The Billion-Dollar Mistakes That Paid Off
Grammar: discourse markers & connectors
A Business English English lesson exploring business.
What's in this lesson
A Business English ESL lesson on business, practising discourse markers & connectors. The worksheet has a reading, target vocabulary and discussion questions.
From the reading: The Billion-Dollar Mistakes That Paid Off
In 1985, Coca-Cola made one of the most expensive marketing decisions in corporate history. The company replaced its 99-year-old formula with a sweeter version called New Coke, convinced by internal research that consumers wanted a change. The backlash was immediate and fierce. Within 79 days, Coca-Cola had reversed the decision and brought back the original formula, rebranded as Coca-Cola Classic. What looked like a catastrophic misstep had, in fact, generated more free media coverage than any paid campaign could have bought. Sales surged. The lesson was not that the company had been bold — it was that the company had been willing to listen.
Vocabulary
- close the round
- move the needle
- pivot entirely
- set the bar
- as
- by
- for
- within
Discussion questions
- Can you think of a time when making a mistake helped you in the end?
- Do companies talk openly enough about their failures?
- Is there such a thing as a failure that is too big to recover from?
The Billion-Dollar Mistakes That Paid Off
Grammar: discourse markers & connectors
What's in this lesson:
Full lesson plan with reading, grammar, vocabulary, and discussion.
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