Episode 157 B

EPISODE 157
LEVEL B1-B2

READING COMPREHENSION

Weather and Advertising

Predicting the weather plays an enormous role in the world of advertising and marketing. Weather determines what products sell and which don’t, and it influences our moods when it comes to spending money. Even a one-degree shift in the temperature has dramatic effects on the sales of dozens of products. And that’s why predicting the weather has become a huge business – because the weather „happens” to everyone.
In the world of marketing, retailers have always had a fundamental knowledge of weather because they had to know the conditions to ship goods from manufacturing plants to retail locations. They also had a good grasp of rudimentary seasonal strategies – lawn seed sells well in early spring, sun products in mid summer, outerwear in the fall, snow shovels in the winter. But because of climate change, traditional 4-seasonal strategies are no longer
predictable sales indicators. It’s been estimated that weather affects around $3 trillion worth of sales in the private sector alone.
While you can’t manage weather, you can manage the financial implications of weather. It’s all a matter of looking for patterns. Sears spotted a pattern in their auto parts department.
They realized that car batteries older than 5 years tend to die after three consecutive nights of sub-zero temperatures – so they began to place ads on the day after the third freeze. Battery sales sky-rocketed. Campbell’s Soup began monitoring weather in 30 markets, and created a „misery index.” Whenever the weather turned cold, wet or snowy, causing the misery index to rise 5%, Campbell’s would air chicken soup radio advertising in those locations. When that proved to be very successful, Campbell’s added a „flutracking” system, monitoring the movement of the flu across the nation, while implementing comfort-food advertising accordingly. Harley-Davidson dealerships realized that sunny and 72F, or 22C, was always their busiest day of the week.
It was becoming clear that consumers engage in various consumption patterns based on weather. And much of that thinking began with something called… the Weather Channel, founded by John Coleman, the weatherman from ABC’s Good Morning America, who was being constantly laughed at by his industry colleagues. Ten years later, it was being watched in 50 million homes. And today, it boasts the second-most popular mobile app,
and is watched in over 100 million homes – making it the most-distributed cable network in the U.S. All of this is to say that those who can gain revenue from a force of nature they can’t control have an enormous competitive advantage.

Adapted from www.cbc.ca

Exercise 1

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

1) to influence sth: __________
2) 12 pieces: __________
3) a business that sells to individual clients: __________
4) to transport products: __________
5) sales with the value of $3tn: __________
6) to notice sth: __________
7) in a row: __________
8) to increase very fast: __________
9) to look at something closely for a period of time: ___________
10)to start a company: __________
11)being better than rivals: __________
12)to make money on sth: _________

 

 

Exercise 2

Match the expressions from the two columns into logical collocations:

1) a competitive sales indicators
2) sth plays food
3) a good in various consumption patterns
4) climate ads
5) predictable grasp of sth
6) financial advantage
7) to place sth to happen
8) comfort change
9) to cause implications of sth
10)to engage an enormous role in sth

 

 

Exercise 3

Provide English equivalents of these expressions:

1) coś dobrze się sprzedaje
2) jeśli chodzi o
3) podstawowy
4) szacować
5) prawidłowości
6) zdać sobie z czegoś sprawę
7) mieć tendencję do czegoś
8) niedola
9) nadawać (np. reklamę)
10)coś okazało się sukcesem
11)stosownie
12)szczycić się czymś

 

Grammar corner…

In the world of advertising you very often want to stress and emphasize things, i.e. to make them more prominent and highlight their importance. One of the ways to do it in English is to add -ever to words like how, who, what, when, which, what so.
Whenever you do it, you put more strength and emphasis to a sentence:-)

 

 

Exercise 4

Complete the sentences with one suitable word.

1) ____________________ hard we tried, we couldn’t increase our market share.
2) ____________________ one of you did it, I’ll find you and punish you accordingly.
3) Come by ____________________ you want, I’m at home all the time.
4) The competition is open, so ____________________ wants to enter, may do so.
5) Why do you have to be so militant – ____________________ I say, you tend to disagree with it.
6) I’m completely broke, I have no money left ____________________.

 

GLOSSARY
to determine sth – warunkować coś
a dozen – tuzin
a retailer – sprzedawca detaliczny
to ship goods – transportować towary
… worth of sales – sprzedaż o wartości …
to spot sth – zauważyć coś
consecutive – jeden po drugim
to sky-rocket – wzrastać nagle
to monitor sth – monitorować / kontrolować coś
to found a business – założyć firmę
competitive advantage – przewaga nad konkurencją
to gain revenue from sth – zarabiać na czymś
to play a role in sth – odgrywać rolę w czymś
a good grasp of sth – dobre zrozumienie czegoś
climate change – zmiany klimatyczne
predictable sales indicators – dające się przewidzieć wskaźniki sprzedaży
financial implications of sth – finansowe skutki czegoś
to place ads – umieszczać reklamy
comfort food – jedzenie na poprawę humoru
to cause sth to happen – sprawić, że coś się stało
to engage in various consumer patterns – wykazywać różne zachowania konsumenckie
sth sells well – coś dobrze się sprzedaje
when it comes to – jeśli chodzi o coś
fundamental / rudimentary – podstawowy
to estimate – szacować
patterns – prawidłowości
to realize sth – zdać sobie z czegoś sprawę
to tend to do sth – mieć tendencję do czegoś
misery – niedola
to air sth – nadawać coś
accordingly – stosownie
to boast sth – szczycić się czymś
in a row – pod rząd
to come by – wpaść do kogoś
militant – walecznie nastawiony

 

 

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