Part 3. You will hear two business students called Janet and Michael discussing their research into the marketing of different kinds of shampoo. First you have some time to look at questions 21 to 26. Now listen carefully and answer questions 21 to 26.
Hi Janet, how are you getting on with the shampoo marketing project? Hi Michael, it's interesting. I've read how shampoo marketing has developed over the last hundred years. Oh, I didn't think we needed to do that.
True, but I'm interested anyway. Basically, what was once sold as an economical way of getting your hair clean has evolved into a beauty product. Right.
And shampoo's interesting, because it's a key influence in how we see ourselves. You've heard of bad hair days. When your hair looks bad, maybe you didn't wash it and you feel bad about it? Heard of them, yes.
Had one? No. Don't think they're real. Bad hair days? Come on.
Well, whatever you want to call them, that's not what research from Yale is suggesting. They're not just imagined, and both sexes are equally affected by them. And when they happen, people tend to perform and feel worse than usual.
Right. And I've been reading about shampoo ingredients, chemicals like sodium lauryl sulphate... Methyl chloride. Many of the manufacturers tend to use these, or others like them, though they keep it quiet.
Right. When it comes to the product packaging, they're strangely silent about it. Another area it would be interesting to investigate is the labelling on bottles.
Apparently, printing directly onto the bottles costs about 50% less than sticking a printed label on, because it's a much quicker process. But manufacturers are lukewarm about this because it doesn't enhance the visual impact of the bottle. It comes across as a bit cheap.
We need to think about environmental issues. I was surprised how little recycled plastic goes into the bottles. I think it's because light-coloured plastic is more difficult to make from recycled stuff.
Yeah, but manufacturers can make their packaging more environmentally friendly just by making it less heavy. I'd like to find out whether some of them actually do when we do the research. Yes, that's worth looking into.
Thinking about you as a customer, what's important when choosing shampoo? I'm always wary of special offers. When something's flagged as being half-price, it rarely is, really. But if there's a make I've never seen before, I'm usually up for giving it a go, rather than sticking to one or two favourite brands all my life.
Interesting. Before you hear the rest of the discussion, you have some time to look at questions 27-30. Now listen and answer questions 27-30.
Shall we discuss some of these shampoo advertisements, then, and try and identify what sort of psychological response each one is trying to get from the viewer? Okay. What about Zing? Well, it'd probably appeal equally to men and women. In the ad, we see this happy family, lovely home, healthy, good-looking children... With clean hair.
Obviously, yes. And I think we're supposed to watch the ad and think, wow, if only my life was like that. Yeah, I know what you mean.
I think the advertisers want the viewers to almost wish they were the people in the ad. Sure. I mean, that's very common in advertising.
But not universal. You know that ad for Splash Shampoo that lasts about five minutes and where there's a story? Oh, yes. The commercial about the couple? And all through the commercial, it's not clear if they're going to break up or stay together? Exactly.
Well, I think the marketing's been done very cleverly there. I don't think we're supposed to want to be the characters in the commercial, but we're supposed to get to know them a bit. Yes, well, I thought the story was effective.
You're glad to learn when it's over that they're obviously going to stay together. But I think the role of the shampoo in the story was a bit thin, to say the least. Hmm, maybe.
I suppose some manufacturers don't want to bore people with all the science. Sure. And then there's the Just Go advertisement.
Yes, that had lots of technical information about what the shampoo actually consists of. I suppose they want customers to feel confident that when they buy Just Go, they are at least making an informed decision. Yes, they're buying something that will do the job they want it to.
That's it. I've read one of the most effective shampoo ads in recent times was the one for brosine. Yes, but there's no commentary, just images of the shampoo and lots of clean hair.
I suppose the effect, though, is very calming, with soft music and very peaceful imagery. Yes, but at the end of the ad, we've hardly learned anything about the product, have we? I suppose not. But isn't it interesting how much the ads for what are essentially very similar products vary so much? That is the end of Part 3. You now have 30 seconds to check your answers to Part 3.