Section 1: Grammar (6 marks)

Use the correct form (present simple tense or present continuous tense) to complete the
following text. Use the verbs given on the right.

Dan Peters ……………. in the R&D department of the Antwerp-based company work
Mercator Foods Ltd, where he ……………. a team of five responsible for all manage
Products under the brand name Souperbly.

Together, they ……………… about three new products each year. develop
This week, however, Dan is not in his office. He …………………. in the work
Laboratory. He ……………………. the testing of an innovative range supervise
of soups and sauces, and …………………. a report. write

Section 2: Vocabulary (9 marks)

Task 1: Complete the passage with the best word from the choices below:

The dictionary defines advertise as ´to make (something for sale, services offered, etc) known to
the public´. Advertising can therefore be considered a form of …communication…(1), the
ultimate aim of which is to ………………..(2) consumers to choose a specific product or service.
Every company tries to …………….(3) its products from those of the competition and a key
element here is the strategy of branding.
A ……………..(4) can be defined as ´the name attached to a product or service, how that name
is visually expressed through a ………………..(5) and how that name and logo are developed
through a company´s communications´.
However, a brand is much more than just a name. It also represents some intangible aspects of
a product since it is how the product or often even the whole ……………(6) is perceived by its
………………..(7). It is a nexus of ideas, feelings, and perceptions about lifestyle and status,
…………(8) and quality. Creating a powerful brand identity is essential if you want to …………..
(9) a strong competitive …………….(10). A successful brand will make customers think of your
company first when they think of the particular product category to which the brand is attached.

1) a) distribution b) retail c) communication d) wholesale.

2) a) recommend b) persuade c) suggest d) decide

3) a) recognise b) distinguish c) harmonise d) differentiate

4) a) brand b) label c) cachet d) slogan

5) a) visual b) logo c) commercial d) spot

6) a) association b) headquarters c) company d) subsidiary

7) a) patrons b) customers c) regulars d) visitors

8) a) picture b) illustration c) photo d) image

9) a) gain b) succeed c) award d) realize

10) a) surplus b) profit c) advantage d) bonus

Section 3: Reading (10 marks)
Read the following article and answer the questions:
Goodbye to the Golden Age of Global
Brands
In the Harvard Business
School professor Theodore
Levitt`s seminal paper The
Globalisation of Markets,
written in 1983, he argued that,
as new media and technology
shrank the world, people`s
tastes would converge,
creating a single global market
that would be dominated by
the world`s most successful
brands. So, when the Berlin
Wall fell and the barriers to
world trade came down, it
seemed Prof. Levitt would be
proved right. Global brand
owners poured into the newly
opened markets and, facing
little competition in countries
unaccustomed to consumer
culture, they thought they
would clean up. Then, some
awkward commercial realities
started to close in.
Once local consumers had
tried these new products, they
found them far too expensive
to buy on a regular basis, even
if they liked them. And soon,
local producers sprang up
offering much better value for
money with products of only
slightly inferior
quality at a vastly lower price.
Usually, too these
products were better
suited
to local tastes and cultural
preferences than those being
foisted onto consumers by the
global corporations. The global
brand owners were left
spreading their advertising and
other fixed costs over tiny
market shares and often faced
extra costs, such as tariffs.
In many of these countries
today, global brand owners
command the super-premium
end of the market in any given
product category, while local
brands command the rest. The
global brand owners could try to
move into the mass market by
creating low-price products
designed to suit local tastes,
but that would throw them into
head-on competition with local
companies possessing better
Distribution channels and a far
deeper understanding of the
market. Increasingly therefore
they have resorted to buying
local brands and the companies
that own them. And here, of
course, lies the paradox.
Whatever is the point of owning
a global brand if it does not
work in the global markets?
Let us be optimistic and
suppose the
poor countries do become
rich. But what do we see
happening in the rich
countries? Ever-
proliferating brand choices.
There are more soft drink
brands than there have
been for years, more fast
food chains, more
packaged goods, more
cars. Supermarkets are
competing with brand
owners by selling own-label
products that are as good
as the branded version but
costs 20-30 per cent less.
Global brands, of course
are not about to disappear.
But it must now be clear
that Prof Levitt was
mistaken in believing the
world`s tastes would
converge on standardized
products. Everything we
have learned about
consumerism over the
decades shows that, as
people become better off,
they want more choices,
not fewer. Global brands
may be here to stay, but
there golden age is over.
From the Financial Times
Task 1: True or False? Are the following statements true or false? If they are false
correct the mistakes.

a) When the Berlin Wall fell and the barriers to world trade came down, Professor
Levitt was proved right.
b) Shortly after that time, local producers in countries with newly opened markets
began supplying similar products to global brands at a much more attractive price.
c) Currently global brand products sell best as luxury products in many of these
countries.
d) In rich countries there are fewer brand choices in supermarkets.
e) The more money consumers have, the more choices they want.

Task 2: Why has life been so difficult for global brand owners in these new
markets? Circle the 5 letters of the statements that are mentioned in the article.

a) These products did not reflect the local tastes and cultural preferences
b) Many local consumers may have liked the new products, but they were too
expensive for them to buy often.
c) The global brand owners had to pay a lot for local distribution and warehousing
facilities.
d) After a while, the global brands were competing with local producers who were
supplying similar products far more cheaply.
e) Although the global brand owners still have to pay fixed costs such as
advertising, they do not really have enough market share to make this worth it.
f) It is not easy for global brand owners to set up offices locally and employ local
sales forces.
g) Global brands also have a disadvantage compared with local products because
they have to pay tariffs for importing their goods into these countries.