Ray-Ban:
How to sell ‘cool’
Elementary Level:
Grammar: Possessive ‘s’
Listening: Ray-Ban sells ‘cool’
Pronunciation: /s/
Cultural Awareness: Eye contact
Functional Vocabulary: To put on / To take off / To wear
Reading: Ray-Ban’s style history
Role Play: Meeting to discuss new products
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INTRODUCTION: Discuss these questions: Are sunglasses a status symbol? Have you heard of the brand, Ray-Ban?
Vocabulary Exercise: Put these words into two groups with a similar meaning? trendy, stylish, cool, classy, chic, in, fashionable, elegant
Short-term popular = Long-term popular =
LISTENING 1: Do you know what these words mean? You will hear them in the listening. Founded – sun’s rays – wear – brand - worth
Listen to a spokesman talk about Ray-Ban, and answer these questions.
1. When was Ray-Ban founded? 2. Who were Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses originally developed for?
3. W hat do Aviat or su nglas ses prov ide? 4. What famous people wear Ray-Bans?
5. How much did Luxottica Group pay for R ay-Ban?
PRONUNCIATION: /s/
Practice pronouncing these words & discuss their meanings with your teacher:
Sugar - response - fashion - sunglasses - satisfy - sensation - chic – stylish – silver – school – surprise – issue – invest – shut – success – system – fast – answer - resist • The school shop has invested in some serious system of customer service • Ask somebody for some sausages and see if there’s a successful answer • The satisfactory result to the sensational news was a chic and stylish response
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FUNCTIONAL VOCABULARY: To wear / To put on / To take off
In English we use the verb to wear for clothes and accessories (sunglasses etc.). E.g. She is wearing a blue jacket and sunglasses. I wore a hat yesterday
To take off means remove clothes or accessories, and to put on means add clothes or accessories. E.g. I took off my sunglasses and put on a red shirt.
EXERCISE: Add the correct word (past / present / future) to the gaps below.
E.g. She is wearing Ray-Ban sunglasses now. 1. I off my Ray-Bans when I arrived at the office. 2. I think I on a suit for the meeting tomorrow. 3. Last night I on my pyjamas and went to bed. 4. I always off my shoes when I enter the house. 5. I never sunglasses in the cinema. 6. Today, he a blue shirt. 7. Please your coat and give it to me. 8. The manager his shoes and his boots because of the rain.
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In the listening exercise you heard the words: … Even President Barack Obama’s sunglasses are Ray-Bans … We do not say: Even the sunglasses of President Barack Obama are Ray–Bans.
GRAMMAR PRACTICE: Possessive ‘s’ - The genitive
In English, when we want to show that something belongs to somebody we usually add ‘s to a noun - for example: • I stayed at my friend’s house (not: I stayed at the house of my friend) • I met the president’s wife (not: the wife of the president)
We normally use of … for things and places. E.g. • The beginning of the film (not: the film’s beginning) • What is the name of this city? (Not: what is this city’s name?)
Exercise: Change these sentences if they are not correct e.g. I drive the car of my sister (wrong) I drive my sister’s car (correct)
1. Do you like my computer’s colour? 2. The garden of my brother is very small. 3. What is George’s favourite colour? 4. The car stopped at the street’s end. 5. The house of Diana is very big. 6. Are you going to Ursula’s party? 7. Look at the page’s top. 8. The job of my manager is very interesting.
9. It’s Andrew’s pen. 10. Sarah is the sister of Paul
Supplement the grammar study with exercises from a grammar book.
Speaking Practice: • Why do companies use celebrities to promote their products? • Do celebrities need to be cool to promote products? • What other products do celebrities promote?
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READING:
Exercise: put the paragraphs into the correct order.
Ray-Ban’s style history
1. Ray-Ban sunglasses are stylish because celebrities wear them, but they are also good quality and practical.
2. In the 1940's, Ray-Ban was contracted by the US Air Force to develop aviator glasses for its pilots.
3. Ray-Ban Aviators have remained in style for over 50 years but the company also changes with the fashion. There were bright, colourful frames of the 1960's, big lens in the 1970's, and sporty designs of the 1980's.
4. Ray-Ban uses celebrities to promote their sunglasses. Tom Cruise, Audrey Hepburn, Michael Jackson and Madonna are some of the famous people who wear Ray-Bans.
5. The Polaroid glasses had large lenses and were two or three times the size of the eye. The important objective of these glasses was to protect the eyes from the sun.
6. The optical company Bausch and Lomb started to produce Ray-Ban sunglasses in 1936. The company was the first to use polarized technology.
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Cultural Awareness Point: Eye contact
In some cultures, eye contact indicates ho nesty; in other cultures it is disrespectful.
• What is the habit in your culture? • Do you think eye contact is important? • What happens if the person is wearing sunglasses?
LISTENING 2: Do you know what these words mean? You will hear them in the listening. Wore - increased - dramatically - generation - available - celebrities
Listen to the second part of the listening and answer these questions
1. How much do Ray-Ban sunglasses cost?
2. W hy wer e Way farer sung lasses different to other sunglasses? 3. Which film stars wore Wayfarers in the 1950’s?
4. What did Ray-Ban do in the 1980’s? 5. What is the company’s marketing strategy?
ROLE-PLAY Ray-Ban needs to introduce more cool products and wants to have alternatives to sunglasses.
In groups, think of other cool produ cts that Ray-Ban can develop.
Role Play: The meeting: present yo ur ideas and talk about options.
Practice the grammar and vocabulary you have learnt in this lesson
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Audio 1 – Elementary. Ray-Ban
Ray-Ban – Elementary Level
Ray-Ban is a manufacturer of sunglasses, founded in 1937 by the American company Bausch & Lomb.
Ray-Ban Aviator sunglasses were originally developed for United States military pilots to provide total protection from the sun’s rays.
The Ray-Ban soon became a cool style of sunglasses.
Hollywood film stars wear Ray-Ban sunglasses including: Tom Cruise, Will Smith and Madonna.
Even President Barack Obama’s sunglasses are Ray-Bans.
In 1999, Bausch & Lomb sold the Ray-Ban brand to the Italian Luxottica Group for $1.2 billion. The sunglasses’ market is worth $3billion every year.
Audio 2 – Elementary. Ray-Ban
But what makes Ray-Ban a cool product? And why do they cost over $100?
After the Aviator sunglasses Ray-Ban introduced the Wayfarer design in the 1950’s. These were made from plastic instead of the metal sunglasses available at that time.
Film stars, Audrey Hepburn and James Dean wore Wayfarer sunglasses and it made the brand very attractive to young people. Sales increased dramatically.
In the 1980s Ray-Ban promoted its sunglasses in popular movies and TV shows like The Blues Brothers and Miami Vice, and a new generation of young people started to buy Ray-Bans.
The company’s marketing strategy is to produce cool designs and get cool celebrities to wear them. This business plan is a great success.
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LESSON PLAN – RAY-BAN – ELEMENTARY
Key objectives – to practise aural and oral Business English
INTRODUCTION: Ask the students what they know about Ray-Ban. Teacher (T) – Students (SS) 5 mins
LISTENING 1: Next tell students they are going to hear a spokesman talking about Ray-Ban. They need to answer the questions at the end. Play the listening and ask students the questions. (T) – (SS) 10 mins
PRONUNCIATION: Drill students to pronounce the words with ‘s’. (T) – (SS) 5 mins
FUNCTIONAL VOCABULARY: Go through the explanation and exercise. (T) – (SS) 10 mins
GRAMMAR Ask the lead-in questions and go through the rules for possessive ‘s’ - and do the exercise that follows. Ask students to read the questions and answers out loud. (S) – (T) 10 mins
READING: Find out if the students know what the words mean. Get the students to read the text aloud, for pronunciation practice, and put the paragraphs into the correct order. Engage the students in the speaking practice that follows. Encourage them to use the target grammar and the functional vocabulary. (S) – (T) 15 mins
CULTURAL AWARENESS – Get the students to discuss the ideas. (S) – (T) 5 mins
LISTENING 2: Tell students they are going to hear the 2nd part of the listening. Play the listening and students answer the questions (SS) – (T) 10 mins
ROLE PLAY: Go through the instructions and begin the role-play. Make sure they practice the grammar and vocabulary learnt in the lesson and to try and use the case study material in their argument. Get the other students to discuss and offer feedback. (SS) – (SS) 20 mins
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EXERCISE ANSWERS Vocabulary Exercise: trendy, cool, in, fashionable stylish, classy, chic, elegant
LISTENING 1: 1. 1937 2. United States military pilots. 3. Total protection from the sun’s rays 4. Tom Cruise, Will Smith, Madonna, President Barack Obama 5. $1.2 billion.
FUNCTIONAL VOCABULARY: 1. I took off my Ray-Bans when I arrived at the office. 2. I think I will put on a suit for the meeting tomorrow. 3. Last night I put on my pyjamas and went to bed. 4. I always take off my shoes when I enter the house. 5. I have wear sunglasses in the cinema. 6. Today, he is wearing a blue shirt. 7. Please take your coat off and give it to me. 8. The manager took off his shoes and put on his boots because of the rain.
GRAMMAR EXERCISE: 1. Do you like the colour of my computer? 2. My brother’s garden is very small. 3. What is George’s favourite colour? 4. The car stopped at the end of the street. 5. Diana’s house is very big. 6. Are you going to Ursula’s party? 7. Look at the top of the page. 8. My manager’s job is very interesting. 9. It’s Andrew’s pen. 10. Sarah is Paul’s sister
READING EXERCISE: 1. The optical company Bausch and Lomb … 2. The Polaroid glasses had large lenses … 3. In the 1940's, Ray-Ban was contracted … 4. Ray-Ban Aviators have remained in style … 5. Ray-Ban uses celebrities to promote their … 6. Ray-Ban glasses stay in style not only …
LISTENING 2: 1. Over $100 2. They were made from plastic instead of the metal. 3. Audrey Hepburn and James Dean 4. Promoted its sunglasses in popular movies and TV shows like The Blues Brothers and Miami Vice 5. To produce cool designs and get cool celebrities to wear them.
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