Brands

The word brand is a comprehensive term that encompasses other narrower terms. A brand is a name, term, symbol, and/or special design that is intended to identify the goods or services of one seller or group of sellers. A brand differentiates one seller’s products from those of competitors. A brand name consists of words, letters, and/or numbers that can be vocalized. A brand mark is the part of the brand that appears in the form of a symbol, design, or distinctive coloring or lettering. It is recognized by sight but may not be expressed when a person pronounces the brand name.

A trademark is a brand that is given legal protection because, under the law, it has been appropriated by one seller. Thus trademark is essentially a legal term. All trademarks are brands and thus include the words, letters, or numbers that can be pronounced. They may also include a pictorial design. Some people erroneously believe that the trademark is only the pictorial part of the brand.

One major method of classifying brands is on the basis of who owns them—producers or middlemen. Sunbeam, Florsheim, Spalding (athletic products), and Sara Lee are producers’ brands, while Allstate, Shurfine, Sysco, Craftsman, and Penncrest are middlemen's brands.

The terms national and private have been used to describe producer and middleman brand ownership, respectively. However, marketing people prefer the producer middleman terminology. To say that the brand of poultry feed marketed in three states by a small Birmingham, Alabama, manufacturer is a national brand, whereas the brands of Penney’s or Sears are private brands, stretches the meaning of the terms national and private.

练习

1. “Brand” is a general term which covers narrower terms such as “brand name”, “brand mark”, and “trademark”.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

2. A brand name is intended to impress customers with an attractive and original design while a trademark is intended to do so with a peculiar sound.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

3. Trademarks are protected by law while brand names are not.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

4. Some people identify the brand mark with the trademark.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

5. Among various methods of classifying brands, the one based on ownership is widely accepted.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

6. Penncrest is a national brand.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

7. When classifying brands, marketing people tend to employ the categories of “producer-owned” and “middleman owned”

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

Computers

Before the widespread use of computers, managers could not make full use of large amounts of valuable information about a company’s activities. The information either reached managers too late or was too expensive to be used. Today, managers are facing a wide range of data processing and information instruments. In place of a few financial controls, managers can draw on computer-based information systems to control activities in every area of their company. On any kinds of performance measures, the information provided by these systems helps managers compare standards with actual results, find out problems, and take corrective action before it is too late to make changes.

The introduction of computerized information systems has sharply changed management control in many companies. Even a neighborhood shopkeeper may now use computers to control sales, billing, and other activities. In large companies, electronic data processing systems monitor entire projects and sets of operations.

Now, there are about 24 million microcomputers in use in the United States—one for every 10 citizens. It is estimated that by 1996, 61 percent of American managers will be using some sort of electronic work station. In order for managers to be sure that the computer-based information they are receiving is accurate, they need to understand how computers work. However, in most cases they do not need to learn how to program computers. Rather, managers should understand how computerized information systems work; how they are developed; their limitations and costs; and the manner in which information systems may be used. Such an understanding is not difficult to achieve.

One research found that business firms were more successful in teaching basic information about computers to business graduates than they were in teaching business subjects to computer science graduates.

练习

1. Equipped with computers, managers today operate their firms with higher efficiency and less cost than they used to be.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

2. Today, financial controls are still exercised in some minor areas such as billing and vocational training.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

3. It is unnecessary for a neighborhood baker to use a computer in his shop.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

4. At present about 10% of American citizens possess a microcomputer.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

5. One thing that managers do not have to understand is how computers work.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

6. In some cases managers have to learn how to write programs so as to work out computerized information systems that suit their own companies best.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned

7. Computerized firms would rather employ business graduates than computer science graduates because it is easier to train the former into qualified employees.

  A. Right    B. Wrong    C. Not mentioned