NOBILIS TILIA From the garden to a company

Exercise 1 1.Do you have a connection to nature through gardens? If so, what kinds of gardens do you like the most (e.g. herbal, food, flowers, or a mixture of all)? Do you or a relative have a garden? Does it influence you in any way? How is using fresh herbs or produce from the garden beneficial for you? 2.Do you use ‘natural’ products? (e.g. shampoo, deodorant, hair products, etc.)? If so, what kinds? What companies are they from? 3.Are there other companies you know about that deal with services or products that are promoted as ‘natural’ or ‘from nature’? Make a list. Does their marketing realistically represent their product line? If you were going to improve upon the MARKETING messages for these companies, what would you say or change about the messages you know about? Consult a definition of marketing.

Exercise 1 Marketing is the process used to determine what products or services may be of interest to customers, and the strategy to use in sales, communications and business development. It generates the strategy that underlies sales techniques, business communication, and business developments. It is an integrated process through which companies build strong customer relationships and create value for their customers and for themselves. Marketing is used to identify the customer, satisfy the customer, and keep the customer. With the customer as the focus of its activities, marketing management is one of the major components of business management. The adoption of marketing strategies requires businesses to shift their focus from production to the perceived needs and wants of their customers as the means of staying profitable. Source: Wikipedia

Exercise 2 Are these statements TRUE or FALSE? 1.The difference between the company and other competitors is that it has its own research and development. 2.The company’s products are made in Slovakia. 3.The speaker’s business partner takes care of the marketing aspects of the business. 4.The speaker relaxes in the garden. It is also open for educational purposes. 5.The company wants to make a connection between nature and life through its products. 6.The speaker was at an expo where its products were being featured. 7.There are synthetic substances that mimic the natural substances so the company uses them when it cannot find enough natural materials to make its products. 8.The company’s motto is, ‘Beauty is from the inside out.’ 9.The company makes a special event of ‘St. John’s Day’.

Listen and fill in the gaps 1.I think the difference between us and other companies that are producing is that we have our own and … 2.It was found by, by and we are based near in a very beautiful where we have our own. 3.He also does a lot of in a way of developing new and into. 4.… what it’s going to be aimed at, of different,. 5.So we tend to have a few just to keep us and to sort of. 6.From the marketing activities, we tend to go to different and, so there we have our and we show our … Exercise 3

Exercise 4 Match the English expresssions with their Czech equivalent

DISCUSS, PREPARE, AND PRESENT 1.Work in small groups to IDENTIFY some existing NGOs that use some aspect of nature or the environment for their campaign (e.g. Greenpeace, World Wildlife Fund, etc.). What strategies do they use to elicit public support? Which ones are the most successful? Why? 2.DISCUSS: Would it be possible to make partnerships between for-profit companies and the activities of NGOs? Do you think it is possible for NGOs to collaborate with companies like Nobilis Tillia? What would the advantages be? What might be some disadvantages? When might a collaboration between a for-profit business and a non-profit organization be successful? 3.BRAINSTORM: Based on your discussion and what you learned in the video, create an idea for a public awareness campaign that Nobilis Tillia might become involved in with an NGO. Develop the group’s best idea and the rationale why the company’s business partners would like to invest in it. Role play ‘pitching the idea’ to the others who will role play being Nobilis Tillia’s business partners. Which ideas do you think would they would be interested in? Why? Exercise 5

REFLECT AND FOLLOW-UP 1.REFLECT: If you are a business investing in public education programs, what factors are important for you to consider? What would the company’s criteria for success be? Besides direct benefits, are their indirect benefits you can identify that would motivate for-profit businesses to invest in public education? 2.FOLLOW-UP: Research more about the NOBILIS TILLIA company and how it is structured: i.e. human resources, finance, board of directors, research and development, purchasing, etc. When you have identified the structure and who is responsible for doing what, where, and how in the company, use the contact information from company’s website and share your best ideas for public education campaigns with the responsible personnel from Nobilis Tilia. Exercise 5

Exercise 6