MATHS AT WORKSale On Now!IntroductionIn this unit you will:

Design a merchandise survey Prepare a graph using a computer Analyse the data that you collect Use your graph and analysis to make recommendations Prepare advertising material Create an advertising profile within a budget

Successfully completing this unit will mean that you can include these skills as a part of your resume package. Who knows? It may just give you that competitive edge that gets an employer to pick you out of the crowd!

The settingYou are working as a retail shop assistant in one of the following shops. You get to choose which one:

Surf Street & Outdoor Sports Rave Fashion AccessoriesSheer Indulgence Health & BeautyAuto house Car AccessoriesSonic Animation Music

Pets au go go

Write your choice here: ……………………………………………………...

Sales are slow and your boss is wondering why. The boss asks you to do a bit of a survey to find out what merchandise the younger adult market is interested in buying, any special features that they look for and how much they are prepared to pay for a particular product.

Task 1Think about the range of products that are sold in the shop that you have selected. Write down as many as possible here (at least 20). (You may like to visit an actual shop to get some ideas).

Task 2

Pick 5-10 items from your list that you think young people (15 – 20 years of age) are most interested in purchasing from your shop. Write them down here:

1. ___________________________________________________

2. ___________________________________________________

3. ___________________________________________________

4. ___________________________________________________

5. ___________________________________________________

6. ___________________________________________________

7. ___________________________________________________

8. ___________________________________________________

9. ___________________________________________________

10. ___________________________________________________

Task 3The boss wants to know which of these items are the most popular and how much people are likely to pay for each item. You decide that you are going to conduct a verbal survey of a target group consisting of at least 30 people in the age range of 15 – 20 years to find out. Your target group can be made up of students or public or a combination of both.

Design an introduction that describes what your survey is about and the question/s that you can ask which will provide the information that the boss is looking for. Write your introduction and question/s here:

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Try your introduction and question/s out on a few class members to check if you are getting the intended message across……. Then modify or refine your introduction and question/s as a result of this process:

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Task 4You will need to organise a way that you can record information as you survey people. Here is an example of a simple tally sheet. You may like to use something similar:

Which pet would you be most likely to buy?Pet Responses TotalDog 6Cat 10Budgie 4Goldfish 3Rat 7

Construct a table that will let you easily record the different possible results that you are likely to receive. You may need to use more than just one table or perhaps you can design a composite table that lets you record several pieces of information. Don’t forget to get the boss to check it!

Task 5You are ready to conduct your survey but there are a number of things to consider: write answers to these questions:

Where are you going to find your target group?

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When will be the best time to access them?

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How long will you need for each interview?

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What happens if there are not enough people to interview?

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What resources do you need to conduct your survey?

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When you are confident that you have all planning under control it is time to actually conduct your survey – go to it and good luck!

Task 6 After you have gathered your survey data you decide to use a computer to help you analyse and present your results. Use the application Microsoft Excel to record your results. Here is an example.

Firstly enter your results into two columns:

Then ‘click and drag’ with your cursor to highlight the data that you have entered:

Click on the chart wizard icon to display your results:

Then scroll through the options and choose a chart type which you think best displays your results. .

Use the preview buttonto see what your chartwill look like

Press the next button to go to Step 2 and then onto Step 3

Give your chart a title and sub-titles that describe the information presented.

Click on next to go to the final step.

Select the option ‘As new sheet’

Click on the finish button to display your chart.

Print your chart so that you can you can attach it to your work or if you are working on the computer you can simply right-click, Copy and Paste to drop it into your word document.

Task 7Using the results from your survey and your chart, prepare a short report that summarizes your findings and prepare a recommendation for your boss about which product is the most popular and how much people may be prepared to pay for it:

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Task 8Your boss decides to advertise a sale of the particular merchandise that you have recommended!!! Impressed by your efforts, the boss asks you to organise a promotional campaign to advertise these products. How many different ways of advertising can you think of? List as many options as you can think of:

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Task 9Newspaper ad’s can either be ‘Classified’ or ‘Display’. ‘Classifieds’ are a low profile short word-only form of advertising often used by members of the general public. ‘Display’ ad’s are larger and can include photos, logos and information in much bigger print.

Display ads are measured by their height in centimetres multiplied by the number of columns in width. ‘The Mercury’ has a display ad column width of 3.3 cm’s per column

The price of a display ad is calculated by working out the total number of column centimetres and multiplying it by a fixed price per column centimetre. As an example ‘The Mercury’ charges $19.65 per column/centimetre for Entertainment display ads in each Saturday edition. Week day rates are slightly cheaper. How does it work? Here is an example. What size is this ad?

1. Use a ruler to measure the height in centimetres.

Answer: The height is 10 cm.

2. Use a ruler to measure the width in centimetres.

Answer: The width is 6.6 cm.

3. Divide the width by 3.3cm’s to work out the number of columns.

Answer: 6.6 cm ÷ 3.3 cm = 2 columns wide

4. Multiply the height by the number of columns.

Answer: 10 cm’s high and 2 columns wide

10 x 2 = 20 cm’s total

5. How much?

Answer: Prices are charged at the rate of $19.65 per column cm.

20 cm x $19.65 = $393

Task 9

Use this table to work out the prices to be charged for the five ads shown below:

A B C D E

Height cm

Width cm

No. Columns(Width ÷ 3.3)Total Cm(Height x No. Columns) Cost =Total Cm x $19.65

A

B

C

D

E

Task 10Design a display newspaper ad for the product that your boss wants to put on sale. You may like to look in a newspaper at some examples to get some ideas. You can choose what size you think it will need to be.

Task 11How much will your ad cost? Show you’re working out:

Task 12Do column widths vary from newspaper to newspaper? Find three different newspapers (eg ‘The Advocate’, ‘The Examiner’, ‘The Trading Post’ or any mainland newspaper) and compare the column widths used for various display ads. Are they the same width as the 3.3 cm column width used in the ‘Entertainment’ section of ‘The Mercury’? Attach your findings in a table that clearly shows your comparison.

Task 13

Radio advertising is often an effective way of promoting a business or product over a short period of time in a localised area. Not all radio stations have advertising that is ‘sold’ for money; examples being Triple J and the ABC who are not allowed to sell air time. Other radio stations that are permitted to sell advertising generally fall into two categories.

Commercial radio stations are operated by professionals and generally have a widespread regional coverage. Commercial radio stations tailor advertising to suit an individual clients needs and prices are negotiated depending on the scale of the package selected.

Community radio stations are operated by volunteers and usually have restricted local community coverage. Some community radio stations sell sponsorship on a ‘per spot’ basis to help them meet their running costs.

Regardless of whether a radio station is commercial or community broadcaster, all advertising sold will vary in price depending what time of day a particular ad is run.

Think about your favourite radio station (that has advertising) and answer the following questions:

Which is your favourite radio station?

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What are the times of day that you most regularly listen to this radio station? …………………………………………………………………………………………………

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What sort of radio programs do you think a younger adult audience is most likely to listen to?

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Does your radio station have a web site? If so find out the details of its daily ‘show’ schedule and fill in the following table. If you cannot access a site choose from one of these:

www.edge radio .org.au/about.htm

www.hofm.com.au/

Time slot Name of show

Target audience?

Likely age group?

Type of show

Task 14Radio advertising is priced by the duration of each ad. Most radio ads run for 30 seconds. This task requires you to access and record some sample ads using a radio/cassette recorder or a computer. You need to record five different examples of 30 second radio advertisements. Then replay each ad and count the number of words that are spoken for each ad and fill in the table below. (Only count spoken words, not words in a song or jingle.)

Description of what is being advertised:

Length inSeconds:

Number ofwords spoken:

Any music in background?

1

2

3

4

5

Task 15

Based on your results in Task 14, design a radio ad for the product/s that you have recommended for the sale. Firstly write a list of points that you will need to get across in your ad. Remember that your audience can only listen and not look at what you have to say!

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Now put your points together in a radio ad draft lasting 30 seconds:

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Read through your ad aloud to make sure that it fits into the duration of 30 seconds. You may need to make some changes after this. Write your final copy here:

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Task 15

Here is an Advertising Price List for a community radio station, SLICK FM

ZONE TIME $ PER SPOTFROM - TO

A 6.00 am - 9.00 am 30B 9.00 am - 4.00 pm 25C 4.00 pm - 7.00 pm 40D 7.00 pm - 1.00 am 20E 1.00 am – 6.00 am 15

30 Seconds each spot

If you had an advertising budget of $600 how many ads could you buy for each ‘zone’?

Zone Number of ads

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B

C

D

E

Sometimes it is best to cover a range of audience listening times by buying spots in different ‘zones’ to make sure that you get your message across.If you decided to spend $600 of radio advertising with SLICK FM, what mix of ‘zone’ spots would you recommend to your boss?

Zone Number of ads Cost per ad Sub total

A

B

C

D

E

Total: