Shannon: Yes, hi. I'm interested in finding out some information about membership.
Employee: Certainly. Are you a student?
Shannon: No. Is that a problem? I was a student here two years ago...
Employee: Alright, that's no problem. Current students get membership for no charge, but recreational memberships are also available for purchase for university faculty, staff, alumni, and retirees, as well as their spouses and children.
Shannon: Ok, good. How much does it cost?
Employee: For an alumnus, that's two hundred and forty pounds annually, or one hundred pounds for a month.
Shannon: Oh. That's quite expensive. It's a shame I didn't take advantage of the athletics facility when I was a student here. I'll have to think about this.
Employee: Well, we do offer a really excellent facility. For the cost, members have access to the Emily Pankhurst Fitness Centre, which is a beautiful exercise space - open and full of light. The fitness centre includes two weight circuits, free weights, rowing machines, elliptical trainers, recumbent and upright bicycles, step mills, and treadmills - and many many other activities. But the most prominent, and I'd have to say popular, feature of the Ratner Centre is the Dalton swimming pool. It's 50 metres by 25 metres and includes up to 20 lanes in the 25-metre dimension and nine lanes in the 50-metre dimension, and also has two one-metre diving boards available. What activities, specifically, are you interested in?
Shannon: Yes, well, I'm interested in swimming, and also in getting started with some weight training, although I've never tried it before in my life. I feel rather intimidated, actually. Is there instruction available? You know, someone to teach me to use the machines and maybe help me figure out a training programme to reach my goals?
Employee: Yes, we have four personal trainers available for an additional cost. We also offer fitness evaluation, which by the way I highly recommend for someone just starting out with weight training, and you would be orientated to the machines as part of this.
Shannon: Oh, one more thing. What are the opening hours?
Employee: We're open from six in the morning to midnight on weekdays and from six in the morning to nine p.m. on weekends.
Shannon: Oh, that's good. Alright, well, I guess I'd like to join.
Employee: Very well. Can I have your name please?
Shannon: Shannon Fleet. S-H-A-N-N-O-N F-L-E-E-T.
Employee: Ok, and your address?
Shannon: Twenty-four Whitehall Close, Newcastle...
Employee: Sorry, can you please spell the street name for me?
Shannon: Yes, of course. That's W-H-I-T-E-H-A-L-L C-L-O-S-E.
Employee: Got it. And your post code?
Shannon: N-E zero, one - E - N.
Employee: N as in night and E as in England?
Shannon: Yes, that's correct.
Employee: I'll need a phone number.
Shannon: Ok, it's 9-7-6-5 4-8-4 4-9-3.
Employee: That's 9-7-6-5 4-8-4 9-4-3.
Shannon: No, sorry. The last three numbers are 4-9-3, not 9-4-3.
Employee: Ok. Now, you'll need to pay when you come for the first time, and you can either pay by cash or credit card.
Shannon: I'll pay cash.
Employee: Fine. And be sure to bring some sort of proof of address, like a bill or driver's licence.
Shannon: I don't drive. Will my electricity bill do?
Employee: Yes, that's fine. And also bring a passport-sized photo so we can make up your membership card.
Shannon: Ok, thanks. I'll come by this afternoon.
Hello there; good afternoon! Thank you for finding the time in your busy schedules to come to the international student office's first orientation meeting for students going abroad, to South America next autumn. By the way, if you haven't already signed next to your name on our attendance lists - they're located on the table at the entrance of the auditorium - be sure to do it on your way out. Remember, this orientation meeting is obligatory, so you need to make sure we know that you're here.
Alright, to begin, we're going to be talking about health, and specifically the procedures that you have to go through in order to get your student visas for your host country. For all of you, this will entail gathering a folder of health information, such as vaccination records and proof from your doctors that you're not suffering from any serious contagious diseases. For many of you, this will also entail getting some extra vaccinations, depending on your destination country. All the specifics that each of you will need are to be found in your host country handbook that you received when you were accepted into the programme.
Also each one of you is required to attend a consultation with a doctor at the student health centre who is specialised in travel medicine. The health centre can give you details about appointment times, but be sure to book your appointment early, because the specialist is only at the heath centre at certain times; to have the most benefit, you should have your meeting at least 4-6 weeks before your trip, to allow time for your vaccines to take effect. Now, at this consultation, you will be given all the latest information about what vaccines you'll need and any other health considerations you need to be aware of - if you'll need to take medication for malaria, for example - or what to expect in case of any existing health issues.
Now, I want to talk in a bit more detail about some important health issues that many of you will face. First of all I want to say a few things about Malaria, which will apply to most of you with South American destinations. In most South American countries, malaria is present in some areas, but not in others. In Brazil, for example, the Amazon basin is a high-risk area, while the coastal cities, such as Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo, have a very low risk of malaria. So, if you will be studying in Sao Paulo, you will not need to take medication for malaria. However, if you are studying in Sao Paulo and doing fieldwork somewhere in the Amazon basin, then you will need medication. Likewise, if you plan to travel into rural regions, then you will need medication. You should be realistic about what your plans are, and if you decide not to take malaria medication, keep informed and don't travel to a high-risk area. We've had two instances of students returning with malaria in the last 5 years, and both cases had to do with spontaneous travel after their studies to areas with a high risk of malaria.
Of course, there are quite a few other insect-born illnesses that can be caught, so it's essential to avoid being bitten as much as possible, even if you are taking malaria medication. To prevent insect bites, you should wear long-sleeved shirts and long trousers whenever possible, and use an insect repellent on any bare skin. You should also bring a flying-insect spray to help clear rooms of mosquitoes. The product should contain a pyrethroid insecticide. Bed nets treated with permethrin, if you will not be sleeping in an air-conditioned or well-screened room, are also a very good idea. Although it's not always possible, it's best to remain indoors in a screened or air-conditioned area during the peak biting periods of dusk and dawn.
Finally, in much of South America, there is a risk of Schistosomiasis - a rather nasty parasitic infection that can be contracted in fresh water. So do not swim in fresh water, except in well-chlorinated swimming pools. Any questions so far?
Lily: Joshua! Ethan! Wait; don't leave yet. We have to fill in an evaluation form to hand in with our final project.
Ethan: Not another one! We've done one of these forms after each project all term! It's a bit of a waste of time, if you ask me.
Lily: They just want to give us a chance to have our say about the project.
Ethan: But I haven't much of an opinion about it either way. It's just a project.
Joshua: Yeah, but if you did?
Ethan: Then it wouldn't be a waste of time I suppose; what's your point?
Joshua: Just say you have no opinion; what's the problem with that?
Ethan: You're right; I'll do that. And it'll be easier than making something up! But even if we had issues and wrote them down, do you think anyone reads them? I rather doubt it.
Lily: Of course they do! Remember in the first term, when there were some problems with people in some groups not doing their fair share of the work? There were lots of comments about this on the evaluation forms, and so Dr. Smith came and talked to us about it, and decided to add the individual evaluation forms so we could each evaluate our other group members' effort. That was a really important outcome.
Joshua: See, Ethan, without the evaluation forms, we wouldn't have the opportunity to report what a slacker you are!
Ethan: Come on! I've done as much work as anyone!
Lily: Yeah, it's easy to joke around because we're a good team. My last team wasn't so good though, and I was really grateful for those forms.
Ethan: Ok - let's get it done so we can go.
Lily: Okay, first we have to rate the project from one to five, and comment on any good or bad points.
Joshua: We do this part together?
Lily: Yeah. What do you think? Four?
Ethan: Yeah, why not?
Joshua: Um... Why four and not five? I don't really think there was much wrong with it. It was a good project. The tasks were well thought out. Not like the last one where one of the tasks was impossible because there was no research on the subject.
Lily: I agree with you, Josh. There weren't technically any problems with the project. It's just that I like projects to have a sort of practical point, you know, we should see some sort of reason for doing it. Other than the grade, of course. If it had some sort of real-world application, it would have been perfect. What do you think Ethan?
Ethan: I don't know. Why don't we give it a four point five?
Lily: That's a good idea. Can we do that?
Joshua: I don't see why not. And I agree. Four point five.
Lily: So what about good points? Josh said it's well thought out; anything else?
Ethan: I liked having a choice between two topics. I mean, some topics just don't interest some people.
Lily: Yes, you're right. Unfortunately I thought they were both boring! I'm sounding a bit negative, aren't I? I can't think of any specific good points.
Ethan: That's alright. Let's move on to the bad points.
Lily: You're eager to go, aren't you?
Ethan: Yeah, I'm going camping tomorrow and I have to pack! But back to the topic. I haven't got an opinion about bad points; Lily's already said her share, what about you Joshua? Any complaints?
Joshua: No, I think it was a good project. Um... If I had to say something I guess it would be the time scale. I think they should have given us more time to do this final project since it was a larger part of our grade. But I don't think that's a big deal.
Lily: Ok. I think we're done. We just have to do the individual evaluation forms and that's it.
Lecturer: Today we're going to look at marketing over the life-time of a product and how the different phases in the product life cycle impact on the kinds of marketing decisions we make and influence the marketing strategies we employ.
Of course, the first stage in the product life cycle is known as the Market Introduction Stage. At this point, costs are very high indeed, and, since the product is fresh to the market, sales volumes can be low to start as the product has yet to take off. What the marketing department must do therefore is get as much publicity as possible for the product and begin to develop brand awareness and loyalty. Think of the process as little steps. The first step is to get the brand noticed by your target market. This will require aggressive advertising using mediums which are likely to expose the product to, and, just as importantly, appeal to the target customer. The next step would be to encourage the target market to try the product. Promotions, free trials and other special offers all play a role in enticing new customers over to your brand.
Don't expect to make money during the Market Introduction Stage. The focus should be solely on creating brand awareness.
Then we move into the Growth phase. Now here costs will reduce dramatically as sales rise and economies of scale in production begin to kick in. Public awareness of the product has increased and the focus of the marketing campaign will now switch more from creating awareness to generating customer loyalty and brand recognition. The first step for the marketing gurus is to find a way to reward return customers for their loyalty - in other words, provide them with an incentive to continue coming back.
During the growth phase, several new competitors are likely to emerge as tangible threats to the business. The next step for the marketing team, then, is to differentiate their brand from the alternatives on the market. Unless customers see your product as distinct from the competitors', they really have no reason to remain loyal to it; therefore, this brand differentiation that I have just spoken of is vital.
So, you've grown your business, now it's time to sit back and reap the rewards. We're into the Maturity Stage. During this period, sales will peak as the saturation point is reached. Competition will be intense, however, the work you have done on developing brand loyalty and differentiating your product from that of competitors will really pay off now. The marketing department must continue to differentiate the brand from competitors', and, if possible, diversify the product features; that is, find new applications for the product in order to open up potential new markets and prolong the Maturity Stage.
The final stage in the product life cycle is Saturation and Decline. Some would argue that reaching this stage is a natural progression for every product. However, there is a growing belief that, should the marketing department do its job properly, the product should stabilise and never really fall into decline. We'll examine this debate a little more closely next time.