Useful language

1. Stating objectives

a) The purpose of the meeting this morning is to …

b) What we need to achieve today is …

c) Our objective here is to …

2. Expressing enthusiasm

a) That’s great!

b) That’s the best idea I’ve heard for a long time.

c) That’s an excellent suggestion.

3. Encouraging contributions

a) Don’t hold back.

b) Say whatever comes to mind.

c) Any other ideas?

d) At this stage, we want all your ideas, however crazy you think they are.

4. Agreeing

a) Yes, that’s a good idea because …

b) Absolutely, because …

c) Exactly, because …

d) You’re (absolutely) right because …

Carla Fernández | Pierre Martin

Carla Fernández: We’ve had some interesting results from the focus groups in the markets, Pierre. It seems we may have to change the group we’re targeting when we have the international launch. From the research, it looks as if we’ll need to target a lower age group. And perhaps reposition the brand, targeting the masculine adventurous, energetic male, rather than the sophisticated, aspiring urban man.
Pierre Martin: Oh, why’s that?
Carla Fernández: It’s really about the competition. A lot of top producers are coming out with premium brands aiming at the urban man. It seems that this segment of the market is well catered for — in fact, it’s becoming rather overcrowded. Givenchy, Jean-Paul Gaultier, Hugo Boss, even Kylie Minogue — they’re all launching male fragrances at the top end of the market.
Pierre Martin: I see. Well, it’ll mean changing the brand image of Physique. That’ll be a big step, and we’ll need to think it through.
Carla Fernández: Absolutely. Another thing that’s come out of the focus groups is, Physique is seen as a French brand, and it seems that won’t work in many of our target markets. We may need to change its name to appeal to an international audience, especially a younger one.
Pierre Martin: Mmm, does it mean Physique should no longer be a premium product? Are they saying we should market it as a high-volume mass-market fragrance?
Carla Fernández: Perhaps it may come to this. Certainly in the emerging markets, for example China, we could make a lot of money if we promoted it as a mass-market fragrance at an affordable price.
Pierre Martin: OK. Tell me about packaging. What did the research come up with? It’s essential that we get the packaging right.
Carla Fernández: Not good news, I’m afraid. The packaging we’re using here just isn’t appealing for most of the international markets. We’re going to have to think again and create a new look that’ll have universal appeal. And our creative team is going to have to produce a really exciting advertising campaign that we can use in all the markets, with a few changes here and there.
Pierre Martin: OK. Anything else the research found?
Carla Fernández: You’ll have a full report on your desk tomorrow. But one other thing, we’ll definitely need a new slogan if we change the audience we’re targeting. So that’s something else the Marketing Department must start thinking about.

Interviewer | Lis Credé

Interviewer: Lis Credé is an organization development consultant. She believes that the results of any organization can be improved by building the quality of the relationships within it, whether they are person to person, team to team, department to department, or organization to organization. Lis, what options for growth does the company have?
Lis Credé: I think there are two main options for growth. The first would be to take the name global, doing things in different markets in different ways, so the market is very competitive in the luxury end. So, picking up on the particular niches in each of the countries, doing this, for example, like Burberry, the fashion brand, did it – taking their distinctive pattern, but applying it to different pieces of clothing. So, that would be a way for them to compete in the market, very competitive market, and do so successfully by being more distinctive within that market.
The second option would be to go for a younger market, a different market for them, to reposition the fragrance, still going global but with a different positioning. Might be a bit more challenging for the cosmetics company, because it’s not a market they’re used to competing in.
Interviewer: What opportunities and risks does the company face in each case?
Lis Credé: Well, in the first one, going with the premium brand, taking that globally, opportunity is really high-end pricing, really pushing up the premium pricing to cope with those niche markets, so wonderful opportunity there bringing in a high profile celebrity, maybe a film star to back it up, that’s globally known. So, great opportunity. The risk there is that the competition can be expected to fight back fiercely and aggressively. So, they might get into a price war … Who knows … But that’s the risk.
For the second option of taking it to the younger market, they’ll have to lose their name name and rebrand the fragrance. The danger with that is that the heritage of the brand is lost and it will be equivalent to really launching a new brand globally rather than building on the track record of their name. If they keep with their name, then the danger is in the grey market traffic when … they’re sold lower … at a lower price in some of the markets. Traders can buy at that low price and then take it to a different country and sell at a higher price. So, that’s the danger in keeping the brand name same when you’re going to a different market. But the opportunity is huge, you know, China and Asia are big markets and the volume will definitely be there. The other risk is that they are not familiar with trading in a high volume low price market. It takes it different marketing strategy to do that and they might not have the expertise in-house to market in that particular field.

1. There are two main options for growth. The first would be to take the name global, doing things in different markets in different ways. The second option would be to go for a younger market, to reposition the fragrance, still going global with a different positioning.

2. In the first one, going with the premium brand, taking that globally. The risk there is that the competition can be expected to fight back fiercely and aggressively. For the second option of taking it to the younger market, they’ll have to loose their name and rebrand the fragrance. The danger with that is that the heritage of the brand is lost. Traders can buy at that low price and then take it to a different country and sell at a higher price.

1. This year’s been marked by expanding overseas operations.

2. We’ve had to cope with an extremely volatile exchange rate.

3. All I can say is that it’s been an incredibly successful trade fair.

4. Do you know who’s the head of their new public relations department?

5. We’re going to launch a highly ambitious market research programme.

Extract 1

Man | Woman

Man: Maybe this is just another wacky idea of mine.
Woman: Well, at this stage, we want all your ideas, however crazy you think they are.

Extract 2

Man | Woman

Man: OK! Right! Please! We’re about to start!
Woman: So … the purpose of the meeting this morning is to discuss ways of adapting our new soft drink for the South American market.

Extract 3

Man | Woman

Man: I think we need to look for ways to reduce manufacturing costs.
Woman: You’re absolutely right. That should be our priority.

Extract 4

Man | Woman

Man: Edith. I thought you wanted to say something.
Woman: Yes. Well, one thing we could do is modify the communications.

Extract 5

Man | Woman

Man: Let’s be radical and change both the product and the communications.
Woman: Wow! That’s the best idea I’ve heard for a long time.

Extract 6

Man | Woman

Man: I think it’s really worth sponsoring some kind of event.
Woman: Definitely. That’s what our main competitors are doing, and it seems to be working quite well. So yes, I’m with you on that.

Extract 7

Man | Woman

Man: Erm … Well … No. I thought I had an idea, but …
Woman: … Don’t hold back, Roger. Just say whatever comes to mind.

Extract 8

Man | Woman

Man: So what’s on the agenda?
Woman: Well, what we need to achieve today is see what conclusions we can draw from Tom’s market research report and then discuss the way forward on the basis of that.

Extract 9

Man | Woman

Man: I have some good news. We can spend 50,000 euros on press advertising.
Woman: Fantastic!

Extract 10

Man | Woman

Man: Any other ideas?
Woman: I think we could spend more on Internet advertising.