GRE作文范文 Argument-18

One year ago we introduced our first product, "Bargain Brand" breakfast cereal. Our very low prices quickly drew many customers away from the top-selling cereal companies. Although the companies producing the top brands have since tried to compete with us by lowering their prices, and although several plan to introduce their own budget brands, not once have we needed to raise our prices to continue making a profit. Given our success selling cereal, Bargain Brand should now expand its business and begin marketing other low-priced food products as quickly as possible.

嘉文博譯Sample Essay

Obviously, the marketing director is enthusiastic about Bargain Brand Cereals' success in selling low-priced breakfast cereal. The marketing director states that over one year, the very low prices of the cereal took many customers away from the top-selling cereal companies and that despite the top brand cereal companies reducing their prices and planning to introduce budget brands, Bargain Brand has never had to raise its prices to continue making a profit. The marketing director then comes to the conclusion that the company should expand the business and start selling other low-priced foods as soon as possible. At first glance, the marketing director would appear to have a good idea, but upon closer inspection one can see that more research should be done before such products are launched in the marketplace.

In the first place, Bargain Brand Cereals' low-priced breakfast cereals have only been on the market for one year - a very short time in terms of analyzing the overall success or failure of a product. With such a short history, it is impossible to evaluate the long-term viability of the product in the marketplace, particularly with respect to the actions and reactions of competitors. The marketing director even mentions in his or her memo that the top brands have already tried to compete by lowering prices. It is likely still too early to tell what effect that will have on the future sales of Bargain Brands cereal. Additionally, the marketing director states that several of the companies producing the top-selling brands plan to introduce their own budget brands, indicating that they have not yet done so. He or she also states that Bargain Brands has never had to raise its prices to continue making a profit. Although that may be true because the competition has not yet fully reacted, the other companies are organizing a direct attack on the Bargain Brands cereal - companies which likely have tremendous funds available for launching these new bargain products, possibly even selling them at or below cost to try to drive Bargain Brands cereal out of the market. Faced with these current and upcoming battles, the marketing director's conclusion that they should launch other low-priced food products as quickly as possible might be foolish rather than wise. The company may need to save its funds to try to survive in their current market rather than extending itself out into more fields of competition.

Secondly, the marketing director assumes that low prices are what attracted consumers to Bargain Brands cereal. It is possible that it was not price that attracted customers - rather the package, promotion or the fact that the other cereals were not as good as Bargain Brands cereal. The company may have some special advantage with its cereal that others do not have - and that it cannot duplicate in any other types of foods. Success in selling low-priced cereal does not indicate the chances for success with other low-priced foods. Indeed, there may be some industry-specific factors in cereal marketing that have allowed Bargain Brands to succeed in the short-term. Bargain Brands may have some special expertise with cereal that they cannot duplicate with other types of food products. The marketing director presents no direct evidence or market research to indicate that Bargain Brands can successfully expand its business into other food areas. Without such information, the marketing director's argument is unconvincing.

In summary, without detailed market research showing the true reason why Bargain Brands cereal has been successful, without knowing the likelihood of its continued success, and without showing how it can translate that success to other areas, the marketing director's argument is based on speculation and faulty logic. To strengthen his or her argument, market research should be conducted to determine how the marketplace is reacting to the competition's strategies in the cereal market, and whether there is a demand in any other particular areas for low-priced food products. Additionally, the marketing director must show that Bargain Brands has some type of competitive advantage that it can successfully apply to its strategies in the low-priced food product market.

(683 words)

參考譯文

下文出自"特價谷類食品"公司銷售部經(jīng)理的備忘錄：

一年前，我們推出了我們的第一個產(chǎn)品："特價谷類食品"早餐系列。我們非常低的價位很快就從銷量最好的食品公司吸引了眾多顧客。盡管那些生產(chǎn)優(yōu)質(zhì)食品的公司繼而降低產(chǎn)品價格試圖與我們競爭，而且有幾次計劃推廣他們自己的廉價產(chǎn)品，但是我們從未需要靠提高價格來維持贏利?？紤]到我們銷售食品的成功，"特價谷類食品"公司現(xiàn)在應(yīng)該擴大它的業(yè)務(wù)，開始盡快地把其他低價食品推向市場。

顯然，銷售部經(jīng)理對"特價谷類食品"公司成功地銷售低價位早餐系列極富熱情。銷售部經(jīng)理說，僅僅一年多，非常低廉的食品就把銷量最好的公司的顧客吸引過來，而且盡管優(yōu)質(zhì)食品公司降低價格并計劃推出廉價產(chǎn)品，"特價谷類食品"公司卻沒有提高價格來維持贏利。銷售部經(jīng)理接著得出結(jié)論，公司應(yīng)該擴大生產(chǎn)業(yè)務(wù)并開始盡早把其它低價食品推向市場。乍看起來，銷售部經(jīng)理似乎出了一個好主意，但仔細推敲我們就能發(fā)現(xiàn)，在這類產(chǎn)品推向市場之前應(yīng)該做更多的調(diào)查研究。

首先，"特價谷類食品"公司推出的低價早餐系列僅投放市場一年--時間太短不足以分析一種產(chǎn)品的完全成功或失敗。在這樣短的時間內(nèi)，不可能評價產(chǎn)品在市場上的長期發(fā)展，尤其針對競爭者的行動和反應(yīng)更是如此。銷售部經(jīng)理在其備忘錄中提到，優(yōu)質(zhì)產(chǎn)品已經(jīng)試圖通過降低價格與其競爭。斷言對"特價谷類食品"未來將有什么影響現(xiàn)在尚為時過早。此外，銷售部經(jīng)理聲稱，幾家生產(chǎn)銷量優(yōu)質(zhì)產(chǎn)品的公司已經(jīng)計劃推出他們自己的廉價產(chǎn)品，暗示他們尚未做。他/她還說，"特價谷類食品"從未提高價格以維持贏利。雖然他/她的說明可能是真的，因為競爭尚未完全展開，但是其他公司已在組織對"特價谷類食品"的反擊，而且這些公司很可能擁有巨額資金來推出這些廉價產(chǎn)品，甚至以成本價或低于成本價銷售他們的產(chǎn)品以便把"特價谷類食品"擠出市場。面對這些目前的及即將出現(xiàn)的戰(zhàn)斗，銷售部經(jīng)理的結(jié)論--他們應(yīng)該盡快地把其他低價食品推向市場--與其說是明智的不如說是愚蠢的。公司需要積蓄資金以便在目前的市場上生存，而不是擴展到其他競爭領(lǐng)域。

第二，銷售部經(jīng)理假定價格低是吸引顧客購買"特價谷類食品"系列的因素?？赡懿⒎鞘莾r格吸引了顧客--而是包裝、促銷或因為其他種類的谷類食品不如"特價谷類食品"的好。公司的產(chǎn)品可能具有其他公司的產(chǎn)品所沒有的某種特殊長處--而這個長處是在其他種類食品中不能仿效的。低價谷類食品的銷售成果，并不意味著其他低價食品也有成功的機會。的確，可能是因為某些企業(yè)占有市場的因素使"低價谷類食品"在短期內(nèi)獲得了成功。"特價谷類食品"公司可能有一些專門技巧，而這些技巧是可能不能在其他種類食品中復(fù)制的。銷售部經(jīng)理沒有提供直接證據(jù)或市場調(diào)查證明"特價谷類食品"公司可能成功地把其業(yè)務(wù)擴展到其他食品領(lǐng)域。沒有這類的資料，銷售部經(jīng)理的論點是不能令人信服的。

總之，沒有提供詳細的市場調(diào)查來證明"特價谷類食品"成功的真正原因。不了解其繼續(xù)成功的可能性，也沒有說明它如何把成功移植到其他領(lǐng)域，只能說銷售部經(jīng)理的論點是基于空想和錯誤的邏輯。為了加強他/她的論點，應(yīng)該進行市場調(diào)查以便確定市場對食品銷售的競爭戰(zhàn)略是如何反應(yīng)的。此外，銷售部經(jīng)理必須說明"特價谷類食品"公司具有某種競爭優(yōu)勢足以使其成功地將其戰(zhàn)略應(yīng)用于廉價食品市場。