EXAMS Pet B1 writinG PArt 2 7 in the About page of your company s blog is the category History. write the story of how you got started and why the business exists in the first place. write about your experience as the founder, the gap in your market, the solution and the successes. write about 100 words. Your story must begin like this: I founded a tutoring business to help students... BeC VAntAGe B2 reADinG PArt 1 8 read the extracts from a text about branding and the sentences below. For questions 1-7, choose which extract each sentence refers to. the extracts may be chosen more than once. A. Having a good brand identity is critical. It can not only position a company above its competitors, but it also communicates the reason why your customers should choose you instead of your competitors. But developing a strong brand image takes time, money and effort. Your new brand identity should evolve from your previous identity. Be careful not to start from scratch and come up with something completely new, as you may end up losing loyal customers who have emotion ties with your product. B. It s important to understand that by changing the visual aspects of your company, your logo, your packaging and so on, you are not actually changing your brand identity. Your brand identity is the promise a company makes to its customers its features, quality, values and service support. Many companies, sadly, are led to believe by branding agencies that visual changes will alter a customer s perception of their products. But such changes only inform consumers that a company is concerned about how it looks. At best, they will assume the company is modern; at worst they will accuse the company of unnecessary extravagance. C. Successful branding may not be actually connected with the product at all but may represent a greater sense of purpose or a more satisfying experience, like affirming that drinking a cup of coffee can really make a difference, or that exercising may bring about personal achievement. Many successful brands study emerging societal ideals and trends, so that they can take advantage of how customers wish they could be. Then they push forward the message that by using their product, their dreams can be fulfilled, and the customer can gain the lifestyle he or she is searching, be it a sense of glamour, freedom, popularity or self-satisfaction. D. Lack of consistency is probably the greatest disadvantage when designing an image for your brand. You need to provide a consistent message in your proposals and presentations so that your company develops credibility, gets noticed and remembered. To ensure consistent branding, gather all the information that leaves your company, be it faxes, emails, advertisements, invoices or packages, and examine it for discrepancies in your company s image to evaluate the image you are trying to portray. Adapted from: https://www.examenglish.com/BEC/BEC_Vantage_reading_part1.htm 1. A list of some items which display your brand identity. 2. The difference between brand identity and logo design. 3. Branding might not reflect the product specifically. 4. How companies are fooled by companies offering branding. 5. What is involved in creating an image for your brand. 6. Why companies study current social trends to develop a brand. 7. A warning about redesigning your brand. 162 GettinG to work