Episode 124 B

EPISODE 124
LEVEL B1 – B2

READING COMPREHENSION

HYPE

Hype refers to the attention and excitement you build for your product or service, usually well before it is launched. While hype typically extends from marketing and advertising efforts, it also arises from word-of-mouth campaigns. Be careful though, because hype can carry a negative connotation, making potential customers worry your statements are false and misleading. If this proves true, you may find yourself sued for false advertising. Creating a demand for products and services that you can’t deliver can backfire and end up costing you more in lost sales.

Step 1
Find features and benefits of your product or service that you can claim as „must-haves.” One of the hallmarks of marketing hype is to create a need, instilling in customers the idea that they can’t live without something.

Step 2
Saturate your market with media advertising, public relations campaigns, coupons and direct mail. When consumers see your brand everywhere they turn, they’ll begin talking about it, creating the word-of-mouth hype that lends credence to the trend you’re aiming to create.

Step 3
Present a spokesperson in your ad who personifies a trendsetter for your demographics. For example, if you are promoting a new cellphone app, use a teen or young adult to market your product. A service geared toward seniors might get the hype you’re shooting for through an ad featuring a local coach or older celebrity weatherman. Hire big-name celebrities if your budget allows.

Step 4
Build a sense of urgency that encourages shoppers to act quickly. According to the Media Awareness Network, keeping only a small supply available can prompt customers to hurry in to get their product. Present offers for a limited time or play up the fact that your products are part of a trend. If you’re promoting an event, build hype in the fact that your last presentation sold out within minutes or days. This way you will be applying the limited availability principle of marketing. Take care, though, because running out too soon can leave customers disappointed.

Step 5
Take advantage of social media that uses electronic word-of-mouth marketing. For many demographic groups, including professionals, college students and high school teens, hype begins and ends on their personal social networking pages or in the latest tweet from their networks of friends and followers.

Adapted from The Houston Chronicle’s smallbusiness.chron.com

 

Exercise 1

Find the words or expressions in the text which mean the following:

 

1) gossip about a product or service about to be introduced: __________
2) to put a product or service on the market: __________
3) to result from or be a consequence of something: __________
4) one that makes you think or believe otherwise: __________
5) when people want to buy something: __________
6) to successfully provide a product or a service: __________
7) to say that something is true: __________
8) a feature that makes something stand out: __________
9) to provide so much that no more is needed: ___________
10)credibility: __________
11)a target group of a certain age, sex, and background: __________
12)intended for: __________
13)to work to your disadvantage, even though intended otherwise: __________

 

Exercise 2

Match the expressions from the two columns into logical collocations:

 

1) to lend                      campaign
2) word-of-mouth      an idea in sb
3) a public relations   offer
4) to be sued               credence to sth
5) to instil                    media
6) to market                outside
7) a limited-time        a product
8) social                       reviews
9) to apply                   for false advertising
10)something sold     a principle

 

Exercise 3

Provide English equivalents of these expressions:

 

1) popyt
2) nasycenie (np. rynku)
3) grupa docelowa
4) dodać wiarygodności
5) marketing szeptany
6) zostać pozwanym o coś
7) media społecznościowe
8) nawiązywanie kontaktów (np. biznesowych)
9) podaż
10)stworzyć zapotrzebowanie
11)sławny
12)osoba wyznaczająca trendy

 

Grammar corner…

 

When consumers see your brand everywhere they turn, they’ll begin talking about it – you read in the text on the first page. This is the easiest way of talking about the future in English. It is used to make general statements about the future. Future Simple, because that’s what we’re talking about here, is also used to express your decisions that haven’t been planned before and have been taken spontaneously, for instance you’re going to a bar and tell the bartender: I’ll have a Scotch, please. The decision is made at the moment of speaking. If you want to stress that something will be in progress in the future, use Future Continuous, e.g. this time next week I’ll be sunbathing in Hawaii. Another way of talking about the future is using GOING TO, which means intend or plan to do something. So if you say: I’m going to sign up for an English course, what you’re really saying is: I intend to sign up for an English course. Another use of GOING TO is when your surroundings „intend to do” something, in other words, if you see the signs of something happening around you. If somebody, for example, is getting behind the wheel after one too many, you can say: You’re going to have an accident (in other words, there’s a fair chance of an accident happening if somebody drinks and drives). And now it gets tricky. If there is no chance of something NOT happening, we use Present Continuous. For instance, I’m going to Spain in the summer. So how is it different from the previous one? Easy: going to in the previous example has a grammatical function and it’s always there, while going to in the last example carries meaning and can be replaced by any other verb, e.g. I’m flying/travelling to Spain. For timetables and schedules we use Present Simple. You may know that Present Simple is used to talk about things that happen generally. So, the train leaves at 5.00 (as it generally does).

 

Exercise 4

Fill in the blanks with the correct form of the phrases in parentheses:

 

1) If you keep working so hard, you _____________________________ (suffer from) burnout syndrome.
2) Are you ready to order, Sir? What _____________________________ (you have)?
3) I’m afraid I won’t be able to meet you on Tuesday as I _____________________________ (go) on a business trip.
4) Your flight _____________________________ (depart) at 6.30, Sir, please proceed to gate no. 12.
5) I _____________________________ (buy) some Microsoft stocks, do you think it’ll be a good investment?
6) Real property is a very good investment, it is highly unlikely that it _____________________________ (lose) value quickly.
7) Oh my, look at the full inbox! It _____________________________ (be) a long day!
8) Our stock prices are going through the floor! What _____________________________ (we do) about it?
9) The meeting _____________________________ (not start) until noon, so feel free to take lunch now.
10)If the sales doesn’t improve, next year we _____________________________ (sell) hot-dogs in Central Park!!!

 

GLOSSARY

hype – rozgłos towarzyszący wprowadzeniu produktu na rynek
to launch – wprowadzić produkt na rynek
to arise from something (e.g. disputes arising from the agreement) – wynikać z czegoś (np. spory wynikające z treści umowy)
misleading – wprowadzający w błąd
demand (n.) – popyt
supply (n.) – podaż
to claim – twierdzić
to deliver – pomyślnie zrealizować polecenie, zlecenie
a deliverable – wynik wykonywanej pracy, realizowanegozlecenia, który ma zostać dostarczony
hallmark – znak rozpoznawczy
to saturate (e.g. the market) – nasycić (np. rynek)
to lend credence to something – dodawać czemuś wiarygodności
a demographic – grupa docelowa
geared toward – skierowany do
to backfire – zwrócić się przeciwko
word-of-mouth marketing – marketing szeptany
to be sued for something – zostać pozwanym o coś
social media – media społecznościowe
networking – nawiązywanie kontaktów biznesowych
big-name (adj.) – sławny, rozpoznawalny
a trendsetter – osoba wyznaczająca trendy
to apply a principle – zastosować zasadę
to sell out (usually: sold out) – wyprzedać się (zwykle: wyprzedane)
a senior (politically correct) – osoba starsza, w podeszłym wieku

 

 

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