LISTEN TO :

http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/learningenglish/language/wordsinthenews/2009/09/091002_witn_brands.shtml

BBC, Learning English, Words in the news, 9 October 2009

Answer the following questions.

1. What is ‘Interbrand’ ?

2. What do they say about Coca Cola ?

3. What does Interbrand’s latest survey say?

MOST VALUABLE BRANDS A

It's hard to put a fin__________ (A1) value on a well-known corporate (B1) name

but every year the marketing consult__________ (A2) Interbrand has a go. For

example (B2) , it claims the world's top br__________ (A3) Coca-Cola is currently

worth(B3) $68bn, a couple of billion dollars l__________ (A4) than 12 months

earlier (B4) .

Its latest survey suggests the rece__________ (A5) has had a considerable impact

(B5) on the corpor__________ (A6) pecking order. Car companies (B6),

s__________ (A7) as BMW and Toyota, along (B7) with Harley Davidson

motorc__________ (A8) , have seen above average declines in the value (B8) of

their brands - as have some lux__________ (A10) firms, like watchmakers

( B10) Cartier and Rolex, and Armani __________thing (A11). The lesson seems to be

consumers(B11) don't value exp__________ (A12) things they don't actually

need to buy so much when times are hard (B12).

Mean__________ (A13) , firms associated with relatively cheap (B13) products -

McDonalds f__________ (A14) food and Kellogg's cornflakes (B14), for example

- have seen the value of their brands r__________ (A15) relative to others in the recession.

The Google brand (B15) has also done well - maybe that's because more people are

b__________ (A16)-hunting on the internet.

According to the survey, the world's five most valuable (B16) brands are Coca-Cola, IBM,

Microsoft, General Electric and Nokia, unchanged from last year.

Mark Gregory, BBC News

MOST VALUABLE BRANDS B

It's hard to put a financial(A1) value on a well-known corp__________ (B1) name

but every year the marketing consultancy(A2) Interbrand has a go. For

ex__________ (B2) , it claims the world's top brand (A3) Coca-Cola is currently

w__________(B3) $68bn, a couple of billion dollars less (A4) than 12 months

ear__________(B4) .

Its latest survey suggests the recession (A5) has had a considerable imp__________

(B5) on the corpororate (A6) pecking order. Car comp__________ (B6),

such(A7) as BMW and Toyota, al__________ (B7) with Harley Davidson

motorcycles (A8) , have seen above average declines in the val__________ (B8)

of their brands - as have some luxury (A10) firms, like watchm__________

( B10) Cartier and Rolex, and Armani clothing (A11). The lesson seems to be

cons__________ (B11) don't value expensive (A12) things they don't actually

need to buy so much when times are h__________(B12).

Meanwhile (A13) , firms associated with relatively ch___________ (B13)

products - McDonalds fast (A14) food and Kellogg's corn__________(B14), for

example - have seen the value of their brands rise(A15) relative to others in the recession.

The Google br__________(B15) has also done well - maybe that's because more people are

bargain (A16)-hunting on the internet.

According to the survey, the world's five most val__________(B16) brands are Coca-Cola,

IBM, Microsoft, General Electric and Nokia, unchanged from last year.

Mark Gregory, BBC News