经济学人157:将白银变为真金

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　　商业报道

　　Retail¹ in Japan

　　日本零售业

　　Turning silver into gold

　　将白银变为真金

　　Stealth marketing² to the elderly

　　隐秘地老年市场营销

　　After a lifetime of saving, it's time to party.

　　多年储蓄，该享受了。

　　THE Ueshima coffee shops that dot Tokyo seem like any other chain.

　　分布于东京各处的上岛咖啡与其他连锁店似乎并无差异。

　　But look more closely: the aisles³ are wider, the chairs sturdier and the tables lower.

　　但仔细观察会发现：走道更宽阔、椅子更结实、桌子更矮小。

　　The food is mostly mushy rather than crunchy:sandwiches, salads, bananas—nothing too hard to chew.

　　大多数食物也更松软而不费劲：三明治、沙拉和香蕉—不需要辛苦地咀嚼。

　　Helpful staffs carry items to customers'tables.

　　和善的员工会把食物端到顾客桌上。

　　The name and menu are written in Japanese kanji rather than Western letters, in a large, easy-to-read font.

　　名称和目录都是使用日本汉字而非西方字母，并且使用一种易于阅读的大字体。

　　It is no coincidence that Ueshima's stores are filled with old people.

　　在上岛咖啡店内顾客多是老年人并非巧合。

　　Ueshima never explicitly⁴ describes itself as a coffee shop for the elderly.

　　上岛咖啡从不把自己描述为老年人咖啡厅。

　　But it targets them relentlessly—and stealthily.

　　但他们总是把老年人定为目标客户。

　　Stealthily, because the last thing septuagenarians want to hear is that their favourite coffee shop is a nursing home in disguise.

　　之所以要隐秘进行，原因在于古稀老人不怎么想听的一个说法—老年人最喜欢的咖啡店是私人疗养院伪装的。

　　Japan is greying fast: already a fifth of its people are over 65.

　　日本老龄化速度很快：年纪超过65岁的人已达人口的20%。

　　And the silver generation has gold to spare.

　　而且白银一代正好袋中多金。

　　The incomes of middle-class working folk have declined in the past decade, but seniors are sitting on a vast pile of savings⁵.

　　过去十年，中产工人阶级的收入持续下降，而老年人却坐在大笔储蓄上。

　　Almost a third of the nation's household wealth, some ￥450 trillion, is in the hands of those aged⁶ 70 and older.

　　该国居民财富的三分之一掌握在年过七旬的人手中。

　　In the West, the elderly pinch pennies, but Japan's seniors pay extra.

　　在西方，老年人精打细算，但日本老年人不介意多花钱。

　　At Ueshima a medium-sized coffee is ￥380, about 10% more than at Starbucks.

　　在上岛咖啡，一杯中号咖啡售价380日元，较星巴克贵10%。

　　Many firms tailor their services to silver shoppers without letting on, explains a marketing specialist.

　　一位营销专家解释说，许多公司悄悄地将白发顾客群定义为目标客户。

　　Consider the Keio department store.

　　比如京王百货，

　　On the outside, nothing warns you that it is a mecca for the mature.

　　在外部，没有任何标志提醒你这里是成年人的圣地。

　　But inside there are chairs for weary shoppers.

　　但在内部，到处都设有椅子供疲倦的顾客休息。

　　Signs are in large fonts.

　　各种标志也用大字体。

　　Many salespeople⁷ are in their 50s and 60s, since elderly customers trust such people more than whippersnappers.

　　许多销售人员年纪也是五十几岁或六十几岁，因为老年顾客相信他们多于轻狂的年轻人。

　　The food hall promotes good old-fashioned Japanese noodles more than newfangled foreign muck.

　　餐厅也提供的是老式的日本面条而不是国外新方法制成的垃圾食物。

　　The shelves are lower, so older people can reach them.

　　货架也比较低，这样老年人可以够得着。

　　Loyalty⁸ cards at Keio award points not according to what you buy, but according to how often you visit.

　　在京王会员卡点数不是依据你购买了什么，而是根据你购物的频繁程度。

　　Seniors have a lot of time on their hands, the marketer explains.

　　老年人不缺时间，那位营销专家说。

　　Marketing to the elderly is tricky⁹.

　　老年人市场的营销手段需要技巧。

　　The direct approach—say,calling your product the soap for the over-70s—does not work.

　　直接的方法是无效的，比如称产品为专业的老年人肥皂。

　　And traditional advertising¹⁰ fails.

　　传统广告手段也无法成功。

　　You can't use TV adverts¹¹: they forget them, groans¹² the 30-something executive.

　　你无法使用电视广告，他们记不住，一位三十几岁的主顾抱怨。

　　We show it again and again and again—and they still can't recall it, he sighs.

　　我们一遍一遍又一遍的展示，他们仍然无法回忆起，他叹气说。

　　Word-of-mouth is the only way.

　　口碑传播是唯一的办法。

　　Decades ago it was rarely profitable to market products to seniors, since by the time anyone had reached the age of 70 they probably had only a few years left to live.

　　数十年前老年人市场几乎无利可图，因为当时70岁以后的老年人岁月有限。

　　But Japanese people now live so long—life expectancy¹³ for women is 86; for men it is 80—that wooing them is lucrative¹⁴.

　　但现在的日本人寿命变长了，女性寿命预期为86岁，男性为80岁，于是老年人市场变得迷人了。

　　Some firms try to hook them in their 60s, to build brand loyalty early.

　　有些公司在60岁的年龄层就开始吸引顾客以提前培养他们的品牌忠诚。

　　Others approach them via their children.

　　还有些公司通过子女来获得老年顾客。

　　One cosmetics¹⁵ firm pitches its wrinkle-removal cream to middle-aged¹⁶ women, in the hope that they will recommend it to their mothers. Filial piety¹⁷ comes in many forms.

　　有家化妆品公司向中年妇女推销去皱霜，他们希望这些顾客可以向她们的母亲推荐自己的产品。毕竟孝心有多种表现方式。

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