经济学人下载:在非洲建立品牌效应 金字塔计划

Business
商业报道

Building brands in Africa
在非洲建立品牌效应

Pyramid scheme
金字塔计划

To reach Africa's poorest consumers, face-to-face contact works best
要获得非洲最穷困消费者的心，最好莫过于面对面交流

DISPOSABLE nappies take up much of the shelf space at the ABC Supermarket in Kliptown, a district of Soweto, an urban sprawl west ofJohannesburg.
约翰内斯堡西部城市扩张到Soweto，一次性尿布充斥在Soweto的Kliptown地区的ABC超市的货架上。

Kliptown is a baby town, says Mossa, the ABC's owner.
Kliptown是一座婴儿镇，ABC超市店主Mossa说。

His store carries a wide range of nappies, from global brands such as Huggies and Pampers to less familiar lines fromEgyptandTurkey.
他的商店里摆放着各种类型的尿布,哈吉斯和帮宝适这样的全球品牌到埃及,土耳其一些不太出名的品牌.

Outside its doors a team of locals is promoting Huggies to passing mums.
在超市门外,则有一队本地人给那些路过的妈妈们促销哈吉斯尿布。

Like Pampers they are sold singly so parents can buy one for when a reliable nappy is critical.
像帮宝适这样的尿布，他们就是单独地卖，因此父母们可以因为尿布的可靠性而信赖这品牌从而为它买单。

However, says the team leader, Sipho, Huggies also come in a bag that will safely store a used nappy until it can be binned.
然而，这队促销者的队长Sipho说，哈吉斯也开始提供可以放置使用过尿布的袋子，直到它们被扔进垃圾桶也不会泄露。

Sipho's team works for The Creative Counsel, a firm that specialises in marketing to the poorest consumers at the bottom of the pyramid, a term popularised by the late C.K. Prahalad, a management guru.
Sopho的团队创意忠告这家公司工作，这家公司专门面向处于金字塔底端的最穷困消费者们经营，金字塔底端这个词在管理领袖C.K.Prahalad时代后期流行起来。

TCC was established in 2001 as a two-person advertising agency by Ran Neu-Ner and Gil Oved.
TCC公司于2001年有两个广告代理机构Ran Neu-Ner 和 Gil Oved创建。

It has grown into one of South Africa's largest.
在南非，它已经是行业里的佼佼者。

As well as Kimberley-Clark, the maker of Huggies, its clients include Unilever, Danone and Vodacom, part of Vodafone.
和哈吉斯制造商Kimberley-Clark一样，它的客户包括联合利华集团，法国达能集团和南非沃达康集团及沃达丰集团部分业务。

TCC wins business because, as well as crafting a sales message, it can deploy a small army of people like Sipho to deliver it.
TCC赢得商机是因为，一方面它能制作销售信息，另一方面能部署想Sipho这样的团队人才来推广销售。

In the past international firms often took a simplistic view that African consumers aspired to a Western lifestyle, says Mr Oved.
过去，国际公司经常对非洲消费者持有过分简单化的观念，就是他们向往欧洲式的生活方式，Oved说。

But billboard and newspaper campaigns based on that premise lacked impact.
但是基于这些观念的广告和报纸宣传缺乏实际影响力。

Imported television ads dubbed in local vernacular were scorned.
以本地方言配音进口的电视广告受到了嘲笑。

Building brand loyalty among low-income shoppers is a job best done by folk who speak the language and know the lives of people they are selling to.
在低收入消费者中建立起品牌忠诚度的差事最好交给当地说着方言，并且很了解他们销售商品的顾客的生活的人来做。

That is why in places like Soweto TCC employs locals to work as cheerleaders for brands.
那就是Soweto的TCC公司雇佣当地人为品牌作宣传队长的原因。

Its promoters can be found in strip malls and taxi ranks, and at funerals and weddings.
在葬礼、婚礼，零售店、计程车候车站，到处可见TCC的促销员们。

Red-shirted Vodacom promoters dispense advice on phones and call plans.
穿着红色T恤的沃达康促销员们给顾客提供电话和话费套餐的建议。

Envoys for Unilever inSowetomake up to 100 house calls a day hawking Lipton teas, Knorr seasonings and other products from the firm's range.
Soweto的联合利华的促销员们每天打将近100个家庭电话去推销立顿茶包、家乐调味品和其他的公司销售范围的产品。

On a busy weekend TCC might have 10,000 promoters at work.
在一个繁忙的周末里，可能会有10,000个销售员在工作。

To manage this army requires hundreds of office staff and no little technology.
要管理好这支队伍需要上百个公司员工和很大的技术投入。

The firm thus employs an unusual mix of logistic and artistic people.
因此公司雇佣了不同以往的擅长后勤与艺术性混搭的成员。

On-the-ground intelligence about how a new campaign is faring is fed back to headquarters, so it can be tweaked if need be.
当地的关于怎么进行新的商业策划的情报已经反馈到总部，因此如果需要的话，它的错误可以很快被纠正。

Marketing types the world over know that word-of-mouth recommendations carry more punch than advertisements.
全世界广泛知道销售类型里，口头上的推荐比广告推荐更有震撼性。

This is especially true inAfrica, where the mass media are fragmented and brands less familiar.
尤其在非洲更是如此。这里的大众媒体很零散，品牌让人不太熟悉。

Shoppers on tight budgets can ill afford to make bad choices.
手头紧张消费者们无法承担做出一个坏选择的后果。

They value advice from peers and a chance to sample before they buy.
他们很重视来自同辈的建议，重视在他们之前抽样检查的机会。

And they repay such engagement with loyalty.
而且他们会用忠诚回馈这样的契约。

A survey last year by McKinsey, a consultancy, found that 59% of African grocery shoppers stuck with their favoured brands, compared with 38% that chose the cheapest deal on offer.
咨询公司麦肯锡去年做过这样的调查，发现59%的非洲杂货店消费者们被迫接受他们最喜欢的品牌，而38%的人选择了最便宜的出售商品。

Yet creating loyalty is only half of the battle.
然而，营造了忠诚度只是战斗的一半。

Brands must first be on the shelf before they can fly off it.
第一步，品牌企业必须在脱手商品之前把商品摆在货架上。

Around three-quarters of the money spent in Soweto is captured by informal traders, who sell from spazas (kiosks) and makeshift stalls, says G.G.
花在Soweto的钱大约四分之三被一些被一些小的商人攫取，他们在报摊和临时摊位上做生意，Minanawe的老板G.G.Alcock说。

Alcock, the boss of Minanawe, an agency that has built a big database of such outlets.
这家机构已经建立了这样销售点的大数据库。

TCC bought a stake in Minanawe in 2011.
TCC于2011年给Minanawe奖金。

It realised it had to devise marketing campaigns for informal traders in parallel with the promotions that it was aiming at consumers.
它意识到它必须策划针对小商贩的市场销售方案，与目标定在消费者身上的促销同时使用。

Even the biggest branded-goods firms see value in building links with the spazas.
即使是最大的品牌公司也看到了与报摊销售点建立联系的商机。

Minanawe advised Parmalat on such a campaign.
Minanawe建议帕玛拉特进行这样的商业策略。

The Italian dairy giant supplied branded menu boards and aprons toSoweto's informal food kiosks to promote the sale of its cheese slices in kotas, quarter-loaves of bread stuffed with chips and a variety of meats.
这个意大利奶业巨头提供了印有品牌菜单的板子和围裙给Soweto的小型食物报亭销售点，目的是提高它旗下的kotas芝士切片的销量。Kotas是一种蛋糕切片，四分之一是薯片和不同的肉类填充的。

The market is bigger than it might seem.
市场比它可能看起来要大。

Marks, the owner of a modest-looking fast-food spaza in Soweto, says he sells 2,400 kotas a day and spends 20,000 rand each morning on ingredients at his wholesalers.
Soweto的一位看起来很谦逊的快餐食品销售点店主Marks说，他一天卖2,400份Kotas，并且每天早上要花20,000兰特在供销商的食材上。

He may not look it, but he is quite the big cheese.
他可能看不到这点，但是他本身就是一块相当大的芝士。