商务英语阅读（第三版）Chapter 2.products and pricing.ppt

Chapter 2Products and Pricing Background introduction If Brands Are Built Over Years, Why Are They Managed Over Quarters? was written by Leonard Lodish, with Carl F. Mela, a marketing professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business. This article shows how widespread adoption of easy-to-harness, short-term measures has altered consumer behavior and made it more difficult for brand managers to maintain pricing power and compete in the marketplace. Warm-up Scan the text and write down the key terms related to the topic. Sum up the main ideas of the text by referring to the key phrases and exchange ideas in groups. Reading comprehension How did Wal-Mart respond to Vlasic’s discounting efforts? What was the result? How can we account for the differences in the way Vlasic and Nike managed their brands? Explain the function of baseline sales with examples. What are the factors that diminish the usefulness of sale promotions? Why price sensitivity measured weekly is higher than it is when the same data are assessed quarterly? Wal-Mart began selling the product for a very low price and the super-cheap gallon jar cannibalized Vlasic’s other channels and shrank its margins by 25%. When Vlasic asked for pricing relief, Wal-Mart responded by refusing an immediate price increase and reviewing its commitments to the line. Vlasic had filed for bankruptcy. The crucial disparity is in strategic perspective. Vlasic used a short-term sales strategy. Nike, on the other hand, positioned itself for the long term. With scanner data, managers can see that price reductions coincide with sharp increases in sales to consumers. Changes in consumer behavior; diluted brand equity; competitive response. This difference can be ascribed, in part, to the fact that weekly data recognize increases in purchases but ignore subsequent competitive price reactions and changes in consumer behavior. Nonetheless, the increased availability of short-term data dramatically affects perc