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Task 2. Translate paragraph 4 in writing.
Task 4. Join the beginning of the sentence with its ending.
1. A product life cycle…
2. Nothing can kill product
off faster at birth…
3. The importance of
looking after customers…
4. The most important
consideration here…
a) thanitsnon-availability
b) is to establish the product
on the market.
c) starts with its birth or
introduction on the market.
d) still plays a prominent role.
e) often necessary to continue
to promote the product.
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TEXT 9
Brand and Product Management
1 A brand is a name that is given to a particular product or range of
products. In many cases this brand name is simply the company’s name,
such as Ford or Heinz. In other cases it may be a completely different name,
such as Nescafe, or it may be the overall name for the entire range of goods,
such as St Michael for Marks&Spencer.
2 Branding basically exists to identify a particular product from its
competitors. It is all to do with helping the customer identify the product
easily. The choice of a brand name is often absolutely vital to the image
of the product. Many brand names have become household names; indeed
some have become part of the language, such as Hoover (many people now
talk of going to hoover the living room, rather than going to vacuum it). Such
is the power and penetration of the brand name into our lives.
Own-label products
3 With the dominance in the supermarkets of «own label» products, the
brand name has found a new meaning for the customer. If you have the
choice of buying Nescafe or Sainsbury’s own label coffee, what is there to
help you make up your mind? The price is different: the Sainsbury’s own
label brand is cheaper; you may get more «bulk» for your money; but what
do you really think of the choice? Nine times out of ten you will prob-
ably reach for the Nescafe. Why? Probably because you think that the
Nescafe is «better». Better quality? Perhaps. Now change the situation
around and compare Nescafe with Maxwell House. Why do you buy one
over the other? Customers go into a shop with a mental list of their preferred
brands. What all the marketing, sales promotions and advertising is geared
up to do is to put a company’s particular brand name into your memory so
that your decision-making process when faced with a choice of branded and
own-label products is speeded up and you reach for the brand they want you
to reach for.
4 This branding goes further and tries to encourage you to see the com-
pany’s entire range as having the same reputation (a good one, of course).
This multi-product branding really does pay dividends, especially when
launching a new product that has the same brand name. The new product
