Describing Business Strategy, Markets and Products - Business English Lesson

商务英语 —— 描述营销业绩和战略

Hi, I’m Liam. Welcome to Oxford Online English! 

嗨，我是Liam。欢迎来到Oxford Online English！

In this business English lesson, you’ll  learn to talk about marketing strategies  

在本节商业英语课程中，您会 学到谈论营销战略

and corporate competition. You’ll see lots  of useful vocabulary and collocations you  

和企业竞争。您会看到您能用于 谈论商业战略的大量

can use to talk about business strategy. You’ll learn useful language to talk  

有用的单词和搭配。您会学到 有用的讲法来谈论

about losing market share, entering  a new market, launching new products,  

失去的市场份额，进入一个 新市场，投放新产品，

and staying competitive in an evolving market.

以及在不断发展的市场中 保持竞争力。

Hello, everyone, and thanks for joining us for  this conference call, wherever you might happen  

大家好，无论您在世界的哪一个 地方，感谢你们参加这个

to be in the world! If you don’t know, my name’s  Dimitri, and I lead the marketing department.  

电话会议！如果您不知道，我的 名字是Dimitri，我领导营销部门。

I’m not sure that you’re aware, but our European  business has not been doing well in the last  

我不确定您是否害怕，但是我们在 欧洲的生意去年不是很好

year or so. In particular, we’ve been losing  market share to our rivals. A Korean company,  

或差不多是这样。大致上来说，我们的 竞争者获得了我们的市场份额。

Neidon, entered the European market three  years ago, and have adopted an aggressive  

一家韩国公司， Neidon，三年前进入欧洲 市场，采取了一个侵略性的定价

pricing strategy, which is putting pressure on  our revenues. Additionally, a German start-up,  

战略，那给我们的营收带来很大压力。 此外，一家名为Hammer的德国

called Hammer, have expanded their market  share in Germany, Austria and Switzerland,  

初创公司，在德国、奥地利和瑞士 拓展了他们的市场份额，

partially at our expense. It’s clear that  we need to respond to these market forces,  

那原是由我们占有的。很明显，我们需要 对这些市场力量做出反应。

and I’d like to start thinking about  our options during this meeting. 

我想在本次会议里开始考 虑我们的选项。

In this presentation, you heard some phrases based  on the word ‘market’. Let’s look at a few of them. 

在这个介绍里，您听到了一些以单词“market” 为基础的短语，我们来看一下他们。

Imagine that you want to explain the meaning of  these phrases in English. What would you say? 

想像您想解释这些英语短语的意思， 您将会说什么？

If you’re losing market share, then your  business has a smaller proportion of  

如果您正在失去市场份额，那么 您的生意在可能的客户中

the available customers. The phrase in  sentence two has the opposite meaning;  

占有一个更小的份额。在句子二里的 短语有相反的意思：

if you expand your market share, you reach  a higher proportion of potential customers.

如果您拓展了您的市场份额，您占有了 一个更高的潜在客户的比例。

You can also gain market share,  which has the same meaning. 

您也能赢得市场份额， 那是相同意思。

‘Market forces’ – you can also say ‘market  pressures’ – describes the conditions in a market,  

“Market forces” – 您也能说“market  pressures” – 描述市场条件，

and how they affect company  behaviour and strategy.

以及他们怎样影响公司利益 和战略。

For example, a market in a particular field,  

例如，在一个特定领域的市场，

or a particular area, might get more or  less competitive with time. Consumers there  

或一个特定区域，随着时间推移，也许 有更多或更少的竞争。那的

might get richer or poorer. These are examples of  market forces which businesses need to adapt to. 

消费者可能会更富有或更贫困。这些是 商业需要适应市场力量的例子。

Generally, you can improve your English to  talk about these topics by paying attention  

通常来说，为了谈论这些主题，您 可以通过留意*单词搭配*

to *collocations*. A collocation is when  you use words in a specific combination.

提高您的英语。一个单词搭配是您用 特定的组合来使用单词。

‘Expand your market share’ is a collocation.  You might know all these words individually,  

“Expand your market share”是一个搭配。 您也许知道这些所有的独立单词，

but could you use them together? With  collocations, you need to learn the  

但是您可以结合在一起使用他们吗？ 就搭配来说，您需要当做

combination of words as a single block, so that  you can use them together without thinking.

一个单个整体来学习单词组合，所以 您可以不用思索就合在一起使用他们。

We recommend going back to the presentation text  and trying to find more useful collocations. Do  

我们推荐回到介绍文字，并试着找 更有用的搭配。

the same with the other presentation texts  which you’ll see in the rest of this lesson!

在您会在本节课剩余部分里看到的其他 介绍文字里做同样的事情！

You’re about to hear the  presentation for part two.  

您即将听到第二部分介绍。

Don’t forget to listen out for  collocations. In the presentation,  

不要忘记听出搭配。 在介绍里

there are three new collocations with the  word ‘market’. Try to find them as you listen! 

有三个带单词“‘market”的新搭配。 当您听的时候试着找出它们！

I’d like to discuss an idea which  has been floating around lately,  

我想讨论一个最近一直 浮现的想法，

and explain why I don’t think it’s a solution  to our problems. I’m talking about China;  

解释为什么我不认为那能解决我们 的问题。我在谈论中国；

I’ve heard from many of you that we should try to  enter the Chinese market, but I don’t think this  

我听了很多您的我们必须试着进入 中国市场的想法，但我不认为

is a good strategic move for us right now. First  of all, the regulatory barriers to entry are high.  

目前这对我们是一个好的战略举措。 首先，进入的监管门槛很高。

Secondly, there’s already fierce competition,  from both local and international companies.  

其次，已经有了来自本地和国际 公司的激烈竞争。

Finally, the cost of getting established  in a new market can be large, and while  

最后，在一个新市场站稳的成本会很大， 同时

we’re financially solid, we don’t have so much  free cash flow, so we’d have to take on debt.  

我们的财务状况稳健，没有太多自由 现金流，因此我们不得不承担债务。

Instead, I think we should focus  on our North American presence,  

取而代之的是，我认为我们必须聚焦 在我们目前的北美市场，

where we’re already in a strong market  position and the competition is less intense. 

在那，我们已经有很稳固的市场 地位，竞争没那么紧张。

Did you hear the collocations with  the word ‘market’? Here they are. 

您有听到有单词“market”的搭配吗？ 他们是这些。

What does ‘getting established’ mean? ‘Established’ means something like ‘stable’ or  

“getting established”是什么意思？ “Established”意思像是“stable”或是

‘comfortable’. If you get  established in a new market,  

“comfortable”，如果您在一个  新市场站稳 ，

you reach a position where your business is  comfortable, and you’re not fighting for survival. 

您到达了一个会让您的生意舒适的位置， 您不会为了生存而奋斗。

There were also several other useful phrases  in the presentation. Let’s look at a few. 

在介绍里，也有几个其他的有用的 短语。我们来看几个。

Can you remember the missing words? Remember  that you can go back and listen to the  

您能记得漏掉的单词吗？记住， 如果您想要，您可以

presentation again if you want! Here are the answers. 

回头再听介绍！ 回答在这。

‘Move’ here means something like  ‘decision’ or ‘plan’. It’s a noun.

“Move”在这意思像是“decision”或 “plan”的某些东西。是一个名词。

If something is a good decision, you can  describe it as a ‘good move’ or a ‘smart move’. 

如果某事是一个好的决定，您能描述它是 一个“good move”或一个“smart move”。

If you want to enter a new market, there  will usually be some barriers to entry.  

如果您想进入一个新市场，通常会 有一些进入门槛。

These could be regulatory – laws and rules  which it is difficult or expensive to follow.  

这些可以是监管 – 法律或规则，那是 很难的或花费不菲来遵循的。

They could be cultural – maybe there isn’t much  demand for your product in some countries or  

他们可能是文化上的 – 也许您的产品在 一些国家或因一些文化没有

cultures. They could be financial – maybe you need  to invest heavily to start a new operation. If the  

太多的订单。他们可能是财务上的 – 也许 您要大量地投资来开始一个新的运营。

barriers to entry are high, then it’s especially  difficult to get established in a new market. 

如果进入门槛高，那么在一个新市场 站稳特别地难。

There are many words which you can  combine with the word ‘competition’.  

有很多您能用来和单词“competition”组合的单词。

In the presentation, you also  heard ‘intense competition’.

在介绍里，您也听到“intense competition”。

Here’s a task: go to a good online  dictionary – we recommend Longman or  

这有一个任务：去找一个好的在线字典—— 我们推荐Longman或是

Lexico – and find three more adjectives which  can collocate with the word ‘competition’.  

Lexico —— 找多三个能和单词 “competition”搭配的形容词。

If your English is intermediate level or  higher, focusing on collocations is often a  

如果您的英语是中级水平或更高级， 聚焦在搭配常是一个

better way to improve your vocabulary, rather than  spending all your time learning individual words.

提高词汇能力的较好的方式，, 而不是要花 您的所有时间学单个的单词。

Again, when you listen to the presentation, try  to find new collocations with the word ‘market’.  

再一次，当您听介绍时，试着找新的 有单词“market”的搭配,。

There are three to find. 

有三个。

Another way that we might compensate  for the decline in our European business  

对于欧洲业务的下滑，我们可以 抵消掉的另一种方法是

is by bringing new product lines to market, both  in Europe and elsewhere. This could help us to  

将新产品线推向欧洲和其他地区。  这能帮我们来

expand our customer base and claw back some of  the market share we’ve lost in recent years.  

扩展我们的客户群，并挽回我们\\近年来失去的部分市场份额。

Additionally, to cut down on travel expenses,  we’ve been retraining our sales teams  

此外，要削减差旅费；  我们一直有培训我们的营销团队，

so that they can work remotely. We  started work on this very early,  

所以他们可以远程工作。我们 很早就开始用这种方式工作，

which we hope will give us a competitive edge over  other firms that still rely on face-to-face sales.  

我们希望这将使我们比其他仍依赖面 对面营销的公司更具竞争优势。

Overall, our strategic vision for the next  five to ten years is to take a more global,  

总体而言，我们对下一个五到十年的 战略远景是采取更全球化，

less Europe-centric approach. That doesn’t  mean we’ll be neglecting our European business,  

较少以欧洲为中心的方式。那不意味着 我们会忽略我们的欧洲生意，

but we’ll be focusing more on emerging markets,  and trying to build a dominant position there. 

但我们会更加专注于新兴市场，  并试着在那建立一个统治地位。

Here are the three new collocations with ‘market’. 

这有三个带“market”的新搭配。

‘Claw back’ is an interesting verb. Do  you know what it means, or can you guess? 

“Claw back”是一个有趣的动词。您知道 那是什么意思吗？或者您能猜下吗？

‘Claw back’ means to fight to get  back something which you lost. 

“Claw back”意思是为了得回您失去 的某些东西而战斗。

Now, to practise the other language  you heard, look at some questions. 

现在，练习您听到的其他说法， 看一些问题。

Pause the video, and try to make answers to these  three questions. Make sure your answers are full  

暂停视屏，试着来做这三个问题的回答。 确保您的回答是完整的

sentences, and make them as detailed as possible.  Write them down, or say them out loud, or do both! 

句子，并尽可能的详细。写下他们， 或大声说出他们，或者两者都做！

Ready? Could you do it? 

准备好了吗？您可以做吗？

Of course, there’s more than one way to  answer, but let’s look at some sample answers.

当然，回答的方式不只一种， 但让我们看一些示例答案。

You could say: ‘A company can expand its  customer base by launching new products,  

您可以说：“A company can expand its  customer base by launching new products,

entering new regional markets, or attracting  new customers through advertising.’ 

entering new regional markets, or attracting  new customers through advertising.”

You could say: ‘A company can gain a  competitive edge by having a superior product,  

您可以说：“A company can gain a  competitive edge by having a superior product,

having lower prices, or by offering  better customer service and support.’ 

having lower prices, or by offering  better customer service and support.”

You could say: ‘In my country,  there’s a restaurant chain  

您能说：“In my country,  there’s a restaurant chain

called Goody’s that have a dominant  position in the fast food market.  

called Goody’s that have a dominant  position in the fast food market.

It’s one of the few countries where MacDonald’s  haven’t been able to gain much market share.’ 

It’s one of the few countries where MacDonald’s  haven’t been able to gain much market share.”

If you found it difficult to answer the three  questions yourself, use our answers as templates.  

如果您觉得自己回答这三个问题有点 难，使用我们的回答作为模板。

Use the sentence structures we used, and  change the details to use your own ideas.

使用我们用的句子结构，并用 您自己的想法改变细节。

Also, just practising your answer once  

同样，一旦也许不够好就要练习您自己

might not be enough! Say your answer out loud  several times, until you can do it fluently.

的回答。大声地说出您的回答几 次，直到您能流利地做。

Let’s move on to our last section. 

让我们进入我们的最后一个单元。

As before, try to find new collocations  with the word ‘market’ in the presentation.  

就像之前一样，试着在介绍里找有 单词“market”的新搭配。

This time, there are three to find. 

这次，可以找到三个。

So far, we’ve focused more on challenges which  we’re currently facing, but there’s plenty of good  

到目前为止，我们将重点更多地放在 了我们现在面对的挑战上，但是

news, too. In Latin America, we are in a dominant  position, with two of our largest competitors  

也有很多好消息。在拉丁美洲，我们处于 统治地位，我们的两个最大

announcing recently that they’re planning to  get out of the market, which is great news for  

的竞争对手最近宣布他们计划退出 市场。这对我们来说

us and should allow us to consolidate our position  further. However, we don’t want to get complacent.  

是个好消息，应该会巩固我们的 地位。但是，我们不想沾沾自喜。

We have a first mover advantage in most of  Latin America, but other companies will notice  

我们在拉丁美洲大部分地区拥有先发 优势，但其他公司会注意到我们的

our success and try to move in. One thing I’d  like our product teams to start thinking about  

成功并尝试进军这一市场。我希望我们的 产品团队开始思考的一件事

is how to keep our pricing competitive and  make it difficult for any new market entrants.  

是如何保持我们的定价竞争力并让任何 新的市场进入者感到困难。

We should also be looking at long  term trends in South America,  

我们也必须要研究在 南美的长期趋势，

and make strategic decisions that reflect the  changing market conditions across the continent. 

并制定反映整个南美大陆不断 变化的市场状况的战略决策。

Did you find the new collocations? Here they are. In part two, you heard a collocation which  

您有找到新的搭配了吗？他们是这些。 在第二部分，您听到了一个

means the opposite of ‘get out of  the market’. Do you remember it? 

意思是“get ot of the market” 反义的搭配。您记得它吗？

The opposite is ‘enter the market’,  as in ‘enter the Chinese market’,  

反义是“enter the market”。就像 是在“enter the Chinese market”、

‘enter the Brazilian market’, and so on.

“enter the Brazilian market”，等等。

Let’s look at some more useful phrases you  heard. Can you remember the missing words here? 

让我们看看一些您听到的更有用的短语。 您能记得这遗漏的单词吗？

Can you remember? Pause the video  if you need more time to think. 

您能记得吗？如果您需要更多时间 来考虑，暂停视屏。

Ready? Here are the answers. 

准备好了吗？这是回答。

If you consolidate something, you  make it stronger and more stable. 

如果您将某些东西合并，您 可以让它更坚固、更稳定。

‘First mover advantage’ means the benefits you  get from being first to enter a new market,  

“First mover advantage”意思是您从进入 一个新市场成为头名或是从

or launch a new product. For some  time, you have no competition,  

投放一个新产品而获得的好处。 有时，您没有竞争，

because you were faster than your rivals. 

因为您比您的竞争者要快。

‘Move in’ here has the direct meaning of entering  a new market, but it has a secondary meaning, too:  

“Move in”在这有进入一个新市场的 直接意思，但也有第二层意思：

it has the idea of trying to  take market share and customers. 

那是有试图占领市场份额和 客户的想法。

That’s all for this lesson, but there’s  a lot of information and vocabulary here.  

本节课就到这，但是这有 大量的信息和词汇。

We recommend that you go through the presentations  again and find new words and phrases to learn.

我们推荐您再复习这些介绍，找 新的单词和短语来学习。

Thanks for watching!

感谢观看！

See you next time!

下次见！