Pre-listening Activity: Make sure you know the following
words
hammock -
гамак, підвісне ліжко
Love Letters Marketing
One day last summer, I was lying in
my hammock, drinking a beer and relaxing. I was starting to nod off, when I
heard a quiet “ahem”.
I opened my eyes and sported my
young neighbor, Jeremy, who had just started the 6th grade a couple
weeks earlier.
: Hey, Mr. Deckers”, he said,
“Taking a nap, huh?”
I congratulated the lad on his keen
powers of observation, although I wished he had a better sense of timing.
“What services may I bestow upon
you, young Jeremy?” I inquired.
“Huh?”
“What do you want?”
“I need some advice. Mrs.Deckers
said you were pathetic with girls when
you were my age”.
“Oh she did, did she?”
“Yeah. She said you were pretty
hopeless until you met her. I figured that if you were as dorky as she said,
but you still got married, you must have done something right. So I thought you
were probably the best person to help me?.
I could not fault the little
blighter for his logic, but felt I should have a word with Mrs.Deckers later.
“So what do you need?”
“I need some help with a love
letter. I am trying to get Susie Capstone to like me”. He held out a neatly
folded piece of paper. I looked it over and immediately identified his problem.
It looked
like what I would have written when I was his age: “Dear Susie, I like you. Do
you like me? Sincerely, Jeremy”.
I turned it over. “Where is the rest
of it?”
“That is it. It is short and to the
point”.
“It needs serious help. It needs the
delicate touch of a marketer”.
I grabbed a pen from my pen case (we
writers are always prepared) – and started scribbling notes on his paper.
“First you need a U.S.P.”.
“What is that?”
“Universal Selling Propositions. It
is what sets you apart from your competitors”.
“My what?”
“Your competitors. Let me ask you
this, is Susie pretty?”
“Yeah, I guess”.
“Do other boys like her too?”
“Yeah”.
“yes, lad, say yes. Speak clearly.
Now, these other boys are your competitors. Your U.S.P. tells Susie why she should pick you over
them”. I scribbled a few more notes.
“Now what about an Attention Getter
and Benefit Statement?”
Jeremy’s glazed look told me he had
no clue what this was.
“What is one positive thing that
Susie would get by choosing you?”
“I have my own bike. It is a ten
speed”.
“Good, but that is a feature. A
benefit is what she gets. So how does your bike help her?”
“I could give her a ride somewhere”.
“Excellent”. I scribbled a few more
notes. “Now we need a call to action, something for her to do. Research shows
that giving a respondent a call to action increases your response rate”.
Jeremy could only nod silently. I
wrote down one last thing:
“What do you think of this?”
“Dearest Susie, You have captivated
my heart with your eyes that sparkle like dew on a red rose in the early dawn.
Come be my love and we can fly anywhere your heart desires. If you will be
mine, please respond with a resounding yes, and pass this note back to
Gretchen. I yearn for you, Jeremy”.
He looked at me suspiciously. “Are
you sure about this?”
“Absolutely”.
“Is this how you got Mrs.Deckers?”
“No, that is a whole different
story. Now rewrite this in your own handwriting and give it to Susie”.
Jeremy still looked unsure, so I
started to launch into a lecture about the importance of word of mouth
marketing when he said he heard his mother calling and ran off.
A few days later, Jeremy interrupted
another nap.
“So what was the final return?” I
asked. “Did it work?”
“Well, yes and no. No, Susie is
already going with Tyler Marlowe and he nearly beat me up”.
I started to offer my condolences,
but he held up his hand.
“But”, he continued, “she showed it
to her friends, and now three girls like me”.
“Wow, Referral Marketing. That is
really great. I’ll bet you are pretty excited about that, huh?”
Jeremy whipped out a pair of
sunglasses and struck them on his face. “You bet. Now I want to create a few
different versions of the letter so I can start testing them on different
markets. I figure I can improve my customer retention rate by 20% if I pump up
the copy and leverage my brand buzz in other schools. Do you know any good
freelance copywriters?”
I think I have created a monster.
Listening Comprehension for 9th Form
Students Assignments
Task 1. Put
(+) if the statement is true, and (-) if the statement is false.
1.
The story may be taking place during holidays.
2.
The boy must have had a heart disease.
3.
The author was very popular with girls when a boy.
4.
Mr. Deckers’ wife did not have a very positive opinion about her
husband.
5.
The boy’s letter seemed to be very short and unemotional
6.
The author suggested some marketing strategies
7.
The boy knew how to write love notes really well.
8.
Mr. Deckers did not attract his wife by writing love letters
9.
Jeremy got what he initially wanted.
10.
The boy turned out to be much smarter than expected.
Task 2. Circle the right answer A, B, C, or D
11. When Mr. Deckers is telling the story, Jeremy is most probably the
student of:
A. the fifth grade B. the sixth grade C. the seventh grade D. the eighth grade
12. Jeremy asked Mr. Deckers for help because long ago the man had been:
A.
an expert about girls
B.
absolutely unaware how to deal with girls
C.
married to Jeremy’s mother
D. a well-known writer
13. Jeremy had a wish:
A.
to have someone fall in love with him
B.
to have love with somebody
C.
to fall in love with somebody
D.
to fail in love with somebody
14. What was wrong with Jeremy’s letter is that it
was:
A. too brief B. too emotional C. too extended D. too unusual
15. The text makes us think that in his hammock the author kept something
like;
A. a bureau B. a pencil-case C. a notebook D. a briefcase
16. The author suggested that Jeremy should make something
A. outrageous B. outspoken C. outstanding D. outlaw
17. The benefit that Jeremy could offer his girl was more of:
A. giving advice B. giving a bike C. giving a lift D. giving a light
18. As a result Jeremy...
A. got beaten
B. got the girl he liked
C. got his expectations tripled
D. got to develop a different plan
19. The author must have been...
A. sorry about what he had done
B. proud for Jeremy
C. looking for a different market
D. eager to help Jeremy more
20. At the end, Jeremy wanted to find some...
A. copyrights
B. advertising writers
C. copiers
D. free people who write on human
rights
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