STEP 1

In this first step, you will read carefully the presentation of this unit (phrasal verbs have been highlighted in yellow). A full glossary below will help you understand it better. To get information in Spanish, just place the arrow of your mouse on any highlighted word without clicking.

As we saw in the Factory Extension Meeting, Harper & Grant is a growing company. A growing firm needs to advertise. Up till now, the Sales Manager, John Martin, has dealt with the advertising. He employs an Advertising Agency to design the advertisements and place them in certain newspapers or magazines.
An Advertising Agency is an organisation which undertakes to handle advertising on behalf of the advertiser. It employs artists, copywriters, etc., who are specialists in the field. Its staff are also specialists in buying space in newspapers, or time on radio and television. They are usually able, therefore, to do a far more professional job than the Advertising Manager who belongs to a firm and who therefore has a limited experience. However, many firms now employ an Advertising Manager as well to liaise with the agency.
At Harper & Grant, John Martin is now too busy on the sales side to be able to handle the work involved. He needs an expert to supervise an advertising campaign, check proofs, make sure that the agency use the media which best suit the company's interests. The media are the various means by which one may advertise, for example in newspapers, magazines, on television, and on hoardings, large display boards, etc.
John Martin also cannot cope with the increasing public relations work. This side of the business involves contacts with the public at large through newspapers, magazines and television, giving editors correct information about the company and its products when such information is needed.
Mr. Grant has agreed that they should appoint a new Advertising Manager, who will relieve John Martin of this work but still be ultimately responsible to him for advertising. In fact, the new department will be a branch of his Sales Department. However, Mr. Grant is very interested in public relations and insists that the new “ad man” will be responsible to him for this side of the job.
An advertisement has been inserted in the “situations vacant” column of several appropriate newspapers, giving details of the new appointment and inviting applications for the job.
John Martin has the work of going through the written applications and deciding which of the applicants have the right qualifications for the post. He will then interview the selected applicants from his short list and send his candidate, or candidates, to Mr. Grant for the final interview.

GLOSSARY:
to advertise: to make known the goods or services you provide (publicitar, hacer publicidad);
to deal with: to occupy with, to manage a problem (ocuparse de, hacerse cargo de);
advertisements: the publicity material (avisos, publicidad);
to place: to put (colocar);
on behalf of: as the agent of, on someone's part (en nombre de);
copywriter: someone who writes the words (also called the wording) for an advertisement (redactor publicitario);
Advertising Manager: executive in charge of a firm's campaign to make itself known to the public (gerente de publicidad);
to liaise / liéis /: to coordinate (coordinar; hacer de intermediario);
advertising campaign: the whole plan of advertising for a particular product, usually planned a year in advance (campaña publicitaria);
check proofs: when anything is to be printed it is customary for the printer to prepare a specimen copy first so that his client may examine it for possible errors. This copy is called a proof (revisar o verificar las pruebas de publicidad);
to suit: to be suitable or adequate (convenir, adecuarse a);
media: newspapers, radio, TV, etc (singular: medium) (los medios);
hoardings: large display boards (carteles);
to cope with: to satisfy or fulfill (hacer frente a);
public relations: everything which concerns the contact a firm makes with the general public or with individuals who may promote their business in some way (relaciones públicas);
to appoint: to name, to charge with a function (nombrar);
inserted: put in (colocado, insertado);
applicant: someone who applies for something, usually a job (candidato, postulante);
post: position, job (puesto de trabajo);
short list: when offering a new job, most firms select from the total number of applicants a small number who they think have the best qualifications on paper. Their names are put on a short list and they are subsequently interviewed (lista de candidatos o postulantes preseleccionados).