribution:

1. Producer → end-users (the product is sold directly to the end-user by the company's sales force, direct response advertising or direct mail (mail order).

Producer → retailers → end-users.

Producer → wholesalers / agents →retailers → end-users.

Producer → wholesalers → directly to end-users.

Producer →multiple store groups / department stores / mail order houses → end-users.

Producer → market → wholesalers / retailers →end-users.

Each stage must add value to the product to justify the costs: the person in the middle is not normally someone who just takes their 'cut' but someone whose own sales force and delivery system can make the product available to the largest number customers more easily and cost – effectively. One principle behind this is 'breaking down the bulk': the producer may sell in minimum quantities of, say 10,000 the whole seller, who sells in minimum quantities of 100 to the retailer, who sells in minimum quantities of 1 to the end-user. A confectionary manufacturer doesn't deliver individual bars of chocolate to consumers: distribution is done through wholesale; and then retailers who each "add value” to the product by providing a good service to their customers and stocking a wide rangeof similar products.

PROMOTION -presenting the product to the customer.

Promotion involves the packaging presentation of the product, its image, the product’s brand name, advertising andslogans, brochures, literature, price lists, after-sales service and training, trade exhibitions or fairs, public relations, publicity and personal selling. Every product must possess a 'unique selling proposition'(USP) – the features andbenefits that make it unlike any other product in its market.

 

GRAMMAR

Conditionals

Action	Time	Conditional
Real	always	zero
Present or Future	I
Unreal	II
Past	III

Zero conditional

E.g. When it is cold, we turn the heating on.

Ellie always takes a bottle of water with her when she runs in the park.

A conditional sentence has two parts: the if clause + the main clause. A zero conditional sentence shows a real action that always happens. In zero conditional sentences, we use:

If clause	Main clause	Example
present simple	present simple	When we go to the cinema, we eat popcorn. They walk to school when the weather is fine. If you add salt to water, it dissolves.

 

Conditional I

E.g. If we meet our sales targets, the company will pay a bonus.

The situation will not improve, unless we reduce our costs.

Our workers will produce more, if we motivate them.

A conditional sentence has two parts: the if clause + the main clause. A conditional I sentence shows a real possibility in the present or future. We can start the sentence with the main clause or with the if clause. In conditional I sentences, we use:

 

If clause	Main clause	Example
1) present simple	will+Infinitive	If we send the mailshot this week, it will arrive next week. If John leaves now, he will arrive home at 10 o’clock. (We don’t know if John will leave now; but if he leaves now, there is a real possibility that he will arrive home at 10 o’clock.) If labour costs increase, we will manufacture abroad. We can use unless for if... not: Unless we move our production abroad, our competitors will take our market share. Our workers will strike if we don’t offer higher wages. Our workers will strike unless we offer higher wages. Unless we merge our two companies, we will not be competitive. (If we don’t merge...)
2) present simple	imperative	If you like this CD, take it. If you don’t want the sandwich, give it to me.
3) present simple	modal+Infinitive	If I train hard, I might win the race. If she has the time, she can visit us.

1. Label the main clauses (MC) and underline them with a continuous line (______). Label the if clauses (IC) and underline them with a dotted line (……….).

We will buy Axam PLC if the price is right.

If we are successful our share price will go up.

If the market declines we won’t buy Axam.

One of our competitors will buy Axam if we don’t.

We can take our time, unless Chemco makes a sudden offer for Axam.

 

Complete these sentences.

1. If I have time this weekend,________________________________

2. If I go on holiday this year,________________________________

3. If I can afford it,_________________________________________

4. If I carry on learning English,_______________________________

5. If I stay in my present job,_________________________________

6. If I feel tired this evening,_________________________________

7. If I finish work early,_____________________________________

8. If I move house at some stage in the future,___________________

15. Complete the first part of the sentences in column A with the right endings in column B.

A	There's going to be a train strike tomorrow	В a	unless we give her the salary she wants.
	The union won't go on strike	b	we will not make a loss this year.
	She will accept the job	с	we will make a loss this year.
	She won't accept the job	d	they will not take legal action.
	Unless sales improve dramatically	e	unless we agree to their demands.
	If sales improve dramatically	f	if we agree to their demands.
	Unless we pay them immediately	g	they will take legal action.
	If we pay them immediately	h	if we give her the salary she wants.

Topic: Marketing

Grammar: Conditionals. Zero conditional and conditional I.

“Selling focuses on the needs of the seller; marketing on the needs of the buyer. Selling is preoccupied with the seller’s need to convert his product into cash; marketing with the idea of satisfying the needs of the customer…”