Block 4_brands

Day I.

1. Prepare answers to the following questions:

• Are you loyal to any brands: that is, do you always try to buy that particular brand?
• Do you want other people to know you buy a particular brand?
• Do you buy any products without considering the brand name?

2. Read the text

Marketing lore is a widely repeated story, belief, or anecdote about a brand, product, or campaign that helps shape how people perceive it. It sits somewhere between fact and myth: it may be rooted in real events, but over time it becomes simplified, romanticized, or symbolically exaggerated. Marketing lore is powerful because it feels authentic, memorable, and easy to retell.

Example 1: Apple — “The garage origin story”

The lore: Apple was founded in a humble garage by two young visionaries who changed the world with creativity and rebellion against corporate conformity.

Why it’s lore (not just history):

• The garage did exist, but its symbolic role has been amplified.

• The story is retold to reinforce Apple’s identity as innovative, human-centered, and anti-establishment.

• It supports later marketing messages like “Think Different.”

Effect: Consumers associate Apple with genius, creativity, and disruptive thinking—far beyond the actual technical specs of its products.

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Example 2: Nike — “Just Do It = pure grit”

The lore: Nike represents raw determination—ordinary people pushing through pain, doubt, and adversity to achieve greatness.

Why it’s lore:

• The slogan and campaigns compress complex athletic journeys into a simple moral narrative.

• Nike rarely sells shoes directly in the story; it sells the idea of personal victory.

• Over decades, this has become a shared cultural myth about effort and identity.

Effect: Buying Nike feels like buying motivation, discipline, and inner strength—not just sportswear.

Question: What are the main features of a marketing lore?

3. The a and b sentences below have very similar meanings, but the b sentences are written in a more formal style.

Complete each b sentence with a noun (singular or plural) formed from one of the verbs in the box.

consume | deduce | perceive | purchase |recognise | reduce

1. a) People mostly buy things to use themselves.
   b) People make most of their for their own .
2. a) A 'brand image' is how people think of the brand; for example, one brand might be thought of as young and fashionable.
   b) A 'brand image' is made up of consumers' and beliefs concerning the brand.
3. a) Companies often use a logo to help keep a brand in people's minds.
   b) Companies often use a logo to strengthen brand .
4. a) Cutting prices can be bad for sales of luxury goods with an image of being exclusive.
   b) Price can harm sales of luxury goods with an image of being exclusive.
5. a) The production manager thought hard, and worked out why some goods were faulty.
   b) Through a process of , the production manager identified the reason why some goods were faulty.

 

Total Questions: 0

Incorrect Answers: 0

4. IELTS Speaking 2 

Preparation time: 1 min

Speaking time: 2 min

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Read the article, answer Questions 1–14, and summarize its main argument.

Summary starters: Choose a few phrases and complete them in your own words.

• The article examines how ...
• The writer begins by tracing a shift from ... to ...
• At the centre of the argument is the claim that ...
• Initially, ...; later, however, ...
• To illustrate this change, the writer describes ...
• This case demonstrates how ...
• The author distinguishes between ... and ...
• According to the article, the appeal of ... lies in ...
• Nevertheless, the writer warns that ...
• Ultimately, the article suggests that ...

In your summary, connect the example to the wider argument and the final warning. Avoid listing events without explaining their significance.

Hearts for Sale

First, there were simply goods that we could buy, and services we could pay someone else to provide. Then came brands, first of all for manufactured goods, and later for services too. In the next stage, even people became brands. Drawn from the world of business, and in particular of marketing, branding would have been an alien concept to Leonardo da Vinci or Beethoven, or most other self-respecting artists and musicians, and one that the vast majority would have rejected.

What’s happening now, however, is that the creativity displayed by an artist—or more often a musician—is turned into a brand, something to be marketed and sold, as though there were no difference between a talented and internationally renowned singer and a bar of chocolate.

At least in most cases, the singer or the artist has proved their worth, and branding takes place on the back of their talent and success. But now we have gone one step further: the brand comes first, and the mere human beings are chosen to fit. A classic example of the manufactured pop group is Hear’Say.

More than five thousand people auditioned to join the yet-to-be-formed group, and ten of them were shortlisted to take part in Popstars, a talent show on British television. Here they performed in front of three judges, who chose the five people they considered best embodied their concept of the group—two young men and three young women, all able to sing, dance, and handle press conferences and interviews, and all good-looking. The perfect pop group.

Out came an official video of the TV series, dolls, posters, a line of clothing—all ways of turning music into a business, and making money from the brand. Within a few weeks of being created in a television contest, Hear’Say had gone from obscurity to having a number-one single, video, and other merchandise—and there was even an hour of prime-time television about their short lives and breathtakingly brief careers. The Hear’Say phenomenon became unstoppably self-fuelling—the faster their fame increased, the more the audience wanted of them.

Within two years of its formation, however, the group split up, blaming public hostility—which certainly existed, alongside the mass adulation—and the pressures of music industry life. Other groups have been branded and marketed as aggressively as Hear’Say; none as quickly. As their licensing manager admitted, they were marketing the group before they even knew who was going to be in it. Hear’Say succeeded because they brilliantly exploited marketing’s Big Idea—namely, the quickest way to your customers’ wallets is through their hearts.

The marketing lore is that the consumer is swamped with products, and the only brands which will succeed are those that make an emotional connection. Increasingly, what we want is to buy our values—we need products to bring meaning and purpose into our lives.

The danger is that this commercialisation of our private world breeds cynicism and emotional detachment: happiness is reduced to no more than having the latest mobile phone. Emotional exploitation ultimately generates a pessimism about human nature which assumes that everyone is a brand, with some failing and some succeeding, and everyone is out to "sell themselves" in life’s great talent contest. It is as a reflection of our times, rather than as musicians, that Hear’Say have their greatest significance.

Questions 1–6: Multiple choice

Choose ONE answer, A, B, C or D, for each question.

1. Which statement best captures the writer’s central argument?

A. Talent alone determines which entertainers can survive prolonged commercial pressure.
B. Reducing individual identities to commodities may warp social judgments.
C. The group’s short career proves that televised contests cannot produce skilled performers.
D. Audiences now care about merchandise more than recorded music, irrespective of the artist.

 

Click to show/hide the explanation

 

2. Why are Leonardo da Vinci and Beethoven mentioned?

A. To show that distinguished creators once marketed their names as successfully as their works.
B. To suggest that earlier performers were admired mainly because their merchandise was scarce.
C. To stress how foreign personal promotion would have seemed to earlier creators.
D. To argue that all historical artists refused payment for their paintings or compositions.

 

Click to show/hide the explanation

 

3. What makes the formation of Hear’Say an especially striking example?

A. Its commercial identity was planned before the performers were selected.
B. Its members became famous independently before a company offered to promote them.
C. Its judges chose contestants solely by vocal ability, without considering appearance or interviews.
D. Its first release succeeded despite the complete absence of advance publicity or associated goods.

 

Click to show/hide the explanation

 

4. What does the writer imply by calling the group’s rise “self-fuelling”?

A. Each new release required fewer promotional resources because interest had already begun to decline.
B. The audience’s appetite was created entirely by musical quality, independently of exposure.
C. Hostile reactions caused sales to rise only after the performers announced their separation.
D. Growing visibility stimulated demand for still more coverage and associated material.

 

Click to show/hide the explanation

 

5. Which account of the group’s reception and ending is supported?

A. Public dislike replaced the earlier enthusiasm completely before the group ceased performing.
B. Admiration and antagonism coexisted before the performers parted company.
C. The group dissolved because its first release failed to attract a substantial audience.
D. The writer attributes the split exclusively to the organisers’ licensing arrangements.

 

Click to show/hide the explanation

 

6. What is the writer’s final concern about marketing through emotion?

A. Consumers may stop purchasing entirely once too many products compete for their attention.
B. Television audiences may lose the ability to distinguish a singer from a manufactured object.
C. Commercial appeals may erode intimacy and encourage distrust of others.
D. Performers may avoid interviews because publicity offers them no financial benefit.

 

Click to show/hide the explanation

 

 

Total Questions: 0

Incorrect Answers: 0

Questions 7–14: YES / NO / NOT GIVEN

Do the following statements agree with the views of the writer?

Write:

• YES: if the statement agrees with the views of the writer
• NO: if the statement contradicts the views of the writer
• NOT GIVEN: if it is impossible to say what the writer thinks about this

7. Beethoven would probably have accepted the idea of branding.
   YES NO NOT GIVEN  Click to see the Prompt
8. The judges on Popstars were well qualified for their roles.
   YES NO NOT GIVEN Click to see the Prompt
9. The people chosen to form Hear’Say lacked talent.
   YES NO NOT GIVEN Click to see the Prompt
10. Hear’Say's licensing manager built his success on his experience of marketing other groups.
    YES NO NOT GIVEN Click to see the Prompt
11. Appealing to people's emotions is an effective way of selling products.
    YES NO NOT GIVEN Click to see the Prompt
12. The most successful products are those that are best at what they are designed to do.
    YES NO NOT GIVEN Click to see the Prompt
13. The general public is becoming concerned about the increase in cynicism.
    YES NO NOT GIVEN Click to see the Prompt
14. Commercialisation is affecting our attitude towards other people.
    YES NO NOT GIVEN Click to see the Prompt

 

Total Questions: 0

Incorrect Answers: 0

Day II.

1. IELTS Speaking 2 

Preparation time: 1 min

Speaking time: 2 min

1.1. Describe a logo that you think is effective.

1.2. Tell about your favourite garment. You should say:

Introduction

One piece of clothing I absolutely love is [your item].
It’s something I wear all the time because it’s [reason: comfortable, stylish, sentimental, etc.].

Description of the Clothing Item

It’s a [color, material] [item] that [features: fits perfectly, has unique details, etc.].
What makes it stand out is [describe a specific feature: design, texture, pattern, etc.].

Why It’s Special

The reason I love it so much is [sentimental value, practicality, fashion statement].
It was given to me by [person] / I bought it when [occasion].
Every time I wear it, I feel [confident, nostalgic, stylish, etc.].

When and How You Wear It

I usually wear it when [event, season, activity].
It pairs perfectly with [other clothing items].
It’s versatile because I can dress it up for [occasion] or keep it casual for [everyday use].

Conclusion

Honestly, I can’t imagine my wardrobe without it!
If I ever lost it, I’d be really upset because [reason].
It’s not just clothing—it’s part of my personality!

2. Write an essay on the following topic:

 Fashion brands create unnecessary pressure on young people to keep up with trends. To what extent do you agree or disagree?

Write at least 250 questions. Give grounds and illustrations for your ideas.

Click to See the Template: To What Extent Do You Agree or Disagree?

3. SB page 24- 25, then watch  this  video and  this video  and prepare a written discourse about how you are working on your personal brand or how you are promoting yourself in this life, or how you are going to do it. If you think it is not necessary, explain why. Use: -to stand out  - to get people to pay attention to...- to draw people's attention to... 

Day III 

1. Do the exercises on pages 48-50 in Check your English vocabulary for IELTS 

2. Write an essay on the following topic:

Why do people spend large amounts of money on branded clothing? Is this a positive or negative development?

You can use the template here

3. Prepare an answer to IELTS SPEAKING-2 questions below. 

Tip: Try to use a universal template with idioms that you have practices many times. You will have about 60-120 sec to talk on a plan. Make no pauses!

Before doing the following IELTS speaking-1 tasks, do this matching exercise. Then use some of the words from it in the speaking tasks below.

Shape & features — Matching (Exercise 3)

Перетащите варианты (a–j) в правильные зоны (1–10).

 

 

Total Questions: 0

Incorrect Answers: 0

Learn the adjectives from this exercise. For good English pronunciation, open this exercise in Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox

Using at least 3 words from the above exercises, prepare 2-minute answers to the following questions: