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Business
商業(yè)報道
Retail in Japan
日本零售業(yè)
Turning silver into gold
將白銀變?yōu)檎娼?/div>
Stealth marketing to the elderly
隱秘地老年市場營銷
After a lifetime of saving, it's time to party.
多年儲蓄，該享受了。
THE Ueshima coffee shops that dot Tokyo seem like any other chain.
分布于東京各處的上島咖啡與其他連鎖店似乎并無差異。
But look more closely: the aisles are wider, the chairs sturdier and the tables lower.
但仔細觀察會發(fā)現(xiàn)：走道更寬闊、椅子更結實、桌子更矮小。
The food is mostly mushy rather than crunchy:sandwiches, salads, bananas—nothing too hard to chew.
大多數(shù)食物也更松軟而不費勁：三明治、沙拉和香蕉—不需要辛苦地咀嚼。
Helpful staffs carry items to customers'tables.
和善的員工會把食物端到顧客桌上。
The name and menu are written in Japanese kanji rather than Western letters, in a large, easy-to-read font.
名稱和目錄都是使用日本漢字而非西方字母，并且使用一種易于閱讀的大字體。
It is no coincidence that Ueshima's stores are filled with old people.
在上島咖啡店內顧客多是老年人并非巧合。
Ueshima never explicitly describes itself as a coffee shop for the elderly.
上島咖啡從不把自己描述為老年人咖啡廳。
But it targets them relentlessly—and stealthily.
但他們總是把老年人定為目標客戶。
Stealthily, because the last thing septuagenarians want to hear is that their favourite coffee shop is a nursing home in disguise.
之所以要隱秘進行，原因在于古稀老人不怎么想聽的一個說法—老年人最喜歡的咖啡店是私人療養(yǎng)院偽裝的。
Japan is greying fast: already a fifth of its people are over 65.
日本老齡化速度很快：年紀超過65歲的人已達人口的20%。
And the silver generation has gold to spare.
而且白銀一代正好袋中多金。
The incomes of middle-class working folk have declined in the past decade, but seniors are sitting on a vast pile of savings.
過去十年，中產工人階級的收入持續(xù)下降，而老年人卻坐在大筆儲蓄上。
Almost a third of the nation's household wealth, some ￥450 trillion, is in the hands of those aged 70 and older.
該國居民財富的三分之一掌握在年過七旬的人手中。
In the West, the elderly pinch pennies, but Japan's seniors pay extra.
在西方，老年人精打細算，但日本老年人不介意多花錢。
At Ueshima a medium-sized coffee is ￥380, about 10% more than at Starbucks.
在上島咖啡，一杯中號咖啡售價380日元，較星巴克貴10%。
Many firms tailor their services to silver shoppers without letting on, explains a marketing specialist.
一位營銷專家解釋說，許多公司悄悄地將白發(fā)顧客群定義為目標客戶。
Consider the Keio department store.
比如京王百貨，
On the outside, nothing warns you that it is a mecca for the mature.
在外部，沒有任何標志提醒你這里是成年人的圣地。
But inside there are chairs for weary shoppers.
但在內部，到處都設有椅子供疲倦的顧客休息。
Signs are in large fonts.
各種標志也用大字體。
Many salespeople are in their 50s and 60s, since elderly customers trust such people more than whippersnappers.
許多銷售人員年紀也是五十幾歲或六十幾歲，因為老年顧客相信他們多于輕狂的年輕人。
The food hall promotes good old-fashioned Japanese noodles more than newfangled foreign muck.
餐廳也提供的是老式的日本面條而不是國外新方法制成的垃圾食物。
The shelves are lower, so older people can reach them.
貨架也比較低，這樣老年人可以夠得著。
Loyalty cards at Keio award points not according to what you buy, but according to how often you visit.
在京王會員卡點數(shù)不是依據(jù)你購買了什么，而是根據(jù)你購物的頻繁程度。
Seniors have a lot of time on their hands, the marketer explains.
老年人不缺時間，那位營銷專家說。
Marketing to the elderly is tricky.
老年人市場的營銷手段需要技巧。
The direct approach—say,calling your product the soap for the over-70s—does not work.
直接的方法是無效的，比如稱產品為專業(yè)的老年人肥皂。
And traditional advertising fails.
傳統(tǒng)廣告手段也無法成功。
You can't use TV adverts: they forget them, groans the 30-something executive.
你無法使用電視廣告，他們記不住，一位三十幾歲的主顧抱怨。
We show it again and again and again—and they still can't recall it, he sighs.
我們一遍一遍又一遍的展示，他們仍然無法回憶起，他嘆氣說。
Word-of-mouth is the only way.
口碑傳播是唯一的辦法。
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.
數(shù)十年前老年人市場幾乎無利可圖，因為當時70歲以后的老年人歲月有限。
But Japanese people now live so long—life expectancy for women is 86; for men it is 80—that wooing them is lucrative.
但現(xiàn)在的日本人壽命變長了，女性壽命預期為86歲，男性為80歲，于是老年人市場變得迷人了。
Some firms try to hook them in their 60s, to build brand loyalty early.
有些公司在60歲的年齡層就開始吸引顧客以提前培養(yǎng)他們的品牌忠誠。
Others approach them via their children.
還有些公司通過子女來獲得老年顧客。
One cosmetics firm pitches its wrinkle-removal cream to middle-aged women, in the hope that they will recommend it to their mothers. Filial piety comes in many forms.
有家化妝品公司向中年婦女推銷去皺霜，他們希望這些顧客可以向她們的母親推薦自己的產品。畢竟孝心有多種表現(xiàn)方式。
