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jumped in two years ago and its Aquafina brand has become one of the top 10 brands. Now Coke is taking the plunge. Dasani, which Coke plans to unveil on February 19, isn’t the product of some newly discovered spring but municipal tap water that is purified and distributed by Coke bottlers. Coke says it plans to tiptoe into water “to be careful that we don’t replace high-margin soft drinks with low-margin water”, as CEO

M. Douglas Ivester has put it. But analysts nonetheless expect the Atlanta-based beverage giant’s entry to cause massive shifts in the US water business. “Coke will be a big player – and fast”, says Gary Hemphill, vice-president of Beverage Marketing Corp, New York research firm.

Indeed, analysts predict that Coke’s move will dramatically hasten the consolidation already occurring in water business. Vulnerable are thousand of small regional players that can’t match Coke’s marketing tactics. A Coke bottler who was distributing another Indiana water offered retailers a free cooler to stock the product, and merchants expected other companies to do the same. “We couldn’t afford that, so it

costs us a couple of accounts”, says Rebecca Kelly, Whispering Springs Inc. president. IMAGE PROBLEM? Still, for all the soda giants’ marketing muscles and distribution

might, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be able to dominate the business. It’s one thing to convince consumers that Coke’s secret formula is unique, but it may have a harder time providing that it’s water is the real thing. And it could turn out that Coke’s success as a purveyor of soda could give it an image problem among consumers who buy water as healthy alternative to the fizzy sweet stuff. “When you think of Coke, you don’t think of water,” notes Stephen Monaco, beverage buyer for Tedeschi/Lil Peach Food Stores, a Massachusetts-based chain of 136 stores.

Monaco has already dropped Aquafina. The Pepsi product, which like Dasani is treated local water, did not outsell a half-dozen other brands he stocked. He offered to keep selling Aquafina if he could stock in the coolers the soda giant had provided.

Pepsi refused; it didn’t want to sacrifice cola space for water.

For Coke and Pepsi, that’s the dilemma: how to give water a place on shelves and in grocery bags without displacing soda sales. But they have managed that trick with teas and juices. And given the gusher of demand for water, Coke and Pepsi won’t retreat from this battle.

From the Business Week

(Br) soda = fizzy water

(US) soda = a sweet fizzy water beverage = a hot or cold drink

B. Think over the questions:

1. What marketing techniques are used by Coke and Pepsi to attract buyers? 2. What is the key to success of this company?

C. Decide whether the following statements about the bottled water business are true (T) or false (F).

6.Company can make more money from selling soda than from selling water. ( )

7.The entry of Coke and Pepsi will probably mean that smaller companies

Ex.4. Use the letters in brackets to form a word to complete each sentence.

1.Last year 1(NAMDDE) for our products decreased slightly as some of our customers switched to cheaper, alternative products.

2.We are now processing the answer to our most recent 2(ITSQEUNERNOIA) which was used to interview more than five thousand customers.

3.The new display units, which take up less space, have been designed specifically for use in small-sized 3(STUOELT).

4.A 4(VRUSYE) of existing customers has shown that a significant proportion are unhappy with the quality of our after sales service.

5.We have signed an agreement which will allow us to distribute through a 5(TWENOKR) of supermarkets across Europe.

6.The promotional campaign will be centered on 6(RITCED LIMA) which will be sent to potential customers in major towns in this area.

7.This is completely new product so we will be promoting it with a series of 7(LEPSAIC FOERES) during the launch period.

8.When customers place an order, we guarantee 8(VYREDLIE) within three days.

Ex. 5. Read the text and explain the meaning of the words in bold.

Brands and branding.

A brand is a name a company gives to its products so they can be easily recognized. This may be the name of the company itself: the make of the product. For products like cars, you refer to the make and model, the particular type of car, for example, the Ford (make) Ka (model).

Brand awareness or brand recognition is how much people recognize a brand. The ideas people have about a brand is its brand image. Many companies have a brand manager. Branding is creating brands and keeping them in customer’s minds through

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advertising, packaging, etc. a brand should have a clear brand identity so that people think of it in a particular way in relation to other brands.

A product with the retailer’s own name on it is an own-brand product (BrE) or own- label product (AmE).

Products that are not branded, those that do not have a brand name, are generic products or generics.

Ex. 6. Match the words or word-combinations with their Russian equivalents.

Ex. 7. Complete this marketer’s description using the words and expressions from the box. What difficulties has Tomas faced when buying new product?

My name’s Tomas. I’m Portuguese, and I’ve been (1)_____ _______ for Woof dog food for the whole of Portugal and Spain since I left business school last summer. The Woof (2)_______ is owned by a big international group. The market for pet food in Portugal and Spain is growing very fast, as more and more people own dogs and cats, and we’re trying to increase (3)_____ _______

of Woof through TV advertisements and hoarding in the street. Research shows that people have very positive ideas about it: it has a very positive (4) ________

________. But the supermarkets have their (5) ________ ________ dog food, usually sold cheaper than our product, which is a problem. There are even

(6)______ _______ sold just under the name “dog food”. We have to persuade people that it’s worth paying a bit more for (7)_______ product like Woof, which is far better, of course.

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Ex. 8. Read the information about some ways of promotion and explain the words in bold. What other ways to promote new products are used in your country?

The sales force.

A company’s salespeople (its salesmen and saleswomen) visit customers and persuade them to buy its products. Each member of this salesforce may be responsible for a particular region: his or her sales area or sales territory.

The head of the sales force is the sales manager.

Promotional activities

Promotion (uncountable) is all the activities supporting the sale of a product, including advertising. Promotion describes:

a special offer such as a discount or reduced price.

a free sample: a small amount of the product to try or taste.

a free gift: given with the product.

competition with prizes.

Supermarkets and airlines give loyalty cards to customers: the more you spend, the more points you get, and you can exchange these points for free goods or flights. Cross-promotion is where you buy one product, and you are recommended to buy another product that may go with it.

Ex. 9. Work in small groups. Think of the product or service you want to sell with a view on profit. Work out marketing concept including four Ps to attract buyers. Make a presentation of your concept.

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