ESL WORKSHEET - Product development (II)

LESSON PLAN FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS

INNOVATION AND PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT

(PART II)

LinguaHouse
May 9, 2024

Level: Intermediate (B1-B2)
Type of English: Business English
Tags: Innovation and Product Development; Business Skills; Describing a Product/Service; Project Management; Marketing; 16-18 Years Old; 18+ Years Old; Article Based
Publication date: 05/09/2024

This worksheet is the second of a series of three on Innovation and Product development. They are divided into looking at the six stages of product development and this lesson focuses on the second and third stages: product definition and making a prototype. Students will read an article on the topic and listen to a meeting where some employees discuss their plans and ideas. Exercises focus on reading and listening skills, related vocabulary and provide students with an opportunity to discuss questions (by Joe Wilson).

• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download the student’s worksheet in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download the teacher’s lesson plan in British English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in American English.
• CLICK HERE to download/listen to the audio in British English.

AUDIO TRANSCRIPT

Conversation 1
Deborah: I think we seriously need to consider advertising in monthly magazines for homes and furniture. We’re going to need to have a very visual campaign due to the design. Quality magazines will give us the access we need to the customers we’re looking for and the space and image quality we need too.
Sylvia: Yes, that’s a great idea. I also think that targeted Internet advertising could work too. For our product, we could easily make a stylish ten-second advertisement which could play during or before YouTube videos for our target customers.
Sebastian: Personally, I find those advertisements irritating because they’re always stopping you from watching what you want to watch. I agree with you on the possibilities for a very nice ten-second advertisements, but I’m not sure the Internet is the place for it. Perhaps TV advertisements. They have a very wide audience.
Sylvia: Yes, but this will only appeal to quite a specific section of customers. We’ll be paying a lot of money to advertise to people who won’t be interested. It will be good to increase name recognition for our company, but I think we need to make customers for this particular product feel as though they are getting something that’s unusual and different, not something that everyone has seen on TV.
Deborah: These are all good points. I think we need to maybe have a longer conversation with sales and marketing about this, so I’ll make a note to arrange that for next week… (fade)

Conversation 2
Deborah: I think if we can achieve 3000 orders in the first six months and then double that to 6000 in the second half of the year, that will be the indication we need that there’s a solid demand for this.
Sebastian: Yes, but to do that, we will need to ensure we’ve completed the final e-commerce and distribution strategy by the end of next month. I’m not sure that it will give us enough time. Once we hit the production stage, there is a clear limit on the number of units we can create as they will take time. We can certainly guarantee completion by October, any earlier than that and our marketing is at-risk as they will need time to mount the advertising campaign.
Sylvia: I agree with Sebastian. I think we need more time at this stage, and then we could be more aggressive with our targets later on. I think we could raise it to 4000 in the first six months, and double that in the second half of the year.

Conversation 3
Sebastian: I think the keyword for the product is ‘silence’. When I was working at home last week, I had to keep switching my fan off when I was on a video call as I couldn’t hear what was being said in the meeting properly. I think that is something we can really focus on in the advertising campaign. Yes, it’s easy to clean and it looks fantastic, but the fact that it doesn’t make any sound while it’s cooling you down is what is really going to sell it. That is the wow factor.
Sylvia: I agree, I think the beauty of the product will be something we don’t need to explain. It will speak for itself in any advertising we do. It’s a bonus, but certainly, the fact that it’s silent is what is putting us ahead of the competition. At least for now. Of course, there will be something similar and cheaper available from our competition possibly within 18 months of our release date, but I think that will only add to the effectiveness of our future advertising, as we can talk about it being the genuine and original version which will make it even more attractive.

Adapted from: https://www.linguahouse.com/esl-lesson-plans/business-english/innovation-and-product-development-ii. Accessed on May 10, 2024. © 2008–2024 LinguaHouse.com. All rights reserved.