In pairs, discuss the following questions

1. Have you ever worked in the marketing or PR (public relations) department of a company? If so, what did you do? If not, what would you like to do?

2. What do you think people who work in PR and marketing do?

 

1.2. Look at the following graphs used at a meeting to discuss Sparkle, a glossy magazine specializing in jewellery published by Canada Media. Which two types of graph are shown: pie chart or bar chart?

 

Look at the Graph 1 and then complete the following description of what is shown using the prepositions in the box.

From, to, with, on, by, of

The graph compares unit sales for financial year 2007/8 ____ sales for financial year 2006/7. Sales fell ____ 30,211 units, ____ 151,056 units during 2006/7 ____ only 120,845 during 2007/8. This represents a decrease ____ 20% ____ the previous year.

 

1.3 Look at Graphs 2 and 3. What has happened to Sparkle’s market share?

 

Match each headline to a statement. Write the number of the statement you choose in the box next to the headline. (There is one statement that you do not have to use.)

Companies crack down on staff e-mails

       
   
 
Europe to retaliate by taxing US imports
 


 

 

       
   
 
Goodwill gesture ends factory stoppage
 


 

 

       
   
 
Micropag product launch delayed
 


 

 

       
   
 
Police pay talks enter difficult phase
 


 

 

       
 
Teachers go to arbitration over pay
 
 


 

 

1. A spokesperson said, ‘We hope that this is not the start of a trade war.’

2. Both sides have agreed that they will accept the decision of the panel as binding.

3. The company said they would launch the new range in April – three month later than expected.

4. The delicate wage negotiations continue, with both sides careful about making trade-offs.

5. The company successfully negotiated a deal to supply 22 new aircraft over five years.

6. A survey showed that employees spend about 40 minutes a day sending messages to friends.

7. The union agreed to halt industrial action when the employers withdrew their ultimatum.

 

 

Listen and speak

Analysing market trends

A 0.9A meeting is taking place at Canada Media involving the marketing manager, the market analyst, the director of public relations and the press office manager of Sparkle. Listen to the beginning of the meeting and check your answer to Exercise 1.4.

B 0.9 Listen again and tick (√) the phrases that you hear.

Talking about trends
- Sales are falling. - Profits are improving. - Our losses are increasing. - There’s been a dramatic 20% decline in the number of copies sold. - Sales have dropped from 151.056 copies to 120.845. - We lost 7 percentage points of our original market share altogether. - Our competitors’ sales have risen by 5 percentage points and 2 percentage points respectively. - Our profits slumped by 27%.