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坐进最新款法拉利恩佐(Ferrari
Enzo)跑车，你可能不大会注意到某些设计上的改动。这些改动是为身体发福、患有关节炎的养老金领取者所作的。恩佐售价66万美元，能在不到四秒的时间内加速至每小时60英里，随后达到217英里的最高时速，足以考验任何心脏起搏器的极限。
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Climb
sintosthe latest Ferrari sports car and you are unlikely to notice
the modifications designed with overweight, arthritic pensioners
in mind. The ,000 Enzo can accelerate to 60mph in less than
four seconds before reaching a top speed of 217mph - enough to
test any cardiac pacemaker to the limit.
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许多公司都在疲于应付人口结构的转变，这种转变向营销与设计的基本规则发起了挑战，生产法拉利的意大利汽车制造商不过是其中之一。由于出生率下降，且富裕的“婴儿潮一代”愈加长寿，在意大利，法拉利消费者的平均年龄将大幅提高。欧洲许多地方都是这样。在工厂内，有一款法拉利跑车受到工程师们的珍爱，这款充满阳刚之气的品牌，由一群年轻赛车手充当代言人，他们的形象宣传牌挂在一级方程式(F1)赛道四周。
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But
the Italian carmaker is just one of many companies grappling with
a demographic shift that challenges the fundamental rules of
marketing and design. Outside the gates of its Maranello factory,
the average age of consumers in Italy, as in much of Europe, is
set to rise sharply as birth rates fall and affluent "baby
boomers" live longer. Inside, engineers cherish a sporty
product whose virile brand depends on images of youthful drivers
hanging around Formula One racetracks.
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F1车手迈克尔•舒马赫(Michael
Schumacher)及鲁本斯•巴里切罗(Rubens Barrichello)都是30多岁，而与他们形成鲜明对照的是，法拉利跑车买主的平均年龄都接近50，而且这个年龄还会上升。汽车设计师对此作出回应，扩大了驾驶员的坐靠空间，并通过改变车门高度使他的膝盖(他们几乎都是男性)得以放松。这里的窍门在于绝不能让人看出这种改变。
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In
contrast to F1 drivers Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello,
both in their thirties, the average buyer of a Ferrari road car is
nearing 50 and set to get older. Car designers are responding by
enlarging the space available for a driver's spreading backside,
and sparing his knees (they are almost always men) with changes to
the door height. The trick is that no one must be able to tell.
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“我们客户的体型意味着，我们必须注意实用性与功能性，同时又不牺牲运动性，”公司战略营销总监朱塞佩•博诺洛(Giuseppe
Bonollo)说，“你可以选择进行一些工程学上的调整，以方便进出，并增加内部空间。以法拉利恩佐的车门开启方式为例，它可以让车顶的一部分与车门的一部分一同展开，这样就更容易进入汽车。”由于现代法拉利车的舒适度得到改进，因此现在车主的年均驾驶车程已达5000英里，比1990年的2500英里翻了一倍。
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"The
profile of our customers means we have to pay attention to
practicality and functionality without compromising the sportiness,"
says Giuseppe Bonollo, strategic marketing director. "There
are some engineering choices you can make which give you better
accessibility and internal roominess. The way the doors open on
the Ferrari Enzo, for example, allows part of the roof and part of
the door undermoulding to come away as well, making it easier to
enter the car." The improved comfort of a modern Ferrari
means the average distance driven by its owner has doubled from
2,500 miles a year in 1990 to 5,000 miles today.
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在大众市场上，为上了年纪的消费者所作的改动就没那么遮遮掩掩了。通用汽车(General
Motors)最近首开先河，推出“Sit-n-Lift”电动座椅升降机，作为其小面包车的配件。福特(Ford)的设计师则借助“移情套装”，来模拟关节炎、白内障或斜颈患者的驾驶操作，从而对门把手、仪表盘照明和其他装置作了相应调整。
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In
the mass market, there is less disguising the modifications made
for ageing consumers. General Motors recently pioneered a
"Sit-n-Lift" motorised chairlift as an accessory on its
minivans. Ford designers adapt door handles, dashboard lighting
and other fittings with the help of an "empathy suit" to
simulate driving with arthritis, cataracts or a stiff neck.
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然而汽车商对年老客户的体谅越明显，就越有可能失败。没有人喜欢接受恩惠或被过分呵护。而且，在本世纪头十年行将迈入花甲之年的人，不太可能被提醒他们年纪的产品所吸引。在这方面，这一代人可能尤甚于以往任何一代。
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Yet
the more explicit companies are about their consideration for
ageing consumers, the more likely they are to fail. Nobody likes
to be patronised or pigeon-holed and - more than perhaps any
generation before - the people turning 60 this decade are unlikely
to be attracted by products that remind them of their age.
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尽管对汽车商具有吸引力，但对主流行业的许多领域、尤其是广告业而言，赚老人的钱与其说是机会，不如说是威胁。西蒙•西尔维斯特(Simon
Silvester)是市场传媒公司扬雅(Young & Rubicam)驻伦敦的规划总监。他写了一份有争议的行业调查报告，题为“你正在变老——欧洲的人口问题就是你的营销问题”。
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Although
attractive to carmakers, grey money is seen as more of a threat
than an opportunity in many parts of mainstream business,
particularly advertising. Simon Silvester, a planning director at
Young & Rubicam in London, is the author of a controversial
industry study entitled: "You're Getting Old - Europe's
Demographic Problem Is Your Marketing Problem".
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文章的观点是：企业之所以倾向于把年轻消费者作为目标，并不是出于偏见或习惯，而是因为他们最容易受广告的影响，而愿意采用新品牌。“研究一下美国的市场营销史，就会发现那是婴儿潮一代的历史，”西尔维斯特说，“在过去50年，消费品企业通过迎合这些青年人的口味与需求赚了钱。如果当初没有年轻人狂热的追捧，方便食品、泡沫清洁剂和喷雾除臭剂，所有这些东西作为新产品推出时都会失败。”
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The
argument goes that companies have tended to target younger
consumers, not out of prejudice or habit, but because they are
most susceptible to the power of advertising and therefore willing
to adopt new brands. "If you look at the history of US
marketing, it is the history of the baby boom," he says.
"Consumer goods companies have built their fortunes over the
past 50 years by appealing to the tastes and needs of these young
adults. Convenience foods, foam cleansers and aerosol deodorants -
all would have failed as new product categories without the
bubbling enthusiasm of young adults."
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然而，昔日的辉煌已不复存在。现在，四分之三的德国人从不更换开户银行，更换开户银行的学生比例也在迅速下降。妇女一过青春期，更换卫生防护用品品牌的可能性就极小；而欧洲人一旦超过35岁，喝酒的口味往往就不会有太大变化。
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Yet
the glory days are over. Three-quarters of Germans never change
their bank, and the proportion of students who do so is falling
fast. Women are extremely unlikely to switch their brand of
sanitary protection after adolescence and European taste in
alcoholic drinks tends not alter much beyond 35.
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从最好的方面看，这种想法是对精明的老年消费者拐弯抹角的赞扬。相对年轻人来说，他们的经验更丰富，知识更渊博，因此不会成为时尚的牺牲品。他们的私生活没那么随便，因此无需炫耀，也不会那么频繁地改变个人习惯。而且，他们对不必要的产品创新没那么关心，因为他们明白，泡沫式柠檬沐浴露并非生命的全部。
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At
its best, the idea is a backhanded compliment to discerning older
consumers. They are more experienced and knowledgeable, so they do
not become fashion victims. They are not as promiscuous, so they
do not need to show off and they do not change their intimate
habits as often. And they are less concerned with unnecessary
product innovations because they realise there is more to life
than foaming lemon bath-scrub.
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从最差的方面看，这种想法表明，广告业管理人员似乎已断定，老年消费者无法吸收新观念。在接受新科技或新时尚方面，他们总比年轻一代要慢，而且更有可能忠于他们了解并信赖的品牌。
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At
its worst, the idea shows that advertising executives seem to have
concluded that older consumers are incapable of assimilating new
ideas. They will always be slower than younger generations to
adopt new technology or fashions and are more likely to stick to
brands they know and trust.
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广告公司及其客户十分重视这个观点，因为这会从根本上威胁公司吸引顾客的方式，尤其是在吸引支出较高的快速消费品顾客的方式上。由于老年消费者拥有品牌忠诚度和品牌惯性，因此，新产品市场份额的年增长速度几乎不可能超过几个百分点。
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Ad
agencies and their clients take the argument seriously because it
represents such a fundamental threat to the way companies attract
customers, particularly those in the high-spending category of
fast moving consumer goods. Brand loyalty and inertia among older
consumers will make it almost impossible to grow the market share
of new products by more than a couple of percentage points a year.
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广告界人士认为，更糟糕的是，这可能会对资本主义构成全面威胁。但这个观点的漏洞显而易见。以互联网为例，网上媒体和购物网站通常都为自己树立一个年轻的形象，但老年人能够上网的时间最多，购买力也高得多。这些“银发冲浪者”形成了一个众所周知的消费群，从而推翻了年龄超过50岁便是技术恐惧者的假定。
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Worse
still, argue those in adland, it could threaten capitalism
entirely. But holes in the argument are apparent. Take the
internet, for example. Online media and shopping sites usually
cultivate a youthful image, yet older people have the most time to
spend at their computers and far higher purchasing power. These
"silver surfers" are a well-known consumer group,
contradicting assumptions about technophobe over-50s.
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今后五年内，婴儿潮一代将开始大量退休，届时真正的考验就将来临。虽然各公司刚刚开始改变策略，但大众新甲壳虫(Volkswagen
Beetle)和宝马(BMW)改良型迷你车(Mini)等“怀旧”产品出人意料地获得了成功。这提醒设计师们，如果能设法吸引白发人市场，就可获得潜在回报。
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The
real test will come when baby boomers start to retire in
significant numbers over the next five years. Companies are only
beginning to adapt their strategies, but the unexpected success of
"nostalgia" products such as the new Volkswagen Beetle
and BMW's revamped Mini has alerted designers to the potential
rewards if they can find a way to appeal to the grey market.
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Headlight
Vision是“快速消费品”领域内几家战略咨询公司之一，该公司的顾问劳拉•科伦索(Lara
Colenso)说:“有人说，你无法向这个年龄群推销东西，这种说法很荒诞。婴儿潮一代仍然是最爱炫耀的群体，他们总想比别人先了解事物。最重要的是，他们不愿成为父母的翻版。”。
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"It's
a myth that you can't market to this age group," says Lara
Colenso, a consultant with Headlight Vision, one of several
strategic consultancies working in the 'fast moving consumer
goods' sector. "Boomers are still the ultimate show-offs and
they want to know about things before anyone else. Most of all,
they don't want to turnsintostheir parents."
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译者/张征
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