Insight PlusPart 1 – Global Brands（品牌）
Jackie: Welcome to bbclearningenglish.com and another chance to hear InsightPlus, a series first broadcast in 2001 that looks at the language of issuesyou hear about in the news. Today’s topic is Big Brands, companieswhich see the entire world as their market. Brands whose advertising,popularity, look and feel are in many respects the same from onecountry to another. The presenter is Lyse Doucet.
Lyse: More and more, large Western and in particular American companiesare spreading their goods to the four corners of the earth in search ofnew markets and, of course, bigger profits. In recent months, theadvance of these multinationals has hit the headlines. Global brands arethe topic of today’s Insight Plus - your guide to the language and issuesyou hear every day in the news.
ClipI’m wearing a Converse coat, Ralph Lauren shirt and Nike underneath it, Nike t-shirt….I'm wearing a GAP sweater but I think it's not as big of a deal because I bought it inthe States where I'm from and I think if you bought it here it'd be giving in moretowards buying the brand just because it's American or it's not something that startedhere ……… Today I'm wearing Nike trainers and I've got a Converse sweater on andmy trousers are from GAPTalk about English ?comLyse: To explore this continuing rise of big brands across the globe, let's takea look at a report by Rahul Sarnaik. It was broadcast on the BBCWorld Service programme, Insight. Here’s the first extract.
Clip“Coca-Cola, Microsoft, IBM, General Electric and Ford”
According to a survey based on their brand value, they're the world's top five corporatenames - and they're all from the USA. The number one brand-name, Coca-Cola, wasvalued in June 1999 at more than eighty-billion dollars. Is it true that these brands arepenetrating deeper into more and more markets around the world?
Lyse: A brand like the ones we heard - McDonalds, Coca Cola, Microsoft - ismore than a label, or the name of a product or company. A brandrepresents a set of values that the company wants the consumer toassociate with its products. These values go beyond the need for qualityor durability. For example, some companies try and appeal to the youthmarket and its sense of adventure, whereas others target olderconsumers who may be more interested in luxury, comfort and prestige.
We heard in the report that the biggest brands worldwide are the oneswith the highest international brand value. Brand value is becomingincreasingly important. It’s about how well regarded a brand is by theconsumer or the buyer. It’s measured by looking at the status of thebrand in a market and whether people remain loyal - whether theycontinue to buy the product.
The report asks “Is it true that these brands are penetrating deeper intomore and more markets around the world?” In other words, are the bigAmerican names trying to establish themselves in more countries? Welllet’s find out as we listen to more of this report.
Talk about English ? BBC Learning EnglishPage 3 of 7bbclearningenglish.comClipIs it true that these brands are penetrating deeper into more and more markets aroundthe world? Yes, according to Richard Robinson, of the London-based business analysts （分析师）Data monitor:
Richard Robinson - Data MonitorIf you think about what's happened over the last 10 years or so there's been a massiveglobalisation of the media. The result of that has been that brand values and consumervalues around the world have homogenised to a certain degree. And that's really playedinto the hands of a lot of the big Western multi-national companies. For example fromthe soft drinks industry - Coca cola, Pepsi Cola - over the past 10 years they'veestablished massive distribution networks worldwide in markets where they werepreviously fairly under-representedLyse: According to business analyst Richard Robinson, the answer is yes. Thetop companies’ market penetration is increasing. And why? Well, didyou notice the word globalisation in the phrase “the globalisation of themedia”. What he means is that all over the world people now watch thesame TV channels, log on to the same websites, and read and listen tothe same news stories. As Richard Robinson says:
ClipRichard Robinson - Data Monitor…there's been a massive globalisation of the media. The result of that has been thatbrand values and consumer values around the world have homogenized to a certaindegree.
Lyse: The different types of media like television, print and the internet, havebeen crucial in “homogenizing values”. That means that in promotingthe same images and messages about certain products they have playedtheir part in making the values of brands and those of consumers moreTalk about English ? BBC Learning EnglishPage 4 of 7bbclearningenglish.comand more alike. What we admire, trust and enjoy, both about ourselvesand the things we buy, is becoming much the same wherever we are inthe world.
The global market and global brands are the subject of today’s InsightPlus from the BBC World Service - your guide to the language andbackground to the stories that stay in the news.
It’s not just the global media which has helped big brands to spreadtheir appeal. The changing political scene has also played a part. Thecollapse of Communism in Eastern Europe and the former SovietUnion, and the improvement in relations between the West and China,have meant that vast new markets have opened up for western goods.
Big brands have also been able to spread their influence because of theworldwide fascination with certain aspects of western life. Twointerviewees from Rahul Sarnaik’s report make this point. Shoba De isa novelist and media commentator based in Bombay in India. ProfessorCary Cooper lectures in social psychology at Manchester University inEngland. They both say that western culture has an “all-pervasiveinfluence” - its influence can be felt everywhere. To begin with, ShobaDe talks about how the big brands are making great advances - orinroads - into newer markets such as India. Although she says thatawareness of big brands - or brand consciousness - has always beenstrong there.
ClipShoba DeThey're making incredible inroads and more rapidly than I could have imaginedpossible even a couple of years ago. The brand consciousness has always been there inurban India because we have access to satellite television as well as importedTalk about English ? BBC Learning EnglishPage 5 of 7bbclearningenglish.commagazines, fashion magazines. But ever since our beautiful young ladies started to wininternational beauty titles I think the focus has changed and urban India seemsobsessed with labels of all kinds - particularly those coming out of Europe. And ofcourse the American sub-culture - that has such an all-pervasive influence on all of usProf Cary CooperWhat they see through films, through American Television is only the positive side andthat is what they aspire to, to wealth, to the visual side of wealth, i.e. the clothing thebrand name and the brand products. Countries in Eastern Europe, certain countries inthe Far East, in the Middle East… where they want the good life and don't see thepotential downsides of a society that's very much acquisition and money-driven.
Lyse: There are potential downsides or disadvantages of Western society -such as a perceived obession with money and gain, but much of theworld seems fascinated by it and some people even aspire to it. And thatplays into the hands - and indeed the pockets - of the big multi-nationalcompanies.
Take the McDonald’s food chain, it started in the 1950s and nowopens up on average 5 new restaurants（餐馆） a day somewhere in the world.
And Coca Cola - invented back in 1886 - now sells more than onebillion drinks every day. These two companies have operated globallyfor a long time but they were always considered an exception. Nowmore and more businesses are realising global branding is the key tosuccess. Companies are spending millions of dollars on branding in abid to build a powerful international image.
Talk about English ? BBC Learning EnglishPage 6 of 7bbclearningenglish.comClipYou feel that maybe that there’s more quality involved that you're maybe a bit moresure about the production methods, bit more secure about knowing things like that…Isee people wandering around with the big label brands and the clothes don't actuallylook any better - you've paid four times as much for something that actually looksworse, what's that about? ….Normally I do go for something which is quite popularbecause at least you know you're getting value for money, at least you're gettingsomething reputable…I think everybody knows about Coca Cola and Nike andeverything some of them and everyday you wear them as a good thing because there'sa convergence - everybody's going for the same trend. But there are bad things about itbecause everybody's so obsessed with his or her friends that they're spending a fortuneout of it just to have branded goods themselves…It's in some way a bit all pervasive, abit oppressive - there's a Starbucks on every corner…..Regional and culturaldifferences are becoming less important to the fashion industry and people are buyingsimilar clothes, looking for similar fashion regardless of whether it suits their locality,their person and just going for the image, this global image.
ClipFor the consumer, the branded good can bring a lot of benefits. A globally recognisedname offers reassurance, security, and quality, as well as status. But it's actually morecomplex than that. While it's challenging for advertisers to promote a brand thatappeals across many different cultures, the long-term goal is to sell a way of life, notjust a product.
Lyse: Reassurance, security, quality, status - these are some of the reasonswhy big, international brands are popular. But as the report also pointsout, consumers aren’t just sensible shoppers they’ve also bought intothe image, the lifestyle, the very dream that big multi-nationalcompanies have carefully created.
Talk about English ? BBC Learning EnglishPage 7 of 7bbclearningenglish.comGlobal brands have hit the headlines recently. And not just for theirmarket penetration and end of year profits. Demonstrators havedisrupted big international trade meetings, campaigning againstglobalization and global business. They fear this relentless spread of bigbrands is posing a real threat to our communities, small business and theenvironment. And it could also mean the end of individuality. As RahulSarnaik says in his report, individual choice and expression could bebecome a thing of the past …ClipThe power of global marketing-strategies has been demonstrated by the inroads thatbranded Western goods are making across the globe. Some commentators havepredicted a future in which the world's young people will all dress alike, eat the samefood, listen to the same music, drive the same cars, and drink the same drinks.
Lyse: Today on Insight Plus we’ve heard how global branding is helping largemultinational companies make inroads into new markets. We’ve alsoheard that the globalization of the media - the fact that many of us arereading, watching, and listening to the same news and advertisements -has meant that the desires of the consumers and the promises made bythe big brands are converging - they’re becoming the same.(本文由在线英语听力室整理编辑) |