Analyzing your competitors

I. Write down some words and expressions from the film.

1. To affect[10] – to do something that produces an effect or change in someone or something; to influence.

2. Impact – the effect or influence that an event, situation etc has on someone or something; an influence.

3. To give somebody a lift – if you give someone a lift, you take them somewhere in your car.

4. Estimate – a calculation of the value, size, amount etc of something.

5. Production run – the quantity of products manufactured by a business, its output.

6. Retail – the sale of goods in shops to customers, for their own use and not for selling to anyone else; this term is opposite to “wholesale”.

7. Campaign – a series of actions intended to achieve a particular result, especially in politics or business.

II. Translate the new vocabulary into Russian.

III. Watch the film for the 1^st time.

IV. Translate the following English sentences and phrases so that they sound natural in your native language. It will contribute to upgrading your interpreting skills and getting the film better.

1. Power source – источник питания.

2. The power source which drives Dealer Dan – источник питания, на котором работает Дилер Дэн.

3. It has a few weaknesses. – У него есть некоторые слабые стороны.

4. It’s the first six months that are important. – Важны как раз первые шесть месяцев[11].

5. Plenty of bright colours – масса ярких цветов.

6. It’ll have a lot of impact at point of sale. – На стадии реализации это будет иметь большое значение.

7. Please hold the line. – Пожалуйста, не вешайте трубку.

8. Nice to see you again. It’s been a long time. – Рад вас видеть снова. Мы столько не виделись.

9. You are going into partnership with (the Japanese company). – Вы собираетесь стать партнерами (японской компании).

10. That’s not exactly true. – Это не совсем так.

11. Are you still doing consultancy work? – Ты все еще оказываешь консалтинговые услуги?

12. Who with? – C кем?

13. When is it scheduled? – Когда это запланировано?

14. Let me take your number. – Оставьте свой номер.

15. I will get one of them to call you back. – Я передам, чтобы кто-нибудь из них вам перезвонил.

16. It’s good of you to give me a lift. – Спасибо, что подвез.

17. How did you get to hear about that? – Как ты об этом узнал?

18. Dealer Dan could hurt us badly. – Дилер Дэн может сильно нам навредить.

19. I don’t know what their production run is. – Я не знаю, какую партию товара они выпустили.

20. I don’t know the answer to that one. – Я не знаю ответа на этот вопрос.

21. Thanks for the lift. – Спасибо, что подвез.

22. You are something of a specialist in the Far East, aren’t you? – Ты ведь вроде бы специалист по Дальнему Востоку?

23. You could say that. – Ну, можно и так сказать.

24. To help set things up – помочь все наладить.

V. Watch the film for the 2^nd time.

VI. Answer some questions on the film.

1. Was Dealer Dan’s technology different from Big Boss’ technology?

2. Does this fact confirm our earlier supposition that it didn’t do without the industrial espionage?

3. What device did Derek Jones call with the abbreviation XR 590?

4. What was the basic drawback of Dealer Dan’s power source?

5. Could the above unreliability affect sales, in Derek’s viewpoint?

6. What opinion did Edward Green have with regard to Dealer Dan’s packaging? How could plenty of bright colours affect sales?

7. What was Peter Day that Clive Harris was speaking to?

8. Had he finished his collaboration with J.K. Toys by that time?

9. Why did Clive Harris propose to give him a lift? What information exactly did he need?

10. What information concerning the marketing strategy of their competitors did Bibury Systems dispose of?

11. Have you marked anywhere the name of the company specializing in TV promotion? (E.G.N.C.)

12. When was the TV advertising campaign scheduled?

13. Why didn’t Peter Day want to share any information about J.K. Toys with Clive Harris?

14. How do you think, did Peter Day suspect anything when Clive offered to give him a lift?

15. What temptation did Clive Harris apply to in order to make Peter disclose some secrets?

16. What temptations did you experience in your life? Did you fight them or fall for them? Would you like to speak on one of such cases? Will you please interpret into Russian the following idea, “One is tempted to ask the question”?[12]

17. What consultancy assistance did Clive Harris need really?

18. Peter Day was an expert in East Europe and the CIS, wasn’t he?

19. What profit could Bibury Systems extract from employing such a specialist?

20. Did Clive Harris say he wanted some general or specific information about the competitors?

21. Despite that, what exactly did he enquire about? (the production run and advertising budget of the rivals)

22. What information did Peter Day provide regarding the production run?

23. Did he conceal the data about the advertising budget, or did he not know them indeed?

24. Were Bibury System’s executives short of information about Dealer Dan’s unit cost or selling price?

25. What was Big Boss’ production run?

26. Could you please compare now the volumes of output of Big Boss and Dealer Dan? (They are equal – 300,000 units)

27. Do you consider that Peter Day spilled the beans (said too much) and betrayed his former employer when he announced the production run of J.K. Toys, or was that information rather innocent and really general?

28. Would you betray any secrets of your company for good money?

29. In your point of view, are there any things that must not be sold in any society under no circumstances? What are they?

VII. Make up one of the following dialogues.

a) Between the General Director and Deputy General Director;

b) Between the General Director and some employee of a competing company disposing of the information you are vitally interested in.

In both instances some of the following issues are discussed.

· Technological advantages and disadvantages of the competing product;

· Its unit cost;

· Its selling price;

· The production run / the output volume of the competing product;

· Its launch date.

If possible, especially if you have chosen the 1^st dialogue, draw parallels between different parameters that refer to your product and your competitors’ one. If you have chosen the 2^nd dialogue, think of some incentive that will make your informant speak.