Chapter 1
Marketing & Distribution
Page 8
Text 1 (CD1 piste 2)
How L’Occitane went big
Phonologie (CD 1 piste 3)
2.
a. as in cat
value
factory
b. as in car
market
almond
c. as in small
stall
recall
e. as in snake
creative
location
Part 1 – Understanding the text
nn1. Work on the title
1. L’Occitane company.
2. I don’t think this company is British because it refers to a specific region in France.
3. To grow and become important.
nn2. General comprehension
Les idées à souligner ici sont celles que l’étudiant a évoquées au moment de l’anticipation sur le contenu du document. Le pays et la région d’origine de l’entreprise
se retrouvent au paragraphe 1, par exemple.
nn3. Detailed comprehension
1. a. The company was created in the Provence region of France.
b. It uses natural ingredients (lavender, olive oil, etc.).
c. It makes essential oils.
d. Reinold Geiger is the company’s founder.
2. a. Three shops line 13, small company line 15.
b. Reinold Geiger was a minority shareholder of a French firm called Natural which
acquired L’Occitane in the 1980s. He became CEO of L’Occitane with a desire to
push the company’s growth. He was creative and knew that business was best
carried out on the field.
c. Sentences lines 16 -17.
3. a. The circled destinations (Asia,Hong Kong, Tokyo) correspond to the countries
L’Occitane is tapping.
b. The Asian consumers are cautious (l. 27-28).
The American consumers are curious (l. 26).
c. Underline the sentence line 28: if you have a good location they just walk in.
3
d. American consumers are very different from their Asian counterparts. Americans
are always ready to try new products and services unlike Asian consumers who are
more careful about what they buy.
4. a. Underline: All products are made in Provence/essential oils farmed on the fields
surrounding the factory/company is investing 35 million euros in a new production
facility.
b. The company’s success lies in the fact that they are working with natural products which are being processed locally. They are also focused on consumers’ expectations and needs worldwide and are not afraid to invest significant amounts of
money to improve their production.
Part 2 – Focusing on English
nn2. Grammar focus
2. 1) When Marks and Spencer left France in 2001, the company was losing money
essentially in the UK.
2) Before, consumers were looking for the most fashionable products; today they
are looking for the cheapest.
3) In 2008, many companies went bankrupt because the profits were falling at a
terrifying speed.
4) During the subprime crisis, banks were lending money to people who couldn’t/
didn’t afford it.
Part 3 – Train for the exam
nn1. Prepare your introduction
This article was released by CNN in janary 2013. It deals with the French cosmetic
company L’Occitane’s success.
nn2. Prepare your development
1. L’Occitane owes its name to the French region where it originated. It produces
cosmetics based on local products collected and processed in the Provence region
of France. It started as a small company relying on door to door and proximity with
its customers.
2. In the 1980s, the company was declining, and bought by Natural which brought
a shrewd and creative investor, Reinold Geiger at the head of L’Occitane. Reinold
Geiger believed in L’Occitane’s products and knowhow, and he pushed the company’s growth.
3. After securing the company’s success in many countries abroad, L’Occitane
decided to tap the fast growing Asian market. The first L’Occitane stores in Asia
were slow to take off because the Asian consumers are much more cautious than
their American counterparts. It takes much longer in Asia to create brand awareness
than it takes in the US.
4. L’Occitane’s success is due to the quality of its products, and the marketing
knowhow of its executives who do not hesitate to invest large sums of money to
improve the firm’s capacity.
nn3. Prepare your conclusion
1. First stage of your conclusion
L’Occitane’s example reveals that small firms starting from scratch can achieve a
4
worldwide success by marketing quality products while creating brand awareness.
This requires a lot of marketing talent and the ability to invest when it is necessary.
2. Second stage of your conclusion
a. Topics to develop: small companies/brand awareness/consuming habits/
marketing strategy are all related topics for obvious reasons.
Distribution is not completely part of the topic because nothing is said about the
stores layout , their sizes and location.
b. L’étudiant peut choisir de développer deux sujets parmi ceux proposés ci-dessus. Il
peut s’appuyer sur le background et sur ses connaissances personnelles. Ici, le succès
des petites entreprises qui savent développer une stratégie capable de créer une
vraie reconnaissance de la marque représente une thématique tout à fait indiquée.
La connaissance des consommateurs et de leurs habitudes en fonction des différents
critères (sociaux, géographiques, démographiques, etc.) est aussi une piste à développer ainsi que les grandes tendances actuelles des consommateurs qui sont de plus
en plus avertis et préoccupés par l’environnement, la santé publique, etc.
Page 13
Audio 1 (CD 1 piste 4)
arrefour’s new CEO is reviving the world’s
C
second-biggest retailer
Script
PaRT 1
James Stewart: Good evening, this is James Stewart, your host for Marketing
Focus, our Business channel’s daily program devoted to the marketing achievements of the moment.
Today we will be examining the French retailer Carrefour’s latest strategic U-turn,
in company of our marketing expert Elizabeth Milton.
Good evening, Elizabeth, you have carried out a thorough study of the French
grocery retailer’s ups and downs. As a start, could you give our audience a few
facts and figures about Carrefour?
Elizabeth Milton: Yes, of course. We could say that Carrefour is the French WalMart or the French Tesco, depending on which side of the Atlantic our listeners
are. More seriously, Carrefour is a giant retailer, the second largest after Wal-Mart
in terms of revenue, the third largest after Wal-Mart and Tesco in terms of profits.
It was launched 55 years ago in the suburbs of Paris. Today Carrefour has become
a global company present on 3 continents.
JS: Thank you for this reminder; I understand that after a rather dire period, the
company is being revived by its new CEO? Is that true?
EM: Yes, well the arrival of Georges Plassat as the new CEO last year has already
brought about a major shift in the company’s strategic choices. Let me explain:
under the former CEOs’ rule, the strategy was to manage all the stores from the
company’s headquarters in Paris: thus, every store in France sold a similar range of
products, presented in an identical store lay out; but eventually this strategy failed.
Part 2
JS: I suppose you can explain why…
5
EM: It isn’t difficult to explain; customers all over the world enjoy choice and
their tastes vary. In the small French southern town of Orange , for instance,
a town in Provence where many North Africans live, E. Leclerc, a rival chain,
was offering 20 varieties of chick pea whereas the local Carrefour had only two
brands. Guess where the North African consumers went? Last spring, the big
Carrefour in Monaco stopped selling cheap luggage and instead opened sushi bars
and a global wine selection; this was the right thing to do! It seems obvious that
Monaco’s customers do not want to be seen walking around with a cheap range
of travel bags or suitcases.
JS: I heard that Carrefour was in serious trouble before the new CEO was
appointed, that they were being threatened by the rival retail chain E. Leclerc. Do
you agree with this analysis?
EM: Yes, this is true, but the context has also been increasingly tough for all
hypermarkets in developed countries; customers today are more reluctant to use
their cars to buy their groceries; there is a mainstream return to city- centre shopping. That is why Carrefour has been opening smaller urban stores of varied sizes
called Carrefour City, Carrefour Contact and Carrefour Market. To be fair, I must
say they adopted this inner city strategy even before Georges Plassat took over.
Part 3
JS: How would you explain Georges Plassat’s success? The two previous CEOs
were supposed to be experimented business leaders.
EM: Being a business leader in your home country, doesn’t mean you are going
to succeed abroad. This is exactly what happened at Carrefour. Previous CEOS
were Spanish and Swedish. Mr Plassat by contrast is a French shop keeper who
worked for the grocery chain Casino, and also for Carrefour back in the 1990s.
He knows both his customers’ tastes and the local culture, which, he said himself
“is essential when dealing with something as sensitive as the place where people
buy their food.”
JS: So, how did he explain Carrefour’s problems and what strategy did he adopt
to reverse the trend?
EM: Well, first he stopped Carrefour’s over expansion abroad to refocus on the
home market; he decided to take this move because the company’s expansion
was being carried out at the expense of the French stores that found themselves
quite neglected. Second, he decided to put a stop to the over centralized management which had been the rule at Carrefour so far, and decided instead to let each
store manager adapt and manage his/her store according to the local customers
and culture. Each Carrefour store now can decide about the quantity of goods
they need, they can choose to offer new brands, generally local brands which are
becoming increasingly popular among consumers. On the other hand, Georges
Plassat will continue to transform Carrefour into a multi-format retailer by adding
more smaller stores.
JS: I’m afraid our Focus time has come to an end! Thank you Elizabeth Milton for
giving us your insight about Carrefour! We hope their new strategy will pay off!
Anticipate
1. On profitera de ce moment d’anticipation sur le titre de l’audio pour bien s’assurer
que le mot « retailer » ne constitue pas un obstacle. Les étudiants peuvent inférer sur
son sens grâce à leur « culture » personnelle, Carrefour étant une enseigne parfaitement connue. On pourra leur demander s’ils connaissent d’autres « retailers » en
France et à l’étranger.
Les étudiants doivent impérativement se familiariser avec les noms des enseignes
6
les plus importantes de la grande distribution au Royaume-Uni (Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury) et aux USA (Wal-Mart, K-MArt ,Target, etc.).
2. a/5, b/13, c /9, d/4, e/3, f/1, g/6, h/2, I/7, j/11, k/12, l/8, m/10, n/14
3. a. Georges Plassat a été nommé Directeur Général.
b. E. Milton a réalisé une étude approfondie du détaillant français.
c. Chaque magasin vend une gamme semblable de produits.
d. Ils ne veulent pas être vus/surpris à se balader/promener/déplacer avec des
bagages bon marché.
e. La fréquentation des magasins de centre ville redevient une tendance majoritaire.
4. a. This audio must be about Carrefour.
b. It obviously deals with Carrefour‘s new CEO’s strategy.
Phonologie (CD 1 pistes 5 à 7)
1. achievement - essential - examine - expansion - headquarter - identical - increasingly - marketing - retailer - revenue - strategic - variety
2. a. The arrival of the new CEO last year has already brought about a major shift
in the company’s strategic choices.
b. The strategy was to manage all the stores from the company’s headquarters in
Paris.
3. a. More seriously, ... a
... Carrefour is a giant retailer, ... a
... the second largest after Wal-Mart in terms of revenue, ... o
... the third largest after Wal-Mart and Tesco in terms of profits. a
b. Last spring, ... o
Part 1 – Understanding the audio
nn1. Listen to part 1
1. The document is a radio program on Business Channel.
2. The guest’s name is Elizabeth Milton, she’s a marketing expert.
3. Carrefour is the company under focus. Carrefour is a giant retailer with a global
presence on 3 continents, which has had ups and downs.
nn2. Listen to part 2
1. George Plassat is Carrefour’s new CEO.
2. The company was in a bad situation (« dire »).
3. Before George Plassa t was appointed CEO, the strategy was to present identical
ranges of products in identical stores.
4. Carrefour didn’t sell products corresponding to the North African population’s
tastes in a district of the southern town of Orange.
5. Leclerc is Carrefour’s main rival.
6. Today’s customers are more reluctant to drive long distances to go shopping,
there is a return to city center shopping.
7. Carrefour City, Carrefour Contact, Carrefour Market.
nn3. Listen to part 3
1. Georges Plassat used to work for Casino. He knows about his customers’ tastes
and is aware of the local culture.
7
2. He refocused on the home market and stopped the “similar range/similar stores”
strategy by deciding to let each store manager adapt his/her store to the local tastes.
3. He wants the company to be a multi format company, hence the different-sized
stores like Carrefour Market, Carrefour Contact, Carrefour City.
Part 2 – Train for the exam
nn1. Prepare your introduction
The document is an excerpt from a radio program focused on marketing.
nn2. Prepare your development
1. Information about Carrefour.
a. Facts and figures: Carrefour is the second largest retailer after Wal-Mart, is present
on 3 continents, it was launched 55 years ago. Its main competitor is Leclerc.
b. Its former strategy was based on similar products in similar stores everywhere.
c. The economic context became difficult with consumers increasingly reluctant
to drive to do their shopping.
2. Information about the new CEO.
a. The new CEO has expertise in the retail business as he worked for Casino,
another French grocery retailer, where he was able to study closely the consumers’
behavior.
b. He adopted a strategy focused on the expectations and needs of the local population, meaning he made a complete U turn by encouraging each Carrefour manager
to sell local consumers the most adapted products. That is why he continued to
implement multi format outlets.
c. The strategy has already paid off.
nn3. Prepare your conclusion
1. As a conclusion, we may say that Carrefour, like most Hypermarkets today, must
adapt its strategy to a new breed of consumers.
2. Topics you can develop: consuming habits/marketing mix/economic context.
Les autres sujets sont des sous thèmes reliés aux thèmes principaux cités ci-dessus.
Les thèmes de l’expansion et du format des points de vente, et dans une certaine
mesure le management sont liés intimement aux stratégies de marketing.
Part 3 – Role play
Voir page suivante.
8
Groupe Lecoq
Boulevard de l’Europe
59400 Cambrai
FRANCE
14 May 20XX
Mr J.O’Leary
Purchasing Manager
Leyland Wholesale Ltd
Waterside Road
Hamilton Industrial park
Cork
IRELAND
Advice of dispatch/order n°28475/2
Dear Mr O’Leary,
We are pleased to inform you that the above order has now been dispatched,
namely 5 sprays/crop dusters of the brand/make Evrard, model Alpha 250, at
E 22,000 a piece/per unit/each.
Indeed, the goods have been shipped from Le Havre. Please note that the
carrier is the Overseas Trading Company and if all goes well/according to
plan, the delivery dat should be May 20th. You will find included the dispatch
note, consignment note and bill of lading/BL.
May we remind you that the overall invoice amounts to E11,000. The
documents concerning payment, the pro forma invoice, packing list in three
copies and the insurance certificate have been forwarded to Barclays bank as
stipulated in the sales terms.
We hope you will be satisfied with the goods ordered and that they arrive safely.
We look forward to doing further business with you in the future.
Yours sincerely,
Pascal Deloit
Sales Manager
Encs: 3
Page 18
Video 1
Case study: redesigning a computer game logo
Transcript
On-screen text: “Start Game”
VO: The object of this game is to design the packaging and sales promotion material for a new computer game. Look at the variety of graphic products on display
in this shop, all directing the target audience toward the product: posters, point
of sale stands and packaging.
On-screen text: “Begin Briefing”
9
Peter Craven, client: The key things that we want to show in terms of the packaging, the logo, the point of sale, sales sheet, advertising, we want to lead on the
female character as opposed to the male character this time.
We need to bring out the increased number of weapons, the range of weapons.
We need to very much give the message it’s an advancement, there’s more to the
game, there’s more levels, there’s more weapons, there’s more craft, but obviously
sticking with the original brand.
One bit of feedback we had from last time where we need to improve is that the
actual logo itself wasn’t very readable, and obviously that is a key consideration.
Anthony Roberts, graphic designer: Is there anything in particular that they did
pick up on as not being legible?
Peter: The first bit, certainly the “G” and the “P”, was OK.
Anthony: OK.
Peter: You know, that’s large and quite readable. The real problem lay with the
“G-Police” itself.
Anthony: OK, so it’s only a reworking of the characters, it’s not a complete redesign.
Peter: Yeah, I think it’s opening out possibly one or two of the letters.
Anthony: We always start, initially, with the logo. “Weapons of Justice” is the title
of the game; “G-Police” is the brand. What I’m doing is changing the shape of the
characters. We want to keep the feel. We need to make the look a little more legible.
Once we’ve got the logo we would move on to the main packaging image. The
problem we had was that the “GP”, the “G-Police” and “Weapons of Justice”
makes a very big logo, so it would have left us with very little space for an image
for the pack. We also need to show this female character quite prominently and
then we also need to show the vehicles in the background in some way.
Each of the images is made up of layers, so we can move separate images around
individually until we feel that the balance is right, the scale is right. We can change
the colouration of the image. We can manipulate the intensity of each layer until
we feel that we’ve got the right look.
On-screen text: “Begin Presentation”
Anthony: We’ve, first of all, started with the logo. We’ve reworked some of the
lettering. As you can see, I’ve altered the shape of the “G” and the “L” quite radically. It makes it a lot more legible than it was before. We’ve also made the lettering
3D this time; we’ve brought it out a lot more than it was in the original “G-Police”.
Peter: I certainly like the way that you’ve brought all the lettering out; it’s very
clear. That’s very good.
Anthony: That’s the finished pack.
Peter: Yeah.
Anthony: We’ve incorporated the girl as you said. So then we’ve carried that
through then to all of the other elements.
Peter: Yeah, you’ve certainly stuck to the brief and concentrated on the female
character as the lead, the different vehicles in the background, the explosions, the
excitement, the cityscape. I like the colouring; it’s different. Moving on, yes, the
various elements, the disks, packer box, yeah, that’s fine.
Anthony: As for the point of sale, we’ve worked on a couple of ideas.
Peter: Yeah.
Anthony: Firstly, using one of the...
VO: Anthony presents models for possible 3D display stands. These will be four
feet high.
10
Anthony: ... basically adapting the packaging.
Peter: Yeah.
Anthony: Just for your interest there is a third option.
Peter: Yeah.
Anthony: The logo is horizontal on this version.
Peter: Yeah. It’s very clever, very simple: the way you’ve folded the card and given
an extra perspective. It throws the pack shot forward and, certainly, where the
logo stuff sits, it’s nicely in front of the characters. You’ve almost got well two or
three different perspectives here.
Anthony: Yeah.
Peter: It very much brings out the 3D element of the game, so making a choice I
would OK this one.
Anticipate
nn1. Pair-work (orally, no notes)
Suivant le niveau des étudiants, le professeur peut prévoir ou non de leur demander
de préparer quelques idées auparavant. Le sujet étant connu et familier de la plupart
des étudiants, ceux-ci devraient être capables d’improviser et s’entraîner ainsi à la
partie interaction de l’examen.
nn2. Selling a video game: how to attract the target audience?
Logo: it must be attractive with flashy
colours to attract the customer’s
attention.
Point-of-sale stand/display: it puts
forward the product, the customers
will notice it first.
Price: the customer is attracted by
cheap/bargain prices.
Video game cover: this is what the
customer can see, it must give a good
idea of the game and use attractive
pictures.
Part 1 – Understanding the video
nn1. Overall comprehension
Cette vidéo étant la première du livre, nous proposons une approche qui doit
permettre aux étudiants d’acquérir des stratégies de compréhension qu’ils pourront ensuite appliquer aux autres documents vidéo.
Ce premier exercice vise donc à apprendre aux étudiants à classer les éléments qu’ils
peuvent repérer lors du premier visionnage, en séparant notamment ce qu’ils voient
et ce qu’ils entendent.
En procédant ainsi, ils devraient prendre confiance en eux car, même s’ils ne
comprennent pas les interventions des différents personnages, ils peuvent
s’appuyer sur les images pour anticiper le contenu du document.
a. The speakers (number, age, jobs): three young men, designers and their client.
Two different places: shop and designers’ office.
The video game: GP Police.
Objects shown: logo, video game cover, computer.
Tools used to design a logo: computer and software.
11
b. The design of the video game logo: logo, display, point-of-sale (et tous les autres
mots listés dans la partie compréhension détaillée).
nn2. Detailed comprehension
1. Part 1 (00:00-00:31)
a. On-screen texts: “Start game.”
Introduction: “The object of this game is to design the packaging.”
Voice: robotic voice with suspenseful tone.
Words related to marketing: display, target audience, packaging, point-of-sale.
2. Part 2 (00:32-01:34)
a. Female character; increased number of weapons.
b. It is not very readable.
c. They should work on the letters of GP-Police.
e. The client’s demands.
3. Part 3 (01:34-02:55)
a. “Weapons of justice” is the name of the game. “G-Police” is the brandname.
b. Changing the colouration of the image: 4.
Changing the size of the letters: 2.
Moving the images: 3.
Changing the shape of the letters: 1.
4. Part 4 (02:55 to the end)
a. The changes he has made on the logo.
b. The client is satisfied: “very clear”, “very clever”, “very simple”, “that’s fine”.
c. 3D display stands.
Part 2 – Getting ready to present the video
Le but de cet exercice est de se servir des informations et des mots relevés lors des
différentes écoutes pour préparer sa présentation du document. En surlignant les
mots importants, les étudiants sont mis dans une démarche d’autonomie où ils font
leur propre choix de mots-clés.
Page 20
Text 2 (CD 1 piste 8)
Customers flee Wal-Mart empty shelves for Target,
Costco, etc.
Phonologie
2.
as in pony
/
12
as in dog
cosmetics
electronics
as in cow
discount
as in door
according to
disorganize
workforce
Part 1 – Understanding the text
nn1. Work on the title
American consumers have stopped shopping at Wal-Mart because they cannot find
the products they want.
nn2. Work on Words
1. a. flee – b. shelves – c. one stop shopping – d. fail – e. item – f. cosmetics –
g. raid – h. aisle – i. restock – j. check out lines – k. discount store – l. the sixth year
in a row – m. customer service – n. lure – o. rival – p. lack – q. wages – r. benefits
2. a. customers: shopper – b. employees: staff – c. merchandise: items – d. Wal-Mart:
superstore
nn3. General comprehension
§1: Margaret Hancock used to do all her shopping at Wal-Mart, but she stopped
doing so because she could no longer find the products she wanted to buy.
§2: Wal-Mart’s main competitors profit from the situation by attracting dissatisfied
Wal-Mart customers. One of the problems lies in the fact that there isn’t enough
staff at Wal-Mart to restock the shelves.
§3: The lack of staff also has an impact on the increasing length of check-out
lines, on declining customer in-store service, the retailer’s purpose being to counter
Amazon.
§4: The situation is getting worse and worse at Wal-Mart where empty spaces
on shelves, long check-out lines and along waits at the customer service desk are
spreading all over the 50 states.
§5: Now that the economic situation is not that good, shoppers are fed up with
the way they are treated in Wal-Mart stores. Getting the lowest possible price is
not attractive if customers waste time trying to find items which are not there.
Some experts are studying the impact on good salaries and benefits on superstore
employees.
Part 2 – Focusing on English
nn2. Grammar focus
2. a. the best-paid – b. the easiest – c. the most frequent – d. the least important –
e. the worst – f. the smallest – g. the farthest/the furthest – h. the richest/the
wealthiest – i. the poorest
Part 3 – Train for the exam
nn1. Prepare your introduction
This document is an article from Bloomberg web site, dated March 2013, dealing
with US customers resentment against their once favorite superstore, Wal-Mart.
nn2. Prepare your development
1. a. They are deserting Wal-Mart because they can’t find the products they want.
b. They are turning to Wal-Mart’s main rivals: Target, Safeway, etc.
c. Several things are going wrong with Wal-Mart, especially the staff shortage
which has an impact on customers’ services and needs.
d. Empty shelves are at the origin of the problem.
13
e. Shoppers are tired of wasting their time and energy looking for products which
aren’t there. Wal-Mart’s low price strategy isn’t enough today to maintain customer
loyalty.
f. The research shows that retailers would benefit from treating their employees
better with decent wages and benefits.
2. Part A: Shoppers are deserting Wal-Mart stores because they cannot find the
items they are looking for. Other retailers profit from Wal-Mart’s loss of customers.
This phenomenon has been increasing steadily for the past five years when WalMart opened 455 new stores, all under staffed, although Wal-Mart employs
1.4 million workers in the US.
Part B: The lack of employees has dreadful consequences on the stores:
– products pile up but shelves remain empty;
– customers have to wait monger at the check outs;
– the customer service for products such as jewelry or electronics is non-existant;
– the store lay out becomes messy, disorganized.
nn3. Prepare your conclusion
1. Shoppers today are sick of being mistreated at Wal-Mart. They want the products to be on the shelves, lines at check outs to be reasonably long, and the
customer service to be efficient. Retailers should rethink their low wages low
benefits strategy and start considering paying their staff more and give them more
benefits.
2. Today, customers expect to find the products they are looking for every time
they step in a superstore. For decades, US shoppers have been flocking to WalMart whose low price policy allowed the least wealthy part of the population to
consume at affordable prices. But low prices come at a high cost, and Wal-Mart
became known as the worst employer on the planet in terms of wages, working
conditions, etc. Moreover, the giant retailer has had a negative impact on many
communities since its implementation meant shutting down of all local stores
which couldn’t compete with it. Meanwhile, Wal-Mart has kept growing with 455
new stores opened in five years. New stores mean new employees, but today WalMart suffers for a significant staff shortage which could be the sign that another
internal policy has become indispensable. (See the documentary: Wal-Mart, the
High Cost of Low Prices.)
nnMethods
The obvious topics related to the document are the following: companies/
consumers/work.
Companies: The role of huge retailers such as Wal-Mart and Carrefour, their impact
on the community, their strategy, their success.
Consumers: The change in consuming habits; are low prices today the main buying
incentive?
Work: Can a company really profits from exploiting its workforce? Are low wages,
low benefits, and long hours necessarily profitable for a company on the long term?
14
Part 4 – Role play
Dear Sir, Dear Madam,
I am writing this letter to express my disappointment at not finding any of
the products I had on my shopping list yesterday. This cannot be accidental
since I have noticed for the past 6 months that every time I went shopping,
at least one or two products I needed were missing from your store’s shelves.
Moreover, I learned that it was not due to a problem in the supply chain, but
to a lack of in- store staff. I suggest that you hire more employees because
many loyal customers are thinking about changing their shopping habits and
turn to one of your competitors, even if it means driving a few more miles.
Hoping you will find a quick solution,
Yours sincerely.
(124 words)
Page 24
Audio 2 (CD 1 piste 10)
Marks and Spencer loses its Sparks!
Script
Jessica Parker: Good morning! I’m Jessica Parker for our weekly talk show on
Fashion Channel. This morning we are going to explore the way in which our
iconic British retailer Marks and Spencer could possibly recover its shine. With
me today a panel of experts in fashion and marketing research, who are going to
share with us their views on the challenges Marks and Spencer is facing today.
Cathleen Grant, would you like to launch the debate?
Cathleen Grant: Yes, thank you. As a former homeware designer for Marks and
Spencer, I can tell you how I feel today about the company. When I ask the mid to
late 20 year old girls with low income where they shop, they all tell me they shop
at Primark. I don’t see them buying anything from Marks & Spencer. Something
somewhere got a little bit lost; I think womenswear has lost its edge.
Jessica Parker: Do you agree Alice Gatsby as a fashion editor, with what has just
been said?
Alice Gatsby: Well yes, although I would add that where M&S go wrong is when
they start to ornament things with frills or beading. What people want is to go
to M&S and buy a good white shirt, a jumper , a denim skirt , or maybe a cashmere… that sort of things…The colours they have chosen today make my teeth
hurt, they are so extreme!
Jessica Parker: Richard Tucker, as the director of retail research, can you explain
what is going on with our British iconic retailer?
Richard Tucker: There are two main drivers at M&S: women’s clothes and food.
The food is doing well, but there are problems with the womenswear. They did the
right thing in splitting it up into different sub-brands, but those brands are insufficiently differentiated. They are also too “old”. Debenhams is sitting where M&S
should be, and does a good job because its brands are differentiated. Moreover,
M&S used to do quite well in times of recession, people went back to it because
15
it was good quality and value, but that hasn’t happened this time… I suppose the
company’s strategy is to blame.
Alice Gatsby: They are not completely responsible , I think; the clothes retail
landscape has been changing quite fast this past decade, and the competition has
improved tremendously; today’s British high street fashion shopper is incredibly
spoilt: many affordable yet good quality fashion brands have been opening new
stores, attracting the majority of young to middle aged women. Before, M&S
filled a gap between fast fashion which was cheap but poorly made, and the
austere but reliable department store clothes. Now the gap is being filled by these
new high street brands.
Cathleen Grant: I would like to add, if I may, that as a nation we still identify
strongly with M&S. It is a part of Britishness in a way no other brand is: each of
us has an opinion on what M&S should be selling, just as every football fan has
a view on the team their manager should field. Unfortunately, I doubt the brand
can thrive only on their Britishness, especially in the UK.
Richard Tucker: This is very true: ironically Britishness seems to be much easier
to export! Look how well M&S is doing abroad! Especially in France where they
made a widely publicized come back in 2011 where they opened a store in the
Champs-Élysées! The French customers love the food they most certainly find
“exotic” but they also like Marks & Spencer’s cosmetics and toiletries and I think
it is too bad that their cosmetics department has been steadily shrinking for the
past ten years.
Jessica Parker: What is the advice you would give to M&S’s CEO if you had the
opportunity to meet him? Richard, would you like to conclude?
Richard Tucker: M&S still has the potentiality to recover its position on the retail
landscape provided they stick to what they know best, that is to say customer
service and quality clothes; they should enlarge instead of narrowing their
cosmetic range, and continue their commitment to fair trade which is having a
real impact on customers’ loyalty.
Jessica Parker: Thank you to all of you for sharing your views with our listeners.
Next week’s program will be devoted to the fashion trends in Shanghai!
Richard Tucker: Have a good week and stay with us on Fashion Channel!
Anticipate
1. 1/d, 2/k, 3/a, 4/h, 5/j, 6/c, 7/g, 8/f, 9/e, 10/I, 11/b
Phonologie (CD 1 pistes 11 et 12)
2. a. They are not completely responsible, ... a
... I think; ... o
... the clothes retail landscape has been changing quite fast in the past decade, ... o
... and the competition has improved tremendously. a
b. This is very true: ... a
... ironically Britishness seems to be much easier to export! o
Part 1 – General Comprehension
1. The document is a radio program.
2. There are three guests: Cathleen Grant who is a former homeware designer for
Marks and Spencer, Alice Gatsby who is a fashion editor, and Richard Tucker who
is the director of retail research.
3. The topic of the debate is the decline of the British iconic store Marks and Spencer.
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Part 2 – Detailed comprehension
1. Information about Marks and Spencer:
– an iconic British retailer;
– facing challenges;
– womenswear at M&S has lost its edge: M&S was wrong to sell beads and frills;
– M&S’s customers want liable quality products such as denim skirts, white shirts,
cashmere, etc.;
– food and womens’s clothes are the main drivers at M&S;
– food is still doing well, the problems are with the womenswear;
– the womenswear brands are insufficiently differentiated;
– used to do well during recessions because of their good quality and value products;
– today the company’s strategy is to blame, plus the general fashion retail context
which has been rapidly changing this past decade, with a fierce competition;
– M&S is part of Britishness;
– M&S is doing very well abroad especially in France (new store in Paris, in the
Champs-Élysées);
– should make efforts on customer service, enlarge their cosmetic range, continue
their commitment to fair trade.
2. The guests share more or less the same view of the company, with some slight
differences.
3. a. Marks and Spencer is facing new challenges today.
b. Low income 20-year-old girls do not shop at M&S, they shop at Primark.
4. Alice Gatsby thinks M&S should never have gone into frills and beading and stick
to their core products: simplicity and quality.
5. According to Richard Tucker, womenswear brands are not enough differentiated.
They look “old fashioned”.
6. The company’s strong points are its food products, its success abroad, its Britishness, its commitment to fair-trade.
7. The French customers love the food and the cosmetic products.
8. Marks and Spencer can recover their position provided they follow the experts’
advice. They should remain loyal to their image and sell good quality clothes with
no frills and bright colours; they should widen their cosmetic range, especially for
their foreign markets, they should refocus on their customer service, and they
should continue to be committed to fair trade.
9. Examples which can be given and developed: Les Galeries Lafayette, Chanel, Dior
etc. (France) /Coca-Cola (US) /Ikea (Sweden), etc.
Part 3 – Training for the exam: oral presentation
2. Examples of topics which can be developed:
– competition in the fashion retail market (what, how, why);
– consumers’ habits;
– consumers’ expectations on the fashion retail market;
– different consumer segments (age groups, gender, etc.);
– the impact of fair trade on consumers;
– what makes a brand iconic;
– what is meant by “the Britishness” of a brand;
– the story of Marks and Spencer (their sudden departure from France in 2001 to
return 12 years later).
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Page 26
Training for the exam
Audio Document 2 (CD 1 piste 14)
Script
New York’s Soda Ban
James Stewart: Good morning, I’m James Stewart hosting your daily marketing
news program. Today, Henry Beckman, CEO of Beckman Marketing is helping
us understand the impact of packaging in a company’s success. Good morning
Henry. I have heard more than one marketer say that packaging was increasingly
crucial for a company’s bottom line. It sounds a bit excessive, don’t you think?
Henry Beckman: Not at all! Marketing experts today agree that packaging is the
5th “P” of the marketing mix and this is exactly where we stand today!
JS: But packaging has always existed, ever since the first manufacturer launched
the first product on the market, so what’s really new today?
HB: You’re right to point out that packaging is nothing new in the history of
trade. But before, it was not treated as a priority by companies; it was generally
dealt with at the last minute for a minimum cost. What has changed today, is the
way manufacturers and marketers have become aware that packaging is actually
positioned on the front line for a product’s success.
JS: Could you explain what makes packaging an essential marketing tool?
HB: Because of the huge amount of products on the market today, it has become
much harder for consumers to choose between so many similar items. Innovative
packaging is therefore a crucial element of any brand’s marketing plan in order to
capture and retain customers’ attention and influence their purchasing decision.
JS: Could you give our audience some insights about what a “good” packaging
is today?
HB: Well, nothing revolutionary, really. A significant knowledge of the market
and a good dose of common sense should do the trick! Concerning FMCGs, a safe
move is to opt for simple and engaging packaging that directly impacts customer
loyalty and brand credibility. Then, design trends should of course, evolve with
the consumers’ wants and needs.
JS: Are they the only features required for a successful packaging?
HB: Of course not; packaging also has to be an information tool, informing and
comforting the consumers that they are making the right purchasing decision;
indeed, today’s consumers have become increasingly health and safety oriented
and they expect products abiding to strict standards.
JS: Is there any reliable feedback about packaging, I mean in terms of sales
increase, for example?
HB: Well, yes, for example, Kimberley Clark released a new oval Kleenex box
during the holiday season a couple of years ago. The effect was immediate! The
Kleenex box thanks to its new packaging had become a decorative and trendy
object deserving to be displayed in the living room and not concealed in the bathroom or on a nightstand! The sales grew by 25 % within 2 months.
JS: I suppose they launched this new packaging in their home market, that is to
say in the US.
HB: Absolutely! They didn’t launch it globally, because every market is culturally
different and requires to be studied fully before a product is launched. That’s why
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packaging may differ slightly from one country to the other, and the difficult task
for global marketers is to maintain brand awareness while connecting with each
country’s specific culture.
JS: Thank you, Henry for sharing your experience with us today. Tomorrow’s
topic will be about the marketing blunders of the year. Don’t miss the program,
you will hear incredible stories!
Video 2
E-commerce, the history of eBay
Cette vidéo parle de la société eBay, ses particularités ainsi que son histoire.
Transcript
Reporter: The power of eBay comes from its massive audience. At any one time,
chances are someone somewhere will want your item.
Robert Cringely, Silicon Valley writer: It’s like a giant jumble sale. You really can
pretty much find anything that you have in your garage and throw it up there and
usually, for the right price, someone’s gonna buy it. And that’s something that you
just couldn’t do before.
Nick Train, Investment Manager, Lindsell Train: To my mind, eBay is one of the
most extraordinary businesses that I’ve ever come across.
Reporter: Investment Manager Nick Train is less concerned about eBay’s image as
a glorified car-boot sale than its total global annual sales: over £18 billion, larger
than the GDP of many countries.
Nick Train: eBay last year was the fifty-ninth largest economy in the world, just
behind Kuwait, and growing very, very considerably (more rapidly than Kuwait)
and indeed, I suspect, any other national economy.
Robert Cringely: eBay is incredibly profitable. And it’s incredibly profitable
because it has no cost of goods, it has no inventory, there’s nothing that they have
to ship or receive, except money. They schlep bits and they accept cash, and that’s
the ideal business to be in. No wonder they make so much money!
Reporter: The eBay story started here in Silicon Valley, south of San Francisco.
Ten years ago it was just another dot.com start up. Jim Griffith was there from
the beginning.
Jim Griffith, Dean of Education, eBay: So this is the second floor. This is where we
actually started. If my memory serves me well it would have been right about in
here (right in this location. And of course everything’s been built out) walls taken
down and expanded, so it’s very different. But it was two rooms. They were white,
no furniture. When you came to eBay back then, when you first started out, you
had to build your own desk.
Reporter: At first, eBay wasn’t so much a business as a whole way of life.
Jim Griffith: In the beginning what it felt like was a grand experiment, and the
word that we all used from the beginning was this was a “community”. The whole
idea of sending money off into the netherworld and expecting someone’s gonna
then send you goods… to a lot of people, maybe the cynical types like myself even,
would say: “Oh that can’t work!” but it does.
Reporter: To make sure users behaved honestly, Pierre devised an ingenious system
of feedback after each transaction, for buyers and sellers.
Robert Cringely: You’re asked to say something… And the first thing you do is
decide whether it’s positive feedback or negative feedback. It’s nearly always positive feedback. And then you say something like: “A grand experience I loved it!”
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Reporter: Or conversely: “This guy sucks! Forty-five days and no DVD!” Fear of
this kind of reaction keeps most users on the straight and narrow, as eBay converts
every comment into a score.
Robert Cringely: … And if someone has a very high percentage of positives, like
99+ percentage positives, it’s very good to do business with those sorts of people.
It really is the greatest innovation in the system. It’s the thing that makes it work.
Page 28
BILAN
Ce bilan présenté à la manière d’un SWOT permet aux étudiants de récapituler
ce qu’ils ont retenu de l’étude du chapitre. Cette synthèse peut être élaborée en
classe, par groupe de 2 à 4 étudiants avec l’aide du professeur. Chaque groupe peut
se charger d’un point du SWOT et ensuite rendre compte de ses conclusions.
Strengths: Marketing is constantly innovating in order to adapt to today’s fast
evolution and changes in consumers’ tastes. The main channels of distribution are
changing in order to adapt to always more numerous, more demanding, more time
pressed consumers.
Weaknesses: In a globalized economy it has become more difficult for companies
to carry out the adequate marketing mix.
Opportunities: There are lots of opportunities for innovation thanks to new technologies, and a lot of new emerging markets thanks to the rise of the middle class
in countries such as India and China.
Threats: The economic context remains unstable; taking the right decisions, making
the right choices is increasingly difficult. Corporate greed can also be an obstacle
Examples: Wal-Mart is losing customers as a consequence of its unfair labor policy.
On the other hand, Carrefour has apparently found the right way to jump start by
launching a variety of different format stores.
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