My
1,000 Ideas e-Book |
Breaking News EnglishHOME | HELP MY SITE | 000s MORE FREE LESSONS |
My
1,000 Ideas e-Book |
Article by Sean Banville / Ideas & Activities by David Robinson Date: Feb 4, 2007
THE ARTICLETime Warner marketing stunt creates terrorA Time Warner Inc. marketing campaign backfired in Boston on Thursday when security officials decided the city was under attack from terrorists. The company that owns CNN, Time magazine and Cartoon Network inadvertently created a wave of panic in Boston and brought the city to a standstill. The company’s marketing department placed 40 small, black blinking electronic devices in ten different US cities to promote a new cartoon show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”. Each was the size of a cereal box, although Turner referred to them as “billboards”. Pictures of the flashing digital signs showed protruding wires, hence the belief that they were bombs. Boston’s city officials were quick to react in the interests of public safety and brought out its bomb force in force and shut down highways, bridges and rivers. Turner’s marketing arm took full responsibility for the campaign, part of a tactic a spokesperson called “guerilla marketing” - an “alternative to traditional media tactics that are high-impact but also very eye-level with the consumer, very grassroots and in-the-streets.'' An apologetic company spokeswoman Shirley Powell said: “We approved it. We're taking full responsibility…. We were simply promoting a TV show”. She was shocked by the reaction in Boston, adding: “If we had ever perceived this to be something threatening safety, we would never have proceeded with it." Boston was the only city that mistook the signs for being bombs, perhaps being sensitive to the fact that it was the base for the 9/11 bombers. The boxes caused barely a stir elsewhere. Look-alike devices were soon selling for $2,000 on EBay “There is market for everything,” Powell said. WARM-UPS1. CITY SHUTDOWN: Police and security officials have just shut down your city you cannot go anywhere. You have to stay in your school/workplace. Talk to other students about what might be happening and how the city shutdown will affect you. Change partners often. 2. CHAT: In pairs / groups, decide which of these topics or words from the article are most interesting and which are most boring.
Have a chat about the topics you liked. For more conversation, change topics and partners frequently. 3. GUERILLA MARKETING: With your partner(s), write down (guess) what you think guerilla marketing is. Your teacher will write your ideas on the board. Talk about what you think of each idea. 4. STORY PREDICTION: With your partner(s), use these words and make your own story to fit the headline. Tell other students your story.
After you have finished, check your story with the real one. 5. MARKETING STUNTS: Here are some marketing stunts. With your partner(s), talk about what you think of them.
6. MARKETING: Spend one minute writing down all of the different words you associate with marketing. Share your words with your partner(s) and talk about them. Together, put the words into different categories. BEFORE READING / LISTENING1. TRUE / FALSE: Look at the article’s headline and guess whether these sentences are true (T) or false (F):
2. SYNONYM MATCH: Match the following synonyms from the article:
3. PHRASE MATCH: Match the following phrases from the article (sometimes more than one combination is possible):
WHILE READING / LISTENINGGAP FILL: Put the words into the gaps in the text. Time Warner marketing stunt creates terror
|
A Time Warner Inc. marketing ________ backfired in Boston on Thursday when security officials decided the city was under attack from __________. The company that owns CNN, Time magazine and Cartoon Network inadvertently created a wave of _____ in Boston and brought the city to a standstill. The company’s _________ department placed 40 small, black blinking electronic devices in ten different US cities to _______ a new cartoon show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”. Each was the size of a cereal box, although Turner referred to them as “__________”. Pictures of the flashing digital signs showed protruding wires, hence the ______ that they were bombs. Boston’s city officials were quick to react in the interests of public safety and brought out its bomb _____ in force and shut down highways, bridges and rivers.
|
|
terrorists belief panic billboards promote force marketing campaign |
Turner’s marketing arm took full ______________ for the campaign, part of a tactic a spokesperson called “guerilla marketing” - an “alternative to traditional media _______ that are high-impact but also very _________ with the consumer, very __________ and in-the-streets.'' An apologetic company spokeswoman Shirley Powell said: “We approved it. We're taking full responsibility…. We were simply promoting a TV show”. She was shocked by the ________ in Boston, adding: “If we had ever perceived this to be something threatening safety, we would never have proceeded with it." Boston was the only city that mistook the signs for being bombs, perhaps being _________ to the fact that it was the base for the 9/11 bombers. The boxes caused barely a stir elsewhere. Look-alike _______ were soon selling for $2,000 on EBay “There is ______ for everything,” Powell said. |
|
devices eye-level market sensitive grassroots reaction tactics responsibility |
Listen and fill in the spaces.
A Time Warner Inc. marketing campaign ___________________ on Thursday when security officials decided the city was under attack from terrorists. The company that owns CNN, Time magazine and Cartoon Network inadvertently created _______________ in Boston and brought the city to a standstill. The company’s marketing department _______________, black blinking electronic devices in ten different US cities to promote a new cartoon show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”. Each was the size of a cereal box, although Turner ________________ as “billboards”. Pictures of the flashing digital signs showed protruding wires, hence the belief that they were bombs. Boston’s city officials were quick to react in the interests of public safety and brought out its bomb force in force and shut down _____________________ rivers.
Turner’s _____________ took full responsibility for the campaign, part of a tactic a spokesperson called “guerilla marketing” - an “alternative to _________________________ that are high-impact but also very eye-level with the consumer, _______________ and in-the-streets.'' An apologetic company spokeswoman Shirley Powell said: “We approved it. We're taking full responsibility…. We were ________________ a TV show”. She was shocked by the reaction in Boston, adding: “If we had ever perceived this to be something threatening safety, we would ____________________ with it." Boston was the only city that mistook the signs for being bombs, perhaps being sensitive to the fact that it was the base for the 9/11 bombers. The boxes caused _____________ elsewhere. Look-alike devices were soon selling for ______________ “There is market for everything,” Powell said.
1. WORD SEARCH: Look in your dictionaries / computer to find collocates, other meanings, information, synonyms … for the words ‘marketing’ and ‘stunt’.
2. ARTICLE QUESTIONS: Look back at the article and write down some questions you would like to ask the class about the text.
3. GAP FILL: In pairs / groups, compare your answers to this exercise. Check your answers. Talk about the words from the activity. Were they new, interesting, worth learning…?
4. VOCABULARY: Circle any words you do not understand. In groups, pool unknown words and use dictionaries to find their meanings.
5. STUDENT “MARKETING” SURVEY: In pairs / groups, write down questions about marketing and the tactics, stunts and strategies.
6. TEST EACH OTHER: Look at the words below. With your partner, try to recall exactly how these were used in the text:
|
|
STUDENT A’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student B)
---------------------------------------------------------------------
STUDENT B’s QUESTIONS (Do not show these to student A)
AFTER DISCUSSION: Join another partner / group and tell them what you talked about.
MARKET YOUR PRODUCT:
You work in the marketing department of a big company. With your marketing exec classroom partners, think of a new product or service to launch and promote. Use the table below to help you.
|
Your ideas |
Reasons why your ideas are / will be winners |
The product |
|
|
Product name |
|
|
Product logo |
|
|
Product slogan |
|
|
Target consumers |
|
|
Reasons why it is better than other products |
|
|
Marketing method 1 |
|
|
Marketing method 2 |
|
|
Guerilla marketing stunt |
|
|
CORRECT WORD: Choose the correct words from ad below and write them in the article.
A Time Warner Inc. marketing campaign (1) ____ in Boston on Thursday when security officials decided the city was under attack from terrorists. The company that owns CNN, Time magazine and Cartoon Network inadvertently created a (2) ____ of panic in Boston and brought the city to a standstill. The company’s marketing department placed 40 small, black blinking electronic (3) ____ in ten different US cities to promote a new cartoon show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”. Each was the (4) ____ of a cereal box, although Turner referred to them as “billboards”. Pictures of the flashing digital signs showed protruding wires, (5) ____ the belief that they were bombs. Boston’s city officials were quick to react in the interests of public safety and brought out its bomb force in (6) ____ and shut down highways, bridges and rivers.
Turner’s marketing (7) ____ took full responsibility for the campaign, part of a tactic a spokesperson called “guerilla marketing” - an “alternative to traditional media tactics that are high-impact but also very eye-level with the consumer, very grassroots and in-the-streets.'' An (8) ____ company spokeswoman Shirley Powell said: “We approved it. We're (9) ____ full responsibility…. We were simply promoting a TV show”. She was shocked by the (10) ____ in Boston, adding: “If we had ever perceived this to be something threatening safety, we would never have proceeded with it." Boston was the only city that mistook the signs for being bombs, perhaps being sensitive to the (11) ____ that it was the base for the 9/11 bombers. The boxes caused barely a (12) ____ elsewhere. Look-alike devices were soon selling for $2,000 on EBay “There is market for everything,” Powell said.
1. |
(a) |
reversed |
(b) |
back |
(c) |
backed up |
(d) |
backfired |
2. |
(a) |
wave |
(b) |
weave |
(c) |
wavelength |
(d) |
waft |
3. |
(a) |
devices |
(b) |
divisions |
(c) |
devotees |
(d) |
divas |
4. |
(a) |
volume |
(b) |
space |
(c) |
dimensions |
(d) |
size |
5. |
(a) |
dense |
(b) |
tense |
(c) |
hence |
(d) |
fence |
6. |
(a) |
farce |
(b) |
force |
(c) |
forceful |
(d) |
fierce |
7. |
(a) |
leg |
(b) |
arm |
(c) |
muscle |
(d) |
hand |
8. |
(a) |
apologies |
(b) |
apologize |
(c) |
apologetic |
(d) |
apology |
9. |
(a) |
taking |
(b) |
mistaken |
(c) |
mistakes |
(d) |
bringing |
10. |
(a) |
reactive |
(b) |
reaction |
(c) |
react |
(d) |
reacts |
11. |
(a) |
fact |
(b) |
detail |
(c) |
knowledge |
(d) |
fiction |
12. |
(a) |
beat |
(b) |
mix |
(c) |
whisk |
(d) |
stir |
1. VOCABULARY EXTENSION: Choose several of the words from the text. Use a dictionary or Google’s search field (or another search engine) to build up more associations / collocations of each word.
2. INTERNET: Search the Internet and find more information about world famous marketing stunts. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
3. AQUA TEEN HUNGER FORCE: Search the Internet and find more information about the cartoon Aqua Teen Hunger Force. Talk about what you discover with your partner(s) in the next lesson.
4. POSTER: Think of a new product. Make a poster about it. Show your poster to your classmates in the next lesson. Vote on who made the best poster.
5. MARKETING DIARY: Spend a day writing down the different marketing tactics you see or experience. In your next lesson, talk about whether they are successful and what makes them so.
6. NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Write an article for the Boston Sunday Globe newspaper about the Time Warner marketing stunt that went wrong. Describe what happened. Discuss Time Warner’s apology and the city official’s reaction to it. Interview some people (imagine) to find out their view. Read what you wrote to your classmates in the next lesson. Which article was best and why?
7. MAGAZINE ARTICLE: Write an article for the Boston Sunday Globe on marketing. Discuss how marketing has changed in your country or around the world over the last twenty years. What is marketing today? How will it change in the next twenty years?
8. WORLD MARKETING: Look at the websites of companies in different countries. Write a report on differences you find in the ways or styles of marketing. Look at marketing in your own country, country of study and others.
TRUE / FALSE:
a. F |
b. T |
c. F |
d. T |
e. F |
f. T |
g. F |
h. T |
SYNONYM MATCH:
a. |
backfired |
went wrong |
b. |
wave |
flood |
c. |
standstill |
stop |
d. |
blinking |
flashing |
e. |
protruding |
sticking out |
f. |
arm |
division |
g. |
tactics |
methods |
h. |
grassroots |
of-the-people |
i. |
perceived |
considered |
j. |
stir |
commotion |
PHRASE MATCH:
a. |
A Time Warner Inc. marketing |
campaign backfired |
b. |
the city was under |
attack from terrorists |
c. |
inadvertently created |
a wave of panic |
d. |
brought the city |
to a standstill |
e. |
brought out its bomb force |
in force |
f. |
Turner’s marketing arm took |
full responsibility |
g. |
very grassroots and |
in-the-streets |
h. |
We were simply |
promoting a TV show |
i. |
being sensitive |
to the fact that… |
j. |
The boxes caused barely |
a stir elsewhere |
GAP FILL:
A Time Warner Inc. marketing campaign backfired in Boston on Thursday when security officials decided the city was under attack from terrorists. The company that owns CNN, Time magazine and Cartoon Network inadvertently created a wave of panic in Boston and brought the city to a standstill. The company’s marketing department placed 40 small, black blinking electronic devices in ten different US cities to promote a new cartoon show “Aqua Teen Hunger Force”. Each was the size of a cereal box, although Turner referred to them as “billboards”. Pictures of the flashing digital signs showed protruding wires, hence the belief that they were bombs. Boston’s city officials were quick to react in the interests of public safety and brought out its bomb force in force and shut down highways, bridges and rivers.
Turner’s marketing arm took full responsibility for the campaign, part of a tactic a spokesperson called “guerilla marketing” - an “alternative to traditional media tactics that are high-impact but also very eye-level with the consumer, very grassroots and in-the-streets.'' An apologetic company spokeswoman Shirley Powell said: “We approved it. We're taking full responsibility…. We were simply promoting a TV show”. She was shocked by the reaction in Boston, adding: “If we had ever perceived this to be something threatening safety, we would never have proceeded with it." Boston was the only city that mistook the signs for being bombs, perhaps being sensitive to the fact that it was the base for the 9/11 bombers. The boxes caused barely a stir elsewhere. Look-alike devices were soon selling for $2,000 on EBay “There is market for everything,” Powell said.
LANGUAGE WORK
1 - d |
2 - a |
3 - a |
4 - d |
5 - c |
6 - b |
7 - b |
8 - c |
9 - a |
10 - b |
11 - a |
12 - d |
SHARE THIS LESSON: | RSS |