58   I can discuss marketing

A    The basis of marketing

SWOT

Marketing is the activity of presenting, advertising, and selling a company’s products. To do that, you need to understand the company’s strengths and weaknesses, and be aware of possible opportunities and threats. This is called a ‘SWOT analysis’:

Strengths, e.g. specialist skills in the company.

Weaknesses, e.g. limited financial resources.

Opportunities, e.g. increased demand for a product from a particular market sector.

Threats, e.g. a downturn in the economy, reducing overall demand.

 

Glossary

advertising  the activity of telling people about a product to try to make them buy it. advertise V.

strength  a good quality or feature. OPP weakness.

opportunity  a situation in which it is possible to achieve sth.

threat  a possible danger or problem.

limited  small in number or amount. OPP unlimited.

resources (USU PL)  the supply of sth that you need, such as money or skills.

demand (for sth)  the need for sth from a particular group of people.

sector  a part of an economy, society, or area of activity.

downturn  a time when an economy or industry is weaker than normal. OPP upturn.

reduce sth  make sth less or smaller. OPP increase sth. reduction N.

 

spotlight  skill

Skill (N) is the ability to do something well, usually needing practice. skilful ADJ. You often need a particular skill (C) for a job. skilled ADJ. OPP unskilled.

He has the right management skills.

She’s a skilful negotiator.

We had a number of highly skilled workers.

B    Developing a marketing strategy

Useful marketing tips

•  Don’t assume you know what your customers want.

•  Target the 20 per cent of your customers who provide 80 per cent of your profit.

•  Don’t ignore the competition, and be ready to respond to it.

•  Don’t try to compete on price alone: think about quality, reliability, etc.

•  You need to gather reliable data to make accurate market forecasts.

•  You need to have realistic objectives.

•  Don’t forget to evaluate your strategy; and if something isn’t working, change it.

 

Glossary

strategy  a plan you make in order to achieve sth.

tip  a piece of advice.

assume sth  accept or believe sth is true without proof. assumption N.

target sb/sth  decide on the people you want to sell to (your target market).

ignore sb/sth  pay no attention to sb/sth.

respond to sb/sth  say or do sth as an answer to sb/sth. response N.

gather sth  bring many things together, e.g. information or data.

data  facts or information.

forecast  a statement saying what will happen in the future. forecast V.

realistic  sensible, and based on what is possible in a particular situation.

objective  sth you are trying to achieve. SYN goal/aim.

evaluate sth  study the facts then form an opinion of sth. 

7     Test yourself. Cover the glossary meanings and look at the words. Can you remember the meanings?