文本

背景提示： After laying out the advertising campaign, the team discusses the potential for launching the new biscuit range with a partner.

【Audioscript】

Malcolm: So Nellie and Maria, you have certainly been very busy. What you’ve proposed is a pretty extensive three-pronged advertising campaign, adding radio commercials to our usual press and poster exposure. You’ve costed all this within our budget, have you?

Lee: Yes, I’ve been over the figures, Malcolm. There is no way we could afford a TV campaign at present but I think our budget allows for quite a saturation campaign on radio in the weeks leading up to the actual product launch.

Malcolm: OK, let’s run with that. I want to see all the figures on my desk though, Lee, Can you get that to me by end of play today.

Lee: Well we haven’t costed every last item yet Malcolm but I can certainly get you the broad brush-stroke figures.

Malcolm: Right. So, Kevin, any more news on the Superkor front? Have they decided to play ball yet?

Kevin: Well no, not exactly. I met with their whole buying department yesterday and did a full two-hour presentation. We also had some samples of the product of course and some mock-ups of the packaging.

Nellie: And how did they go down?

Kevin: Pretty positively on the whole. Everyone really liked the products. Of course some people liked some flavours more than others but we expected that naturally. But on the whole, the product satisfaction was pretty high – up in the nineties I’d say.

Maria: Did they comment on the main comparison to other brands.

Kevin: Yes, they all said that the taste was just as good if not better than other “healthy” biscuits on the market – they didn’t seem like they were too healthy if you know what I mean. They still had the full flavour you need from a real biscuit.

Maria: So far so good.

Kevin: They weren’t 100% taken with the packaging though. We’ve gone for a traditional Scottish-themed packaging as you know – to emphasize the traditional, natural goodness of the whole concept. But they were not sure if it wasn’t a bit too old-fashioned and wouldn’t appeal to a younger market.

Malcolm : Hmmm, interesting one. We’ll have to get back on to the design team and see if they can come up with something that’s a bit more up-to-date, without losing the traditional healthy image. Not an easy one to crack.

Kevin: Well, I don’t think it will take much. Just a bit more design flair, I’d say.

Malcolm: OK, let’s see what they come up with. But where does that leave us with Superkor? Are they in or out?

Kevin: I’d say they are almost there but not quite. We need something – and I’m not sure
what – that would give them that last little extra push to commit.

Malcolm: Is it a financial thing? Lee, have you got any suggestions?

Lee: Well, we’ve offered them a really good discount deal on the quantities we’ve been talking about over the next two years. I don’t really want to come in too low now cos they could use that as precedent when it comes time to re-negotiate the prices.

Malcolm: Credit terms?

Lee: No, we’ve already offered them the longest terms we can possibly live with. I don’t want our cash-flow to be compromised by going too far in that direction, not in current commercial conditions.

Malcolm: No, I see your point. So what can we do to move things along that little bit. Maria, you’ve been very quiet?

Maria: Well, there is this national Food Fair coming up in two weeks’ time. Kevin, you’ve organised a big stand and display at that, haven’t you?

Kevin: Yes, we always go in pretty big there. It’s not just a trade fair, the public can go as well and it attracts a whole lot of people who just like knowing about developments in the food industry. There are a lot of school parties as well. Teachers like it cos it gives them a day out and some practical application of what they learn in class. Plus it’s good fun of course! It always gives us a lot of publicity within the industry and outside for all our ranges - this year including “Country Crumbles”. But how is that going to help us?

Maria: Well, I was just thinking, couldn’t we organise a special sort of competition based on "Country Crumbles" and offer the winner a world holiday or something? That would raise the profile of the brand. The costs would be negligible in the context of our overall budget and it would show Superkor that we were really serious about making the product a big name in the market.

Malcolm: Hmm, it might work. You’d need to work out some second and third prizes as well of course, not just one big one. Can you and Nellie work something out along those lines and report back to me in a couple of days, Maria? There’s not much time to waste if the Fair is in a couple of weeks.

- End -

日积月累

【Glossary】

-pronged (suffix) - a three-pronged advertising campaign is a campaign which is carried out with three main focuses 分端的，交叉的

exposure (noun) - the condition of being made known 暴露

cost (verb) - to calculate the future cost 花费

saturation (noun) - when a place or thing is completely filled. In advertising, to carry out a saturation campaign is to market a particular product or service until it reaches an optimal point. 饱和

end of play (expression) - in a figurative way, end of play means the end of work 工作收尾

brush-stroke (noun) - a general idea, approximation of something 大致想法

play ball (expression) - (informal) to agree to work with someone according to the way or method they have suggested 开始合作

mock-up (noun) - a full-size model of something large that has not yet been created but which can show how it will look 伪装工事

old-fashioned (adjective) - not modern 过时的

appeal (verb) - to attract someone 吸引

up-to-date (adjective) - modern 现代的

flair (noun) - the ability to do something well 天资，眼光

cos (conjunction) - often used in spoken English, cos and 'cos are the colloquial forms of 'because' 因为

precedent (noun) - the way that an action or event happened in the past can show that it is the way to be done continually 范例

cash-flow (noun) - it is the amount of cash which is generated and used by a company 现金流转

compromise (verb) - to lower the standards 妥协

negligible (adjective) - too small in amount to be important 可忽略的

实战商务小结

【Business notes】

在本章节当中，Malcolm 和 Lee用了一些常用的商务表达，例如：

Malcolm: OK, let’s run with that. I want to see all the figures on my desk though, Lee, Can you get that to me by end of play today.

Lee: Well we haven’t costed every last item yet Malcolm but I can certainly get you the broad brush-stroke figures.

Malcolm: Right. So, Kevin, any more news on the Superkor front? Have they decided to play ball yet?

商务谈判包含很多类似的句子，再比如：

Core Competencies

【Meaning】 What you/your company does well 核心竞争力

We need to focus on our core competencies in order to maintain our edge in the marketplace.
如：我们需要保持我们的核心竞争力，这样才能立足于市场。

Manage Expectations

【Meaning】 Make sure people expect realistic outcomes from a project - e.g. not too much 降低期望值

Make sure that you manage expectations so that they're not disappointed if we can't deliver.
要保证期望值不会太高，这样有问题的时候，你不会失望。

Out of the box
【Meaning】 Don't just come up with the same old obvious solutions, try and be creative when brainstorming ideas. 突破思维定势

It'd be great if you could think out of the box and generate some radical ideas.
如果你可以突破思维定势，有一些创新的想法就更好了。

Take offline

【Meaning】Discuss the point further outside the meeting / at another time. 暂时搁置

I think that's a separate issue, so can you take it offline, please?
我觉得这个问题可以单独拿出来讨论，我们暂时搁一下，你觉得怎么样？

Take ownership

【Meaning】You need to get a grip and be responsible for the piece of work 负责任

I think it's up to you to really take ownership of the piece of work.
我觉得你应该负起整个事件的责任来。

The Big Picture

【Meaning】 The overall situation, e.g. when working on a small aspect of a project it is helpful to remember the project as a whole全局

I think it's important that we remember to look at the big picture.
我觉得我们有必要看一下大局。

Upskill

【Meaning】To improve your marketability and worth to a company by developing your skills 增加技能

During your career, it's important to ensure you continue to upskill.
在你的职业生涯中，不断提升职业本领是很必要的。