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Reading 1/2:
Read the passage and choose the best answer for each question.How the downturn can represent new business opportunities
Bill Gates famously said that, if he had one dollar left, he would spend it on marketing. But, with countries still in a deep economic crisis, many companies are focusing on survival instead of strategies for growth. And who can blame them? The signals are still not that encouraging. Spending on marketing plans is surely crazy. Not according to the UK's Chartered Institute of Marketing, which claims that companies are increasingly realizing that for the creative marketer, with imagination and the right budget, the downturn is an opportunity. According to the CIM, there are six key reasons why investing in a marketing plan pays off in a downturn. The first reason is that the obvious alternative heavy discounting may devalue your brand in the long term. Secondly, people don't stop buying in a downturn - they just buy more safely. People don't necessarily want cheaper versions of things, according to the marketing agency Dragon Rouge they just want more convincing reasons to put their hands in their pockets. Third, if you don't communicate with consumers, you risk an "out of sight, out of mind" response. Fourth, companies of all sizes need to adapt to survive. Paul Spaven, strategic growth partner at Tuffin Ferraby Taylor, says: "This was my fourth recession, and I knew that cutting marketing costs is a false economy. So we invested in specific marketing campaigns to support the most sustainable areas of our business. We mixed trade advertising, direct mailing. and PR support. In fact, our total marketing spending increased from 2.4 percent of turnover last year to 3.1 percent this year." Fifth.consumers want to know that you're "on their side". Many companies are winning customers through incentive and loyalty schemes. Finally, the difference between this downturn and the last is the growth of the internet as a cost-effective platform for testing different messages and learning about the consumer. Many small companies report that the most effective and powerful way to market is through email marketing. Promoting on social networking sites, such as Facebook, is also essential as it allows you to see in detail what your customers think of you.
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ExQ: 1
Adapted from The Independent, by Kate Hilpen
1) In what important way is this recession different from the last?
A. The internet is no longer relevant for marketing
B The internet provides a cost-effective platform for marketing and testing
