BASIC CONCEPTS IN MARKETING

A. PRE-READING

The following words and expressions

market/ing/research

volume of output

exports

export promotion

external economic and

political publicity personal selling

offerer

broker

middleman

reliability

after sales service

firms in the same line

sales promotion

discount

bargain sales

will help you to understand the text:

— badania marketingowe rynku

— wolumen produkcji

— towary eksportowe

— promocja eksportowa

— propaganda gospodarcza

— akwizycja

— oferent

— makler

— poÅ›rednik

— solidność (zwÅ‚aszcza finansowa)

— serwis, usÅ‚ugi posprzedażowe

— firmy tej samej branży

— popieranie (promocja) sprzedaży

— skonto (handl. rabat)

— wyprzedaż okazyjna

B. FIRST READING OF THE TEXT

Read the text below concentrating on its contents and terminology:

There are many definitions of marketing. Most of them are already familiar to you from your lectures on the organization and techniques of foreign trade. Let's then review some basic marketing concepts, this time from the language point of view.

Generally speaking the basic function of marketing is first to determine the needs of the customers and next to satisfy them, thus bringing profit to the firm.

Marketing research collects and analyzes data to help managers make decisions. These data cover not only the most important characteristics and trends of a given market but also their reasons and effects, the structure of demand and supply, the volume of output and exports of the country in question, etc. Some of these research programmes must be carried out abroad (field research), some may be done at home (desk research). All these activities should be coupled with a careful analysis of the product to be sold, as well as of that produced by competing firms.

Export promotion, in turn, is a complex of activities such as external economic and political publicity, advertising, personal selling, fairs and exhibitions and sales promotion. The external economic and political publicity is the most general form of export promotion. Its main purpose is to create the most favourable image of your own country in the eyes of your potential customers abroad.

Advertising, an essential part of marketing, should inform people about the existence of a new product and its characteristics as well as persuade them to buy it.

However, advertisers often come in for criticism because advertising is not always fair, due to its persuading function. Thus we often buy things which we really do not need or even those which are positively harmful (e.g. cigarettes, alcohol, etc.).

On the other hand advertising has its unquestionable merits. Apart from visual enjoyment (posters, colored advertisements in newspapers and other printed matter, cinema and TV advertising, displays, exhibitions, etc.) it also offers information (although generally exaggerated) about the quality of a new product. If the market is well supplied and competition tough, advertising appears necessary.

Personal selling implies personal contacts between the seller and prospective buyer. It is generally prepared through bilateral correspondence determining the terms of a prospective contract. In other words, personal selling means collecting contracts and it is effected through the visits of the authorized representatives of the offerer. Thus you should not confuse it with the work of agents, salesmen, and brokers as the latter have no right to sign contracts but are mere middlemen.

Often some elements of export promotion can be used at the same time to be more effective. Such is the case of fairs and exhibitions forming a combined advertising and personal selling mix.

The main objectives public relations are to show the reliability of the firm in question, its respectful attitude toward the clients, the high quality of its products, equipment and of the specialists it employs.

Public relations also mean the presentation of films and other printed matter
on the history, development and recent achievements of the firm, as well as special
radio and TV programmes.

Although advertising, personal selling, public relations and sales promotion seem to have the same final goal, each of them has a specific function to perform.

Sales promotion covers a variety of activities aimed at encouraging the customer to buy the given product now and in the future. It appears, however, at the level of a retailer thus having a limited share in foreign trade. It is effected through discounts from retail prices, free gift samples, premium coupons, seasonal bargain sales, displays etc. Hence advertising and public relations have a more general appeal as they are addressed to a much greater number of prospective buyers. Personal selling, on the other hand, is focused on collecting contracts and orders on a wholesale scale. That is why although all marketing activities have the same purpose, their specific functions should not be confused.

C. LOOKING FOR INFORMATION

I. Comprehension. Answer the following questions:

1. What is the basic function of marketing?

2. What is market research concerned with?

3. What do we mean by export promotion?

4. What are the main functions of advertising?

5. Why do advertisers often come in for criticism?

6. What are the unquestionable merits of advertising?

7. What does personal selling mean?

8. What are the main objectives of public relations?

9. What is the difference between advertising, personal selling, public relations, and sales promotion?

II.Completion. Complete the following sentences on the basis of the information given in the text:

1. Our market research indicates a new ..... among people in large cities.

2. ..... must be completed before product development is started.

3. The producer tries to ..... consumer trends and then tries to influence them.

4. The consumer may be influenced into buying a product through ..... .

5. High mass consumption in the US has been made possible by ..... .

6. ..... operations include product planning and pricing among other things.

7. In order to sell a new product, they have to consider how they want to ..... it.

D. REINFORCING TERMINOLOGY

The text on marketing introduced several terms connected with specialization.

Some of them are easy to remember because they are the same in Polish (e.g.

marketing, public relations) or they can be translated word for word (e.g.

middleman, sales promotion). The text does not include a complete list of

marketing terms, but we think you will easily understand others when necessary,

or form them yourselves in the following way:

marketing — marketing

agencja marketingowa — marketing agency

analiza marketingowa — marketing analysis (study)

cykl marketingowy — marketing cycl

koszty marketingu — marketing costs (expenses)

organizacja marketingowa — marketing organization

polityka marketingowa — marketing policy

strategia marketingowa — marketing strategy, etc.

There are, however, some terms not in any way similar to their Polish equivalents

and you will have to memorize them. These include:

export promotion — promocja eksportowa

external economic

and political publicity — propaganda gospodarcza
personal selling —akwizycja
bargain sales ~ — sprzedaż okazyjna, wyprzedaż
firms in the same line — firmy tej samej branży
(although the latter is not exactly a marketing term but belongs to terminology of
economics in general).

Speaking about the term line it is worth-while mentioning that it is a highly
homonymous word indicating many different things, e.g.:
air line, shipping line — linia lotnicza, okrÄ™towa lub spedycyjna
cash line — transakcja gotówkowa
cheap linÄ™ —tandeta

commercial line — branża handlowa
marinÄ™ linÄ™ _ ubezpieczenie morskie

to broaden a line — poszerzyć asortyment
to insure a line — ubezpieczyć towar/Å‚adunek

Another trap-term (termin-pulapka) is personal selling which in English describes
the concept exactly. In Polish, however, it is akwizycja. Consequently students
often confuse personal selling with acquisition although the latter means
acquiring, getting, winning, attaining.

III. Read the section above once more. Then use all the terms discussed there in sentences of your own.

IV

Form families of the following terms, adding appropriate endings:

Noun I	Noun II	Verb	Adjective
Management	manager	manage	managerial
			marketable
		buy
		sell
Product/ produce
Export
Price
Demand
	supply
	competitor
Promotion
		to advertise
Profit
Offer

V. Give appropriate economic terms for the definitions given below:

1. The value of goods in terms of money.

2. The amount of goods produced.

3. The firms producing the same goods as we do and trying to do it better.

4. Presentation of goods to be sold.

5. Telling people what to buy and why.

6. Collecting contracts through visiting prospective buyers at the level of a wholesaler.

7. Representatives of a firm or a businessman having no rights to sign contracts.

8. A link between the wholesaler and retailer.

9. Informing people about a given firm and its achievements.

10. Encouraging people to buy a given product at the retail level.

11. Sales of seasonal goods at reduced prices.

VI. Fill in the following boxes with appropriate economic terms:

to satisfy ...

to bring .....

The main purposes of marketing

to win new…

to defeat ...

to improve…

		managers .....
Marketing research helps
				to characterize .....
			to analyze ..... as	well as .....

1.ad .....

Export promotion is effected through:

2. external .....

3. personal ....

4.f..... and e……………

5.sales .....

Key

Ex.II 1. trend 2. market research 3. predict 4. advertising 5. shopping centres 6.marketing 7. promote

Ex.IV

Noun I	Noun II	Verb	Adjective
market	marketer	To market	Markatable
-	Buyer	To buy	-
sale	seller	To sell	Saleable
Product/produce	producer	To produce	Productive
Export	exporter	To export	Exportable
price	-	To price	-
demand	-	To demand	demandable
supply	supplier	To supply	-
competition	competitor	To compete	Competitive
promotion	-	To promote	-
advertisement	advertising	To advertise	-
profit	-	To profit	Profitable
offer	offerer	To offer	-

---