3. A. Before you read the text, answer these questions.

1. What companies do you associate with Italy?

2. What qualities do you associate with Italian products?

Prompts: high-tech equipment, hard-wearing materials, best-selling PCs, long-lasting diesel engines, well-made shoes.

3. Why do people buy Ferraris?

B. Scan the text and answer these questions.

Selling dreams.

Ferrari. Italy’s market of sport and racing cars, is among the three most recognizable brands in the world. The company got its high profile among the world’s corporate giants without the help, for most of its existence, of an advertising department. Only as recently as 1993 did Ferrari create a marketing department. ‘Just parking our exciting automobiles is enough to draw the crowds,’ writes Gian Luigi Longinotti-Buitoni, the author of a book called Selling Dreams.

Customers are now spending more money on products they desire rather than on products they simply need. All companies must therefore produce goods of very high quality.

More importantly, they must establish a brand for years to come by giving it emotional qualities that match customers’ strongest desires. Like Ferrari, all companies must create and sell ‘dreams’.

Longinotti-Buitoni gives some interesting statistics about markets for luxury goods worldwide: Switzerland, with 220 Ferraris sold in 1997, is the largest market per capita for the car marker’s products; the company, on the other hand, sells only 2.7 percent of its cars to women; Rolex and the highest number of luxury watches are sold in Italy, while Japan has been consistently the leading market in the world for leather goods from Gucci, Ferragamo, Hermes and Louis Vuitton. China, amazingly, appears to be drinking a lot of Hennessy cognac.

1. Which are the biggest markets / countries for these products?

a) Ferraris c) Leather goods

b) Rolex watches d) Hennessy cognac

2. What do these numbers in the article refer to?

1993 220 1997 2.7

3 .What was unusual about Ferrari ‘s marketing until 1993?

4 .What two things does the author recommend that companies should do?

C .Discuss these questions.

1.Which qualities do you associate with cars from these manufacturers?

a) BMW b)Volvo c) Rolls Royce d) Fiat e) Mitsubishi

Prompts: BMW- solid, safe, firm ride but comfortable. No longer luxurious in many places, they are in danger of becoming ordinary.

Volvo –Very safe, reliable ,very comfortable but bit dull. Not very good- looking. May be better for northern climates than elsewhere.

Rolls Royce- Handmade, very long tradition, but old-fashioned now .May be a status symbol for the rich rather than a particularly good car

Fiat- Sporty, fun to drive, some models quite good-looking, but the interior is rather basic.

Mitsubishi – Fantastically reliable, economical, very, well put together, but like many Japanese cars may lack character.

3. Read an interview with Mirijana, Vice President, at Peason Education.

• Mirijana ,what is the key to successful marketing?

• Well ,the key to successful marketing involves many different things .Most people would say successful marketing is just a creative campaign .Some people would go further than that and say it involves many good marketing communications, reaching the right people, clear marketing messages, and working well with sales team to get the right sales channels. But the most common definition of marketing is just two words; customer orientation. What does that actually mean? It really means four things: producing what customers want, when the wanted, at the right price and in a way that is profitable for the company, and I believe in that definition very strongly.

• Could you describe a marketing campaign that impressed you?

• Well, marketing is very much in my blood and it is my first love, so there are lots of campaigns I come across every day that really impress me. But I think the most memorable in recent years has been the Orange mobile phone campaign, partly because the whole area of mobile technologies and mobile communications I find very interesting and incredibly exiting, but partly because it was a great campaign in itself. It has the fantastic strap line “ the future is bright, the future is orange” ,which is so memorable and so meaningful for all segments of the population.

• Could you give an example of an unsuccessful campaign?

• Well, I think the most unsuccessful recent campaign for me was the one where an electrical goods manufacturer tried to roll out a very simple sales promotion. Initially, if you bought any electrical appliance over a certain value, you were promised free flight with every purchase. Now, although initially this campaign did seem to be quite successful because sales went up, in the end they had to stop the campaign because the simply couldn’t keep up with the demand and they were spending a lot on these prizes. So I think basically, from the early stages the campaign was badly budgeted and it resulted in a lot of negative publicity for the company.

A. Answer the following questions.

1 .What is the most common definition of marketing/?

2. Which campaign was the most memorable for Mirijana?

3 .Why did she find it memorable?

4. What was the fantastic strap line ( slogan)?

5 .What other strap lines do you know?

6 .What was the promise of the electrical goods manufacturer ?

7. Why did this campaign ( electrical appliances) appear successful at first?

8. Why did they end the campaign?

B. Complete this extract from the interview.

The campaign was badly ………, badly……… and it resulted in a lot of negative ……….. for the company.