Text 18. Advertising in the USA



The influence of advertising in the mass media market has both advantages and disadvantages. On the plus side is the fact that people get an incredible variety of information, entertainment and culture at minimal cost. The disadvantage is that nearly all of America’s mass communications are heavily overloaded with commercial and persuasive messages.

All advertising contains both information and persuasion. The classified advertisements in the daily newspapers are almost pure information. So are most of the supermarkets specials.

In Latin ad vertere means “to turn the mind towards something”. The American Marketing Association (AMA) points out that advertising is a tool of marketing along with the product price, distribution and personal selling. It also reminds us that advertising can be used to promote ideologies and services.

The first function of advertising is to distinguish among identical products. This attempt was exercised at the end of the 19th century by means of brand name identification. It seemed that the brand name would become synonymous with the product or its quality. Today when we ask for Coca-Cola, Kleenex or Xerox – it’s due to this particular function of advertising.

While brand names were an effective advertising technique, something more was required to establish the product difference in the public mind. From the realm of political campaigning advertisers borrowed the slogan – catchy summary of the product. The slogan gave way to the jingle, which was set to music and rhyme. “Winston tastes good, like a cigarette should” is an evident though ungrammatical example.

The next technique applied to advertising was brand image. Its aim was to create an image for a product that puts it a little above the competition and hence makes it a little more desirable. Since the late 1960s, a new concept has come to national advertising called positioning. Positioning consists of segmenting a market by persuading the customer that the new product will meet the needs of a selective group. Positioning recognizes the differences in people as individuals and the impossibility of any product capturing the entire potential market.

 


Text 19. Applying for a job

 

Russia is in transition from centrally to market economy. It is undergoing drastic social and economic changes. New economic mechanisms and institutions are being created which are believed to help Russia to integrate into the world economic system.

In line with the ongoing economic reforms new businesses belonging to different forms of business organization are being established throughout the country including joint-stock companies and joint ventures. People wishing to establish or running businesses often have personnel problems.

Three years ago a famous American pharmaceutical company set up a representation office in Moscow. After the years of successful operation in Russia the managers of the representation office have decided to replace the American staff by Russian staff including the key positions in the representation office. It was decided to start with the post of the Sales Manager. An advertisement about the vacant position of the Sales Manager has been inserted in several newspapers intended for businessmen and the representation office has received a lot of applications. The personnel manager has studied the applications with curricula vitae attached to them and selected from his short list the applicants who, he believes, have the right qualifications for the post, for the final interview.

The applicants are interviewed by the Deputy Chairman, the Personnel Manager and a representative of the company. The interviewers have different views about the person to be appointed to the post. For example, the Personnel Manager thinks a woman would be better, while the others are sure that a man is  more suitable for the job. Besides, the Deputy Chairman believes that experience is useful but not essential. The Personnel Manager is looking for someone who will be able to use initiative. The representative of the company wants a person who has experience of work abroad. During the interview the interviewers ask applicants different questions about the personal background, education, knowledge of foreign languages, experience, present job, salary, interests, hobbies, health etc. they explain the job, what the person will have to do. The interviewers make notes about the applicants (appearance, general impression, answers given to the questions, questions asked by applicants) so that it will be easier to decide between the applicants.

Applicant 1 is a woman of 32. She is the sales Manager of a Russian firm. She has been in business for 6 years, knows English, worked abroad for 5 years, has a driving licence. She is divorced, has a daughter of 7.

Applicant 2 is a man of 45. He is the Managing Director of a company created only 10 months ago. He has a driving licence. He is not married.

After the interview the interviewers discuss the applicants and make the final decision. Finally the successful applicant is called back into the interview room and offered the job.


Text 20. Insurance

The general idea of insurance is to gain indemnity in the case of any happening that may cause loss of money.

Insurance has become more and more significant as commerce has developed. Neglecting to insure goods either warehoused or in transit is all very well until something goes wrong. While goods are being stored, there are risks of fire and burglary. With the goods in transit the number of hazards even arises. While transporting, the goods may be damaged through a lot of reasons; for example vibration, an accident, poor handling, change of temperature, etc. And, of course, there is always the threat of pilferage when either a small part of consignment or the total contents of trailers or containers disappear without trace. Consequently, the reason for insuring goods is evident – both the buyer and the seller are protected against financial loss which may arise through no fault of them.

Goods are normally insured for the full amount of their value, which is calculated as: price of goods + cost of freight + insurance premium + percentage of the total sum to represent a reasonable profit for the seller. There may be different types of insurance coverage - insurance against fire, theft/burglary insurance, accidence insurance and a lot of others. But the usual procedure is to insure goods against all risks. This type of insurance involves a W.A. clause (“with average”, where the word “average” derived from French avarie means damage), which denotes that insurers pay claim for partial losses. The F.P.A. (“free of particular average”) this type of insurance means that partial losses are not covered. Particular average denotes partial loss or damage accidentally caused to a particular lot of goods. The responsibility for particular average is set either upon the owner of the lost property or those who caused damage.

In the case of general average, which means any extraordinary loss or damage for the purpose of preserving the ship and the cargo, all the parties interested in the adventure are responsible. The following events may serve as examples of general average: when goods are thrown into the sea to lighten the ship, when cargo is damaged by water used to put out a fire, the cost of towing a ship into the port for repair, etc.

The principal document used in insurance is insurance policy which acts as a contract. The policy may be known as a floating policy, when it covers a large quantity of goods for a fairly long period, usually a year, or it covers goods up to a large sum of money. For each shipment of goods another document is issued, which is called the insurance certificate. A cover note is a small document issued by the insurance agents to their customers, to tell them that their goods are insured and to give proof of this until the policy is ready.

 


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