馬修·凱恩斯 王靜 肖文

Jim Cregan had worked two “dead-end”1 jobs for too long when he decided to buy a one-way ticket to Australia in 2008. He fancied2 an extended break from his summer festival and winter labouring gigs3， so he embarked on4 a road trip， hoping to get a taste of life Down Under5.

He got even more when he sampled6 the local iced coffee， as it became the inspiration for his now multi million-pound drinks business， Jimmy’s Iced Coffee， which he co-founded with his sister Suze in 2011. “Iced coffee in a carton was new to me， but it tasted brilliant，” recalls Cregan， who asked one particular brand if he could license the product in the UK. It wasn’t interested.

After returning home， he got the usual phone calls： did he want to do the festival circuit and dig some more holes？ “I wasn’t going anywhere with those jobs， so I decided to start my own iced coffee company.”

He first researched the competition， discovering only products that were sickly sweet—a far cry from7 the invigorating8 brews that he sipped in Oz9. “I wanted people to be refreshed by our drinks，” explains the business owner， who hit the kitchen to create an iced latte launch product. Its recipe remains true to this day.

Cregan’s sister joined the cause and they pitted his creation against10 the competition by inviting friends to a private taste test. “They told us to go for it， despite being up against the likes of11 Starbucks，” he recalls. The co-founders ordered 3，000 products in blank Tetra Pak12 cartons， spending 25 gruelling hours in a walk-in13 fridge to hand-stick labels to each one.

The duo14 tried to be smart about whom they targeted. “We offered them to surfers coming out of the sea or exhausted binmen on their last round，” says Cregan. In-store samplings at Whole Foods and Selfridges secured their first official listings.

With such a strong reaction， the siblings wanted to ramp up15 production. Suze sold her café， but it wasn’t enough.

That’s when mum and dad stepped in to lend ￡140，000—nearly all of their savings. “We put it into a loan note and gave them a shareholding，” says Cregan. He and his sister paid their parents off five years ago.

A turning point came in 2014， when the firm secured a listing with Tesco16. Wastage was “big problem” until that point， as the brand’s coffee was made on a Tetra Pak filling machine， the minimum orders for which are very large. “We were producing too much of a product that didn’t have a lot of demand or a long shelf life17，” explains the entrepreneur. He needed retailers that could fill such long product runs. “Getting a major supermarket was great， as we went into thousands of stores.”

When it comes to pitching18 to retailers， don’t overcomplicate things， advises Cregan. “We kept things really simple： this is how much the product costs; this is what we think it should sell for; can we get on with it？ They liked that approach.”

Launching new flavours， such as Belgian chocolate mocha， has also helped to accelerate growth. “Consumer habits change so much，” says Cregan. “First it was Weight Watchers points19， then Omega 320， then protein and so on.”

Start-ups shouldn’t just follow what the customer says they want， he advises. “You can’t listen to them all of the time， as they’re so fickle21; you also need to be confident about telling people what they need.”

The strategy has worked so far; the 18 employee-strong business boasts an annual turnover22 of ￡5.4m and its products are stocked in more than 4，000 stores nationwide， including Waitrose and Sainsbury’s.

The entrepreneur’s other pointer23 is for food and drink companies to share with consumers what’s going on behind the scenes24. “The social media output of most traditional firms is packshot25 after packshot，” he explains. “I already know what their products look like—I want to know instead what the founders and team are up to.”

Cregan has always tried to keep the Jimmy’s Iced Coffee brand fun and relaxed. “We’re not just shouting about our products; if you follow us on Instagram， we want you to be inspired and have a laugh.”

The enterprise’s rap track26 and YouTube video， Keep Your Chin Up， is a good example of the approach. It was launched four years ago and has racked up27 more than 1m views. “It’s about being memorable， not shouting the loudest，” says Cregan. “Make it so that people don’t forget it， even if they don’t like it.”

When it comes to marketing， short， sharp bursts of fun will always beat drawn-out28 repetitive campaigns， he believes. “It’s about entertainment; you have to entertain people for them to remember you.”

2008年，吉姆·克雷根下定決心，買了一張飛往澳大利亞的單程機(jī)票，此前很長一段時(shí)間，克雷根都在做著兩份“前途渺茫的”工作?？死赘獢[脫夏季節(jié)日演出和冬季體力零工的束縛，去澳大利亞和新西蘭休個(gè)長假，于是計(jì)劃了一次公路旅行，希望體驗(yàn)當(dāng)?shù)氐娘L(fēng)土人情。

這段旅程讓克雷根收獲多多，他品嘗到了當(dāng)?shù)氐谋Х龋@成為他與姐姐蘇茜共同創(chuàng)立“吉姆冰咖啡”的靈感來源。飲料公司“吉姆冰咖啡”成立于2011年，目前價(jià)值數(shù)百萬英鎊?？死赘貞浀溃骸爱?dāng)時(shí)是我第一次喝到盒裝冰咖啡，味道真的很棒?！敝?，他聯(lián)系到當(dāng)?shù)氐囊粋€(gè)咖啡品牌，想得到授權(quán)在英國銷售他們的產(chǎn)品。但對(duì)方?jīng)]什么興趣。

回到家后，克雷根像往常一樣接到邀約電話，問他想不想?yún)⒓庸?jié)日巡演，想不想繼續(xù)打工挖洞?？死赘f：“我知道這兩份工作前途渺茫，所以決定自己創(chuàng)業(yè)，開一家冰咖啡公司?！?/p>

首先，克雷根調(diào)查了咖啡行業(yè)的競(jìng)爭(zhēng)狀況，發(fā)現(xiàn)市面上的咖啡都是又甜又膩的——與他在澳大利亞喝到的提神冰飲品完全不同?？死赘f：“我希望顧客喝了我們的咖啡能神清氣爽。”他一頭扎進(jìn)廚房，研發(fā)出一款冰拿鐵打頭炮推出。這款咖啡的配方沿用至今。

克雷根的姐姐也加入進(jìn)來，他們將克雷根研發(fā)的冰拿鐵與競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手的咖啡放在一起，邀請(qǐng)好友私下進(jìn)行了一次口味測(cè)試。克雷根說：“朋友們鼓勵(lì)我們放手一搏，盡管競(jìng)爭(zhēng)對(duì)手是星巴克這樣的大品牌?！苯愕軅z從利樂公司訂購了3000個(gè)空包裝盒，在一個(gè)小型冷藏室里花了25個(gè)小時(shí)認(rèn)認(rèn)真真為每個(gè)包裝盒貼上標(biāo)簽。

在目標(biāo)客戶的定位上，兩人想更明智些?？死赘f：“我們的目標(biāo)客戶包括剛做完海上沖浪的人或剛結(jié)束最后一班工作的筋疲力盡的清潔工人?！边@款冰拿鐵在美國食品連鎖店全食超市和英國高檔百貨公司塞爾福里奇內(nèi)均可試喝，由此實(shí)現(xiàn)了首次上架銷售。

鑒于市場(chǎng)反應(yīng)良好，姐弟倆想進(jìn)一步擴(kuò)大生產(chǎn)。蘇茜賣掉了自己的咖啡館，但是資金仍然不夠。

這時(shí)，父母伸出援手，借給了他們14萬英鎊——這幾乎是老兩口所有的積蓄?？死赘f：“我們寫了一張借據(jù)，并給了二老股份。”五年前，他和姐姐還清了父母的借款。

2014年，公司迎來轉(zhuǎn)折點(diǎn)，產(chǎn)品得以在樂購上架。在那之前，浪費(fèi)是公司面臨的“重大問題”，因?yàn)樗麄兊目Х纫美麡费b罐機(jī)，而裝罐機(jī)的最低起訂量也數(shù)額巨大?？死赘忉屨f：“之前我們的產(chǎn)品供給量過大，但需求量不大，或者說貨架期較短。”公司需要能夠保證產(chǎn)品長銷的零售商?！霸诖笮统猩霞苷媸翘袅?，我們的產(chǎn)品也同時(shí)進(jìn)入了上千家商店?！?/p>

向零售商推銷產(chǎn)品時(shí)，克雷根的建議是：切忌將事情復(fù)雜化?！拔覀儽M量將事情簡化：直接告訴零售商產(chǎn)品成本以及建議零售價(jià)，并確定雙方能否就此達(dá)成合作。零售商也喜歡這樣的溝通方式?！?/p>

比利時(shí)巧克力摩卡等新口味產(chǎn)品的上市也加速了公司發(fā)展?？死赘f：“顧客的消費(fèi)習(xí)慣變化太快。先是跟風(fēng)慧儷輕體公司的飲食棒點(diǎn)系統(tǒng)，然后變成追捧奧米茄-3，后來又改追蛋白質(zhì)，等等?！?/p>

克雷根建議，初創(chuàng)企業(yè)不應(yīng)盲目追隨顧客的需求。他說：“消費(fèi)者的喜好難以捉摸，因此初創(chuàng)企業(yè)不能一味聽從他們的意見，不僅如此，還要建立足夠的自信去引導(dǎo)消費(fèi)者的需求?！?/p>

目前來看，這一策略收效良好。吉姆冰咖啡目前擁有18名員工，年?duì)I業(yè)額高達(dá)540萬英鎊，產(chǎn)品在英國4000多家商店均有銷售，其中包括維特羅斯和森寶利兩大連鎖超市。

克雷根為食品飲料公司提出的另一條建議是：與顧客分享幕后工作。他說：“大多數(shù)傳統(tǒng)企業(yè)在社交媒體上發(fā)布的是一張接一張的產(chǎn)品特寫。其實(shí)顧客對(duì)產(chǎn)品的樣子早已一清二楚——他們想知道的是企業(yè)創(chuàng)始人及團(tuán)隊(duì)都在干什么。”

克雷根一直努力將吉姆冰咖啡打造成一個(gè)輕松有趣的品牌。“我們并非只是叫賣產(chǎn)品;如果關(guān)注我們的‘照片墻’，就會(huì)發(fā)現(xiàn)，我們希望帶給粉絲靈感，讓大家開懷大笑。”

吉姆冰咖啡的說唱歌曲和優(yōu)兔視頻《開心起來》便是該策略一個(gè)很好的例證。這首歌曲發(fā)布于4年前，迄今累計(jì)觀看量已超過100萬次?？死赘f：“營銷是為讓人記得住，而不是看誰叫得響。要想方設(shè)法讓人們忘不掉，即使他們不喜歡?！?/p>

克雷根認(rèn)為，在市場(chǎng)營銷中，相比冗長重復(fù)的廣告宣傳，簡短有力的有趣內(nèi)容總是更吸人眼球?！盃I銷就是要娛樂;必須通過娛樂大眾，讓顧客記住?！? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? □

（譯者單位：對(duì)外經(jīng)濟(jì)貿(mào)易大學(xué)）