VIII. Translate the following sentences into Ukrainian paying attention to the gerund:

1. The method of quoting prices contributes to uniformity of price throughout the market.

2. The buyer recovers the cost by deducting the actual transportation, or a standard transportation allowance, when he pays the invoice.

3. The ability of buyers to buy, or to refrain from buying, or to exercise choice among alternatives, places a limit on the freedom of sellers to enforce their policy decisions.

4. Without being carried to the ultimate, it constitutes a position of competitive strength where the leading firm is leader in the national market.

5. Working long hours without a break is very tiring.

6. Branding also permits the owner of the brand to bequeath brand preference to other products organized.

7. The author has succeeded in basing his study on sound principles.

8. This book aims at acquainting advanced studies of English, with the language as used by the best masters of contemporary English literature.

9. Without language there is no understanding among people, and without understanding there is no change of their being able to work together.

10. Wise buying often involves not only a forecast of demand but also a forecast of prices.

11. I couldn’t help being flattered when I was praised for my diploma paper.

12. By deciding to brand, a manufacturer has the opportunity to develop improved market position for his product and he gains the freedom to do the promotion himself.

13. The package is the means of identifying the product to the prospect; it carries the trade-mark or brand identification.

14. By having his own brand a distributor hopes to acquire some degree of market control.

15. Sellers try to develop differentiated offers for different customer segments and, in addition to price, freely use branding, advertising, and personal selling to set their offers apart.

16. They will stop buying the product and will complain to others about it.

17. The strategy for setting a product’s price often has to be changed when the product is part of a product mix.

18. There are also many factors to consider in responding to price changes.

19. Apologizing for having stayed so long he asked them to proceed with their investigation.

20. In measuring the price-demand relationship, the market researcher must not allow other factors affecting demand to vary.

IX. Read and retell the text: Marketing-Mix Strategy

Price is only one of the marketing-mix tools that a company uses to achieve its marketing objectives. Price decisions must be coordinated with product design, distribution, and promotion decisions to form a consistent and effective marketing program. Decisions made for other marketing-mix variables may affect pricing decisions. For example, producers using many resellers who are expected to support and promote their products may have to build larger reseller margins into their prices. The decision to position the product on high performance quality will mean that the seller must charge a higher price to cover higher costs.

Companies often make their pricing decisions first and then base other marketing-mix decisions on the prices they want to charge. Here, price is a crucial product-positioning factor that defines the product’s market, competition, and design. The intended price determines what product features can be offered and what production costs can be incurred.

Many firms support such price-positioning strategies with a technique called target costing, a potent strategic weapon. Target costing reverses the usual process of first designing a new product, determining its cost, and then asking «Can we sell it for that?» Instead, it starts with a target cost and works back. Compaq Computer Corporation calls this process «design to price.» After being battered for years by lower-priced rivals, Compaq used this approach to create its highly successful, lower-priced Prolinea personal computer line. Starting with a price target set by marketing, and with profit-margin goals from management, the Prolinea design team determined what costs had to be in order to charge the target price. From this crucial calculation all else followed. To achieve target costs, the design team negotiated doggedly with all the company departments responsible for different aspects of the new product, and with outside suppliers of needed parts and materials. Compaq engineers designed a machine with fewer and simpler parts, manufacturing overhauled its factories to reduce production costs, and suppliers found ways to provide quality components at needed prices. By meeting its target costs, Compaq was able to set its target price and establish the desired price position. As a result, Prolinea sales and profits soared.

Other companies deemphasize price and use other marketing-mix tools to create nonprice positions. Often, the best strategy is not to charge the lowest price, but rather to differentiate the marketing offer to make it worth a higher price. For example, for years Johnson Controls, a producer of climate control systems for office buildings, used initial price as its primary competitive tool. However, research showed that customers were more concerned about the total cost of installing and maintaining a system than about its initial price. Repairing broken systems was expensive, time-consuming, and risky. Customers had to shut down the heat or air conditioning in the whole building, disconnect a lot of wires, and face the dangers of electrocution. Johnson decided to change its strategy. It designed an entirely new system called Metasys. To repair the new system, cus­tomers need only pull out an old plastic module and slip in a new one—no tools required. Metasys costs more to make than the old system, and customers pay a higher initial price, but it costs less to install and maintain. Despite its higher asking price, the new Metasys system brought in $ 500 million in revenues in its first year.

Thus, the marketer must consider the total marketing mix when setting prices. If the product is positioned on nonprice factors, then decisions about quality, promotion, and distribution will strongly affect price. If price is a crucial positioning factor, then price will strongly affect decisions made about the other marketing-mix elements. However, even when featuring price, marketers need to remember that customers rarely buy on price alone. Instead, they seek products, which give them the best value in terms of benefits received for the price paid.