How to get your ideas to spread | Seth Godin

翻译人员: Aprces Chen 校对人员: Zachary Lin Zhao

I'm going to give you four specific examples,

我会给你们四个具体的实例来证明我的观点——并且最后我会进行总结——

I'm going to cover at the end

about how a company called Silk tripled their sales;

一家名叫丝绸的公司是怎样通过只做一件事就把他们的销售额提高到原来的三倍。

how an artist named Jeff Koons went from being a nobody

艺术家杰夫-昆斯是怎样从一个原来什么都不是

to making a whole bunch of money and having a lot of impact;

变成一个挣了一大堆钱并且十分有影响力的人，

to how Frank Gehry redefined what it meant to be an architect.

弗兰克-盖里是怎样重新定义一个建筑师所代表的正真含义。

And one of my biggest failures as a marketer in the last few years --

最为一个市场营销人员，在过去的几年中我犯得最大的错误之一就是，

a record label I started that had a CD called "Sauce."

创建了一个唱片公司，发行了一张叫“酱汁”的唱片。

Before I can do that I've got to tell you about sliced bread,

在开始之前我得和你们说一个名叫奥托-罗韦德尔的家伙以及发生在他和切片面包之间的故事。

and a guy named Otto Rohwedder.

Now, before sliced bread was invented in the 1910s

好，1910年在切片面包被发明之前

I wonder what they said?

我想知道那时的人们说了什么？

Like the greatest invention since the telegraph or something.

像之前的伟大发明一样，电报或者别的什么东西。

But this guy named Otto Rohwedder invented sliced bread,

当时这个名叫奥托-罗韦德尔的家伙发明了切片面包，

and he focused, like most inventors did, on the patent part and the making part.

和大多数发明家所做的一样，他把所有的注意力集中在销售和制造上。

And the thing about the invention of sliced bread is this --

事实上关于切片面包这项发明当初是这样一个情况——

that for the first 15 years after sliced bread was available

最初15年里在人们可以得到它的情况下

no one bought it; no one knew about it;

没有人购买，没有人知道。它是一个彻头彻尾失败的发明。

it was a complete and total failure.

And the reason is that until Wonder came along

原因就在于Wonder牌面包出现之前，

and figured out how to spread the idea of sliced bread,

在切片面包的理念走进千家万户之前，根本就没有人想要它。

no one wanted it.

That the success of sliced bread,

其实切片面包的成功，

like the success of almost everything we've talked about at this conference,

就像今天我们在这里讨论其他所有成功的事物一样，

is not always about what the patent is like, or what the factory is like --

它并不是总带着诸如它的专利是怎样的，或者它的工厂是怎样的疑问，

it's about can you get your idea to spread, or not.

关键是你能不能把你的想法传播开来。

And I think that the way you're going to get what you want,

我认为得到你想要的，

or cause the change that you want to change, to happen,

改变你想改变的，你想让它发生的，

is to figure out a way to get your ideas to spread.

关键是你得想出一个能使你想法得到传播的方法。

And it doesn't matter to me whether you're running a coffee shop

对我来说无论你正经营着一家咖啡馆

or you're an intellectual, or you're in business,

还是你是一个知识分子，或者你是一个商人，甚至你正驾驶着一个热气球在天上飞。

or you're flying hot air balloons.

这适用于任何你所从事的任何职业不管我们是干什么的。

I think that all this stuff applies to everybody regardless of what we do.

That what we are living in is a century of idea diffusion.

我们正生活在一个想法蔓延的年代。

That people who can spread ideas, regardless of what those ideas are, win.

只有懂得传播想法的人才是赢家。

When I talk about it I usually pick business,

通常说起它我就会拿做生意作为例子

because they make the best pictures that you can put in your presentation,

因为我可以把最好看的剪贴画放到我的呈现中来

and because it's the easiest sort of way to keep score.

并且生意的成功与否很容易衡量

But I want you to forgive me when I use these examples

但是当我使用这些例子的时候我希望你们能原谅我

because I'm talking about anything that you decide to spend your time to do.

因为我所说的一切都需要你们自己花时间去验证。

At the heart of spreading ideas is TV and stuff like TV.

想法传播的核心是电视和类似电视的东西。

TV and mass media made it really easy to spread ideas in a certain way.

某种程度上电视和大众传媒使得我们传播想法变得更加容易。

I call it the "TV-industrial complex."

我称之为电视工业中心。

The way the TV-industrial complex works, is you buy some ads,

它的运作流程是这样的，首先你买了一些广告——

interrupt some people, that gets you distribution.

它影响一些人——接着你得到客户。

You use the distribution you get to sell more products.

然后把更多的产品买给他们。

You take the profit from that to buy more ads.

最后赚了钱的你继续做更多的广告。

And it goes around and around and around,

它就是这样不停地循环循环循环，

the same way that the military-industrial complex worked a long time ago.

相同的方法我们的军工业已经用了很长时间。

That model of, and we heard it yesterday --

并且那样的模式，我们昨天就已经听说了，

if we could only get onto the homepage of Google,

如果我们能上谷歌的主页，

if we could only figure out how to get promoted there,

如果我们想办法在那里获得排名，

如果我们能抓住那些人的要害，

or grab that person by the throat,

and tell them about what we want to do.

告诉他们关于我们想做的事。

If we did that then everyone would pay attention, and we would win.

如果我们那样做的话每个人都会引起注意，这样我们才有可能达到推广的目的。

Well, this TV-industrial complex informed my entire childhood and probably yours.

是的，这样的电视工业中心曾经鼓舞着我的整个童年或许还有你的。

I mean, all of these products succeeded because someone figured out

我的意思是，所有那些成功的产品是因为有些人知道

how to touch people in a way they weren't expecting,

怎样用一种出人意料的方式与人建立起联系，

in a way they didn't necessarily want, with an ad,

用一种未必需要一个广告的方法，

over and over again until they bought it.

反反复复直到人们买下它。

And the thing that's happened is, they canceled the TV-industrial complex.

接着就发生了一件事，大家都把电视给关了。

That just over the last few years,

只是在最近几年里，

what anybody who markets anything has discovered

那些推销产品的人发现

is that it's not working the way that it used to.

以前的工作方法现在已经失效了。

This picture is really fuzzy, I apologize; I had a bad cold when I took it.

这张图片十分模糊，我很抱歉，那是我感冒时拍的。

(Laughter)

中间蓝色盒子里的东西就是我想说的典型代表。

But the product in the blue box in the center is my poster child.

I go to the deli; I'm sick; I need to buy some medicine.

对。我去了这家药店，我病了。我需要买一些药。

The brand manager for that blue product spent 100 million dollars

产品经理为那个装在蓝色盒子里的东西花了一亿美元

trying to interrupt me in one year.

试着在一年内引起我的注意。

100 million dollars interrupting me with TV commercials

用一亿美元制造出来的电视广告和杂志广告还有垃圾邮件

and magazine ads and Spam

and coupons and shelving allowances and spiff --

外加那些优惠券、限量供应、红利——

all so I could ignore every single message.

那些所有我都可以直接忽略掉的单个信息。

And I ignored every message

于是我就把它们给忽略了因为在购买止疼药这一点上我没有任何疑问。

because I don't have a pain reliever problem.

I buy the stuff in the yellow box because I always have.

我买了黄色盒子里的药因为我一直用它。

And I'm not going to invest a minute of my time to solve her problem,

我不打算从我的时间里抽出任何一分钟来解决她的问题，

because I don't care.

因为我不关心。

Here's a magazine called "Hydrate." It's 180 pages about water.

这里有一本名叫《合成水》的杂志。它用了180页来谈论水。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Articles about water, ads about water.

是的。那些关于水的文章，水的广告。

Imagine what the world was like 40 years ago,

让我们想象一下40年以前的世界是什么样的

with just the Saturday Evening Post and Time and Newsweek.

那时只有《周六晚报》、《时代周刊》和《新闻周刊》。

Now there are magazines about water.

现在居然出现了只谈论水的杂志。

New product from Coke Japan: water salad.

这是来自可口可乐日本公司的新产品——色拉水。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Coke Japan comes out with a new product every three weeks,

不错。每过三个星期，他们就会推出一款新产品。

because they have no idea what's going to work and what's not.

因为他们完全不知道哪样产品会大卖，哪样不会。

I couldn't have written this better myself.

接下来的这个更绝。四天前出来的。

It came out four days ago --

I circled the important parts so you can see them here.

我就圈出了关键的部分然后你可以在这里看到。

它们来了……阿比汉堡打算花八十五亿美元来宣传一只隔热手套

They've come out...

Arby's is going to spend 85 million dollars promoting an oven mitt

with the voice of Tom Arnold,

用汤姆-阿诺德的声音，

hoping that that will get people to go to Arby's and buy a roast beef sandwich.

希望那会使人走进阿比汉堡店买一个烤牛肉三明治。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Now, I had tried to imagine what could possibly be in an animated TV commercial

我在想，他们究竟要在一个动画电视广告里搞些什么鬼，

featuring Tom Arnold, that would get you to get in your car,

还要配搭上汤姆－阿诺德的声音，才能让你开着车，

drive across town and buy a roast beef sandwich.

穿过城，去买一个烤牛肉三明治。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Now, this is Copernicus, and he was right,

看，这是哥白尼，他是对的，

when he was talking to anyone who needs to hear your idea.

他总是和一个需要听你想法的人说话。

"The world revolves around me."

世界每天在围着我转，我，我，我，我，我。我最爱的一个人——就是我。

Me, me, me, me. My favorite person -- me.

I don't want to get email from anybody; I want to get "memail."

我不想收到任何人的邮件，我只想收到“自己的邮件。”

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So consumers, and I don't just mean people who buy stuff at the Safeway;

所以消费者，我指的不是那些在西夫韦卖场里买东西的人，

I mean people at the Defense Department who might buy something,

我指的是国防部里那些可能需要买一些东西的人，

or people at, you know, the New Yorker who might print your article.

或者那些供职于《纽约客》可能会打印你文章的人。

Consumers don't care about you at all; they just don't care.

消费者一点都不在乎你，他们就是不在乎。

Part of the reason is -- they've got way more choices than they used to,

部分原因是——他们比过去有更多选择的机会，

and way less time.

和更少的时间。

And in a world where we have too many choices and too little time,

在一个我们有太多选择

而时间有限的世界里，无疑我们会对有些东西视而不见。

the obvious thing to do is just ignore stuff.

And my parable here is you're driving down the road

打个比方来说，当你正在路上开车的时候

and you see a cow, and you keep driving because you've seen cows before.

如果你看见一头母牛，然后你会继续开车

因为你之前见过母牛。

Cows are invisible. Cows are boring.

母牛是视而不见的。母牛是无趣乏味的。

Who's going to stop and pull over and say -- "Oh, look, a cow."

谁会把车停在路边然后对人说——看，一头母牛。没有人会那样做。

Nobody.

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But if the cow was purple -- isn't that a great special effect?

但如果那只母牛是紫色的话——那个特效挺酷吧？

I could do that again if you want.

只要你愿意我可以重复一遍。

If the cow was purple, you'd notice it for a while.

如果那只母牛是紫色的，你可能就会留意它一段时间。

I mean, if all cows were purple you'd get bored with those, too.

我的意思是，如果所有的母牛都是紫色的，你同样会感到无趣。

The thing that's going to decide what gets talked about,

一件事它可以决定人们谈论什么，

what gets done, what gets changed,

做什么，改变什么，

what gets purchased, what gets built,

购买什么，制造什么，

is: "Is it remarkable?"

关键是——这是一件不同寻常的事吗？

And "remarkable" is a really cool word,

与众不同实在是一个十分酷的词因为我们常常把它理解为巧妙的意思，

because we think it just means "neat,"

but it also means "worth making a remark about."

它还意味着——值得我们去讨论。

And that is the essence of where idea diffusion is going.

这就是想法传播的本质。

That two of the hottest cars in the United States

在美国所有热销的汽车中，两辆中的其中一辆是价值五万五千美元的大汽车，

is a 55,000-dollar giant car,

big enough to hold a Mini in its trunk.

大到足够在它的后备箱中再放入一辆小汽车。

People are paying full price for both,

人们愿意全额付款来购买它们，然而它们唯一的共同之处

and the only thing they have in common

is that they don't have anything in common.

就是没有任何共同之处。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Every week, the number one best-selling DVD in America changes.

在美国每周DVD销量排行榜的第一名都在变化。

It's never "The Godfather," it's never "Citizen Kane,"

不会永远都是《教父》，不会永远都是《公民凯恩》，

it's always some third-rate movie with some second-rate star.

他们通常是一些三流电影配上二流影星

But the reason it's number one is because that's the week it came out.

但它成为第一名的原因仅仅是因为它是这周发行的。

Because it's new, because it's fresh.

因为它是新出的，因为它是新鲜的。

People saw it and said "I didn't know that was there"

因为大家看见了都会说——我不知道它在那里——

and they noticed it.

然后就会去留意它。

Two of the big success stories of the last 20 years in retail --

近二十年零售业里两个最成功的故事——

one sells things that are super-expensive in a blue box,

一个是把装在蓝色盒子里的东西卖得超贵，

and one sells things that are as cheap as they can make them.

另一个是尽可能地把他们制造出来的东西卖得更便宜。

The only thing they have in common is that they're different.

他们唯一的共同之处就是他们十分不同。

We're now in the fashion business, no matter what we do for a living,

最近很流行做服装生意，为了生存不管我们做什么，

we're in the fashion business.

服装行业都会长盛不衰。

And people in the fashion business

有一件事就是，服装行业的人

know what it's like to be in the fashion business -- they're used to it.

知道这个行业会变成什么样子，因为他们早就习惯了。

The rest of us have to figure out how to think that way.

对于剩下的我们不得不想清楚应该怎样去思考。

How to understand

怎样去理解这不是关于用整幅大页面广告去妨碍人们，

that it's not about interrupting people with big full-page ads,

or insisting on meetings with people.

或者是坚持让别人看见。

But it's a totally different sort of process

这是一个完全不同的方法来确定哪些想法会得到传播，

that determines which ideas spread, and which ones don't.

哪些没有。

They sold a billion dollars' worth of Aeron chairs

这把椅子——是他们买了十个亿的艾龙铝合金椅子

by reinventing what it meant to sell a chair.

因为他们颠覆了买卖椅子的含义

They turned a chair from something the purchasing department bought,

椅子不再是采购部门随便买来的东西

而是你在工作场所身份的象征

to something that was a status symbol about where you sat at work.

This guy, Lionel Poilâne, the most famous baker in the world --

这个家伙，他叫莱昂内尔-普尔兰，全世界最有名的面包师——

he died two and a half months ago,

就在两个半月以前他刚刚去世，

and he was a hero of mine and a dear friend.

他是我心目中的英雄和好朋友。

He lived in Paris.

他住在巴黎。去年他总共卖出了价值一千万美元的法式面包。

Last year, he sold 10 million dollars' worth of French bread.

Every loaf baked in a bakery he owned,

每条面包在他自己的面包房里进行烤制，一位面包师负责一条面包那样，在一个木质的烤箱里。

by one baker at a time, in a wood-fired oven.

And when Lionel started his bakery, the French pooh-pooh-ed it.

最初当莱昂内尔推出他的法式面包时法国人都很不屑。

They didn't want to buy his bread.

他们不想买这种面包。它看起来不像"法国的面包。"

It didn't look like "French bread."

It wasn't what they expected.

这不是法国人想象中的面包。

It was neat; it was remarkable;

但正是因为这种面包的巧妙和与众不同，慢慢地它被人口相传

and slowly, it spread from one person to another person

until finally, it became the official bread of three-star restaurants in Paris.

直到最后，它变成了巴黎三星级酒店的官方面包。

Now he's in London, and he ships by FedEx all around the world.

现在莱昂内尔生活在伦敦，而他的面包正被联邦快递运至世界各地。

What marketers used to do is make average products for average people.

过去我们的商家常常生产普通的商品给我们普通人。

That's what mass marketing is.

这就是大众营销。

Smooth out the edges; go for the center; that's the big market.

不管极端消费者，只管主流消费群

那确实是一个很大的市场。

They would ignore the geeks, and God forbid, the laggards.

但他们对极客，

对有特殊爱好的人，对落伍者均视而不见。

It was all about going for the center.

所有产品均向着中间这部分的人而去。

But in a world where the TV-industrial complex is broken,

但是一个电视工业中心的世界正在离我们远去，

I don't think that's a strategy we want to use any more.

我认为这不再是一个我们会继续使用的销售策略。

I think the strategy we want to use is to not market to these people

我认为不需要把东西卖给那些

because they're really good at ignoring you.

经常对你产品视而不见的人。

But market to these people because they care.

应该把东西卖给真正在乎和关心你产品的人。

These are the people who are obsessed with something.

那些热衷于某些东西的人。

And when you talk to them, they'll listen,

当你讲话他们就会听

because they like listening -- it's about them.

因为他们喜欢听——去和他们交流。

And if you're lucky, they'll tell their friends on the rest of the curve,

如果你足够幸运，他们会转告自己的朋友

那些在剩余曲线上的个体，然后它就会传播开来。

and it'll spread.

It'll spread to the entire curve.

最后蔓延至整个曲线。

They have something I call "otaku" -- it's a great Japanese word.

他们有一些东西我称之为御宅——这是一个伟大的日本单词。

It describes the desire of someone who's obsessed to say,

它是用来描述狂热的人

drive across Tokyo to try a new ramen noodle place,

比方说，他们会大老远驾车穿过东京去品尝一款新推出的拉面，

because that's what they do: they get obsessed with it.

因为那就是他们所做的。他们对此十分着迷。

To make a product, to market an idea,

对于制造一个产品，营销一个想法，

to come up with any problem you want to solve

提出任何你想解决问题的办法，

that doesn't have a constituency with an otaku,

任何地方如果没有一群这样的御宅族

is almost impossible.

那几乎是行不通的。

Instead, you have to find a group that really, desperately cares

反之，你不得不找出一群人，

about what it is you have to say.

那些真正地，不顾一切地愿意听你说话的人。

Talk to them and make it easy for them to tell their friends.

和他们交谈然后他们很容易就会把你的想法转告给朋友。

There's a hot sauce otaku, but there's no mustard otaku.

这里有一个喜欢辣酱宅男，但是没有喜欢芥末的宅男。

That's why there's lots and lots of kinds of hot sauces,

这就是为什么会有许多许多许多种类的辣酱，

and not so many kinds of mustard.

而没有许多种类的芥末。

Not because it's hard to make interesting mustard --

不是因为很难去生产有趣的芥末

you could make interesting mustard --

——你可以制造出有趣的芥末——

but people don't, because no one's obsessed with it,

但是没有人会对芥末着迷，

因此也没有人会把它告诉朋友。

and thus no one tells their friends.

Krispy Kreme has figured this whole thing out.

香脆甜甜圈就是一家已经把这些事都给弄明白的公司。

It has a strategy, and what they do is,

他们有一个策略，他们所做的是，

they enter a city, they talk to the people, with the otaku,

进入一个城市，和御宅族的人交流

and then they spread through the city

就这样在城市蔓延

to the people who've just crossed the street.

哪怕是正巧在过马路的人。

这个溜溜球卖一百十二美元，但它在这只待了十二分钟。

This yoyo right here cost 112 dollars, but it sleeps for 12 minutes.

Not everybody wants it but they don't care.

不是每个人都会喜欢但是他们不在乎这个。

They want to talk to the people who do, and maybe it'll spread.

他们只想告诉喜欢它的人，或许就能传播开来。

These guys make the loudest car stereo in the world.

这些家伙造出了世界上音量最大的车载音响。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

It's as loud as a 747 jet.

它的声音可以媲美波音747，所以你进不去

You can't get in, the car's got bulletproof glass,

这辆车装有防弹玻璃

because it'll blow out the windshield otherwise.

不然的话它们可能会把挡风玻璃都给吹掉。

But the fact remains

但事实依然告诉我们当有人

that when someone wants to put a couple of speakers in their car,

想把几个喇叭放进自己的汽车里时，

if they've got the otaku or they've heard from someone who does,

如果他们够宅

或者他们从哪里听说有人喜欢，

they go ahead and they pick this.

那么他们可以继续干下去而有人会为这辆车买单。

It's really simple -- you sell to the people who are listening,

真的很简单——把东西卖给听你说话的人，

或许，仅仅是或许，那些人会说给他们的朋友听。

and just maybe, those people tell their friends.

So when Steve Jobs talks to 50,000 people at his keynote,

所以当史蒂夫-乔布斯在他的演讲上和五万人谈天说地的时候，没错，

who are all tuned in from 130 countries

那些来自一百三十个国家的人同时锁定同一个频道

watching his two-hour commercial --

一起观看他两个小时的商业演讲——

that's the only thing keeping his company in business --

这就是唯一能使他的公司正常运作的关键——

it's that those 50,000 people care desperately enough

有五万多个观众不顾一切地

to watch a two-hour commercial, and then tell their friends.

看了他两小时的演讲，然后告诉他们的朋友。

Pearl Jam, 96 albums released in the last two years.

珍珠酱乐队，最近的两年里发行了九十六张专辑。

Every one made a profit. How?

并且每张专辑都赚到了钱。怎么会的？

They only sell them on their website.

他们只在自己的网站上卖这些专辑

Those people who buy them have the otaku,

那些在网上购买专辑的人都是御宅族

and then they tell their friends, and it spreads and it spreads.

然后宅男会告诉他们的朋友，就这样一直传播下去。

This hospital crib cost 10,000 dollars, 10 times the standard.

这辆医院专用的婴儿床卖一万美元，比普通的婴儿床贵十倍。

But hospitals are buying it faster than any other model.

但比起其他婴儿床医院却以更快的速度买下它们。

Hard Candy nail polish, doesn't appeal to everybody,

这是硬糖公司生产的指甲油，当然不会吸引到每一个人，

but to the people who love it, they talk about it like crazy.

但只要碰上喜欢它的人，她们就会疯狂地谈论它。

This paint can right here saved the Dutch Boy paint company,

眼前的涂料拯救了荷兰男孩涂料公司，

making them a fortune.

最后变成他们的财富。它比一般涂料要贵百分之三十五

It costs 35 percent more than regular paint

because Dutch Boy made a can that people talk about, because it's remarkable.

因为它们造出了一个人人都在谈论它的外壳，因为它与众不同。

They didn't just slap a new ad on the product;

不仅仅是他们在产品上扔出一个新的广告这么简单，

they changed what it meant to build a paint product.

而是他们颠覆了传统意义上的油漆桶子。

AmIhotornot.com -- everyday 250,000 people go to this site,

“我红不红”网站——每天都有二十五万的人光临，

run by two volunteers, and I can tell you they are hard graders --

网站由两个志愿者管理，我能告诉你他们是相当苛刻，可是

(Laughter)

（笑声）

They didn't get this way by advertising a lot.

他们没有绞尽脑汁在上面放更多的广告

They got this way by being remarkable,

而是想办法使它变得不同寻常，

sometimes a little too remarkable.

有些时候太过不同寻常了

And this picture frame has a cord going out the back,

这是一个带有电线的电子相框，

and you plug it into the wall.

My father has this on his desk,

你可以把它插在墙上。

我父亲就有一个这样的东西在他的写字台上，

and he sees his grandchildren everyday, changing constantly.

老人家每天看着自己不断长大的孙子。

And every single person who walks into his office

而且每个来他办公室的人

hears the whole story of how this thing ended up on his desk.

都想知道到关于这个相框是怎样来到他桌上的故事。

And one person at a time, the idea spreads.

每次只要有一个这样的人，想法就会得到传播。

These are not diamonds, not really.

这不是钻石，不是真正的钻石。

They're made from "cremains."

它们由人的骨灰制成。

After you're cremated you can have yourself made into a gem.

在你被火化以后你也可以把自己的骨灰变成宝石。

(Laughter)

Oh, you like my ring? It's my grandmother.

（笑声）

哦，你喜欢戒指吗？它可是我的祖母。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

Fastest-growing business in the whole mortuary industry.

于是墓葬行业变得十分火爆。

But you don't have to be Ozzie Osborne --

不过你不需要变成奥齐-奥斯本——

you don't have to be super-outrageous to do this.

你不必非得变得像他一样超级无耻来做这件事。

What you have to do

is figure out what people really want and give it to them.

你所要做的是弄清楚人们想要什么然后给他们。

A couple of quick rules to wrap up.

这样的规则能快速总结出两三条。

The first one is: Design is free when you get to scale.

第一条是：当你达到一定规模使时设计就是免费的。

The people who come up with stuff that's remarkable

那些发明不同寻常的东西的人

more often than not figure out how to put design to work for them.

往往是那些懂得利用好的设计的人

Number two: The riskiest thing you can do now is be safe.

第二：墨守成规才是最有风险的事

Proctor and Gamble knows this, right?

宝洁公司很清楚，不是吗？

The whole model of being Proctor and Gamble

作为典范整个宝洁公司

is always about average products for average people.

总是提供普通的产品给大家。

That's risky.

那才是冒险的。而处在边缘的想法才是安全的，

The safe thing to do now is to be at the fringes,

be remarkable.

与众不同的。

And being very good is one of the worst things you can possibly do.

感觉很棒可能是你所做的最糟糕的一件事之一。

Very good is boring. Very good is average.

很棒太无趣了。很棒太普通了。

It doesn't matter whether you're making a record album,

不管你是否正在录制一张专辑，

or you're an architect, or you have a tract on sociology.

或者你是一个建筑师，还是你在社会学上有所建树。

If it's very good, it's not going to work, because no one's going to notice it.

如果一件事很棒，它就不会产生效应，因为没有人会去留意它。

So my three stories.

因此我有三个故事。

Silk put a product that does not need to be in the refrigerated section

首先是丝绸公司。他们将自己公司生产的不需要冷藏的产品

next to the milk in the refrigerated section.

紧挨着牛奶冷藏区域放置。

Sales tripled. Why?

销售额就这样翻了三倍。为什么？

Milk, milk, milk, milk, milk -- not milk.

牛奶，牛奶，牛奶，牛奶，牛奶——不是牛奶。

For the people who were there and looking at that section,

对于那些看着冷藏区域里的产品的人来说，

it was remarkable.

They didn't triple their sales with advertising;

这样的陈设就立刻变得与众不同了。

三倍的销售额他们没有做任何广告，

they tripled it by doing something remarkable.

他们只是把产品挪了一下位置变得更惹眼而已。

That is a remarkable piece of art.

这是一件与众不同的艺术品。你用不着去喜欢它，

You don't have to like it,

but a 40-foot tall dog made out of bushes in the middle of New York City

但一个四十英尺高的用灌木做成的狗

竖立在纽约市中心确实很与众不同。

is remarkable.

(Laughter)

Frank Gehry didn't just change a museum;

弗兰克-盖里不仅仅改变了一个博物馆，

he changed an entire city's economy

他改变了整个城市的经济

by designing one building that people from all over the world went to see.

用他造的那个全世界人民都想去瞧一瞧的建筑。

Now, at countless meetings at, you know,

如今，大会小会多得数不清，你知道，

the Portland City Council, or who knows where,

波特兰市的办公大楼，有谁知道它在哪，

they said, we need an architect -- can we get Frank Gehry?

大家都说，我们需要一个建筑师——弗兰克-盖里能来吗？

Because he did something that was at the fringes.

因为他做了一些稀奇古怪的事。

And my big failure? I came out with an entire --

是我犯的错吗？我拿出一整套

(Music)

（音乐声）

A record album and hopefully a whole bunch of record albums

专辑，但愿他们全部是

in SACD, this remarkable new format --

SACD格式——这是一种全新的储存格式——

and I marketed it straight to people with 20,000-dollar stereos.

然后我把它卖给一个家里放着两万美元立体声音响的人。

People with 20,000-dollar stereos don't like new music.

可他不喜欢这种新的音乐。

(Laughter)

（笑声）

So what you need to do is figure out who does care.

所以你得搞清楚谁是真正关心你产品的人。

Who is going to raise their hand and say,

有哪些人会举起他们的手然后对你说，

"I want to hear what you're doing next,"

“我想知道接下来你准备干什么，”

and sell something to them.

把东西卖给他们。

The last example I want to give you.

这是最后一个我想给你们举的例子。

This is a map of Soap Lake, Washington.

这是一副肥皂湖的地图，在华盛顿。

As you can see, if that's nowhere, it's in the middle of it.

正如你所见，它是在一个寸草不生鸟不拉屎的地方

(Laughter)

（笑声）

But they do have a lake.

但是他们确实是有这么一个湖

And people used to come from miles around to swim in the lake.

过去大家都会从几英里外赶来，为的就是能在里面游泳。

They don't anymore.

可是现在不行了。所以我们的创办人说，“我们有钱。

So the founding fathers said, "We've got some money to spend.

What can we build here?"

但是我们造什么呢？”像大多数委员那样，

And like most committees,

they were going to build something pretty safe.

他们可能会造一些既好看又安全的东西。

And then an artist came to them -- this is a true artist's rendering --

之后去了一个艺术家——这才是一个真正艺术家的作品——

he wants to build a 55-foot tall lava lamp in the center of town.

他想造一个五十五英尺高的熔岩灯放在市中心。

That's a purple cow; that's something worth noticing.

这是一头紫色的母牛，它们全部是一些值得留意的东西。

I don't know about you,

我不知道你们但是如果它造好了，这就是我会去的地方。

but if they build it, that's where I'm going to go.

Thank you very much for your attention.

谢谢所有在座的。