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1 导读 感谢思维导图作者 Bruce,爱好英语，经济学人爱好者 2 听力|精读|翻译|词组  维密：奋起一搏 英文部分选自经济学人Business版块 Underwear 内衣 Going for bust 维密：奋起一搏 注：The phrase "going for bust" is taking a risk (placing a bet) that will either have a very high payoff or leave one bankrupt, but in this case the women are going for bigger bosoms. Victoria’s Secret is struggling to keep abreast of changes in the lingerie market 维秘正为跟上内衣市场的变化而苦苦挣扎。 Sex sells, and it sells few things better than lingerie. Nowhere is that more evident than the Victoria’s Secret fashion show. Be feathered models, known as “angels”, shimmy down a runway to promote America’s biggest underwear retailer. In 2011 more than 10m people watched it on television. But on December 2nd just 3.3m viewers tuned in (see chart on next page). “性感”营销，很少能有比内衣销售运用得更为成功的了（性感营销，舍我其谁）。而这点上维密秀无人能出其右。被称为“天使”的模特，戴着翅膀，在T台上摇曳生姿，以推销美国最大内衣零售商（维密）的产品。在2011年，超过1亿观众在电视上收看了维密秀。但是在今年的12月2日，仅有330万观众观看了演出。（见下页图表） Victoria’s Secret has around a tenth of a global lingerie market worth $78bn, according to Euro monitor International, a research firm. It shows all the signs of a tired brand struggling to keep up with customer tastes. In America its market share has plunged from almost 33% two years ago to around 24% today, as social media and e-commerce make it easier for new brands to enter the market. Shares in L Brands, its parent company, were worth $100 three years ago; today they go for $30. Newcomers are disrupting every part of retail, but Victoria’s Secret has made its woes worse. 据一家调查公司-欧瑞国际调查显示，维密占据了全球780亿美元内衣市场份额十分之一左右。数据显示，这个已显疲累的品牌正努力跟上客户的品味。由于社交媒体和电子商务的发展使得新品牌更容易进入市场，它的市场份额在美国从两年前的约33%急速缩水至如今的24%。维密母公司L Brands的股价也从三年前的100美元跌到了如今的30美元。新品牌正在搅乱零售的每一环节，但维密的困境更是雪上加霜。 注释：L Brand -维密母公司，是美国俄亥俄州的一家时尚内衣零售商。 https://en.m./wiki/L_Brands When Roy Raymond started the firm in 1977, he wanted shops where men could comfortably buy lingerie for their wives and girlfriends. Velvet sofas and silk drapes made them look more like boudoirs than places for women to find supportive undergarments. Leslie Wexner, lBrands’ boss, who bought the firm in 1982, added soft lighting and floral prints to give it more appeal to women, his main customers. Once its chief asset, the brand’s sexiness now looks like a liability. “The way people dress has changed,” says Serena Rees, a stalwart of the industry whose most recent project is a brand of unisex underwear. “People don’t want boobs up under their chin or things pressed or pushed in.” 1977年罗伊·雷蒙德创立这家公司时，他希望男人们可以在店里舒服地为他们的妻子和女朋友购买贴身内衣。天鹅绒沙发、丝绸窗帘却使得这些店铺更像是化妆室，而不是女人们可以找到合体内衣的地方。1982年，L Brands的老板莱斯利·维克斯纳买下了这家公司后，他加入了柔和的灯光和花纹印花来吸引女人们（他的主要客户群）。品牌的性感度是曾经的优势，现在却成了不利因素。“人们的穿衣方式已经改变了，”行业资深人士塞丽娜·里斯说道，她最近主要负责一个男女皆宜的内衣品牌，“人们不再想把胸挤到下巴底下，或者被挤压。” A slew of competitors, promoting comfort and inclusivity, have taken that message to heart. Aerie, the underwear arm of American Eagle Outfitters, commands just 3% of the American market but has increased its sales by an average of 11% each year since 2016, compared with an average 9% annual decline for Victoria’s Secret over the same period, according to Euromonitor. Thirdlove, an online brand which has sold over 3m bras since its launch in 2013, is growing at around 300% a year. 许多竞争者都抓住了这点，开始推销舒适度和包裹性俱佳的内衣。根据欧睿信息咨询公司显示，美鹰傲飞旗下的内衣品牌Aerie，虽然只占美国市场3%的份额，但自2016年起其销售额以平均每年11%的速度递增，与之相对的是同期维密每年9%的下降。另一家线上品牌Thirdlove，从2013年成立至今已销售了300万件胸衣，且正在以每年3倍的速度增长。 The newcomers have tweaked the old formula. Michelle Cordeiro-Grant left Victoria’s Secret, where she was a senior merchant, and went on to found Lively, an online underwear brand. She argues that what makes women sexy is confidence, meaning an emphasis on comfort: 70% of the bras sold by Lively are wireless. 新进者已翻转了旧格局。维密的主要批发商Michelle Cordeiro-Grant抛弃了维密，并创办了一家线上内衣品牌Lively。她认为自信才令女人性感，这意味着舒适才是最应予以重视的：Lively售卖的70%的胸衣都没有钢圈。 They are eager to emphasise inclusivity, too. According to Mintel, a research firm, over half of consumers in Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain reckon fashion retailers should use more realistic models. Third love’s ads feature models in their 60s, or who are breastfeeding. Since 2014 Aerie has eschewed digital retouching for photos. The response has been overwhelmingly positive, says Stacey McCormick, an executive at Aerie. When Rihanna, a pop star, launched her Savage x Fenty line of underwear in May, the models were every size and shape. People queued for hours online to buy the products. 他们也急于强调包裹性。据研究公司Mintel（英敏特）称，英国，法国，德国，意大利和西班牙超过一半的消费者认为时装零售商应该使用更现实的模特。Thirdlove（美国互联网内衣品牌）的广告以60多岁或者正在哺乳的模特为主角。自2014年以来，Aerie（美国内衣品牌）不再使用数码修饰照片。 Aerie的高管Stacey McCormick表示，市场对这种操作的反应非常积极。当流行歌星蕾哈娜于5月推出其Savage x Fenty系列内衣时，这些模特的尺寸和形状各不相同。人们在线排队等待数小时购买这些产品。 Victoria’s Secret looks out of touch by comparison. In November Ed Razek, a company executive, dismissed suggestions that its show should have transgender and plus-size models, insisting it was meant to be a “fantasy” (he had to apologise). The show does the brand a disservice, reckons Randy Konik, an analyst at Jefferies, an investment bank, and one of Victoria’s Secret’s knockers. 相比之下，维密的步调与此不相协调。11月，公司高管Ed Razek驳斥了有关该秀应具有跨性别和超大尺寸模特的建议，坚持认为那是“白日梦”（后来他不得不为此道歉了）。 投资银行Jefferies的分析师Randy Konik，同时也是维秘黑粉认为，这场秀给维密品牌帮了倒忙。 Focusing on the need for comfort rather than male taste is good business; women purchase the vast majority of female underwear. “The repeat business is in basics,” says Heidi Zak, Thirdlove’s founder, not lacy luxuries. Some 12m women have used Thirdlove’s “fit finder” to determine which bra to buy. Easy returns alleviate customers’ worries about buying online. 专注于舒适的需求而非迎合男性品味带来了好生意; 女性购买了绝大多数女性内衣。“回头的生意是商业的根本”Thirdlove的创始人Heidi Zak说，这不是花边奢侈品。 约1200万女性使用Thirdlove的“合适查找器”来确定购买哪种文胸。 退货方便更减轻了客户对在线购买的后顾之忧。 Victoria’s Secret is not about to go bust. The firm’s scale is such that with the right rebranding, it could bounce back. In November it replaced its chief executive, Jan Singer, with John Mehas, formerly of Tory Burch, a fashion retailer. Following that rejig Victoria’s Secret has held off on big announcements. “Everything is on the table,” said one executive on an earnings call last month. But in the wake of the #MeToo movement, it will have to tread carefully. 维密尚未行将破产。因为公司规模够大，只要采用正确路线重塑品牌，没准还能够绝地反弹。11月，公司更换了原CEO Jan Singer，聘用了原先在时尚零售品牌Tory Burch工作的John Mehas。做出这一调整之后，维密推迟了重大公告的发布。公司某位高管在上个月的财报电话会议中表示“一切都在议事日程中”。但是MeToo运动发生之后，它必须谨慎行事。 Women’s underwear has always been controversial. Fifty years ago, as the sexual revolution took off, a protest at the Miss America pageant cemented the incorrect notion that feminists burn their bras (they actually threw them in a “freedom trash can”). Marks & Spencer, Britons’ favourite underwear seller, was attacked on social media last month for its advertising of “fancy little knickers” as a must-have for her next to “outfits to impress” for him. It is in this tricky environment that retailers such as Victoria’s Secret operate. 女性内衣是一直是饱受争议之物。五十年前女权运动如火如荼之时，在美国小姐选美现场的抗议活动固化了一个不正确的观念，即女权运动者应该焚烧他们的内衣（实际上她们把内衣扔进了“自由主义的垃圾桶”）。上个月，英国最受欢迎的内衣零售商Marks&Spencer因发布的广告内容称“充满幻想的灯笼小短裤”是仅次于外套，能够让“他”印象深刻的必备好物而在社交媒体上遭受指责。诸如维密这样的品牌，就是在这种微妙的环境中经营着他们的生意。 翻译组： Yifei，女，英专硕士，专八，catti二笔 Louise，女，会计民工，经济学人爱好者 Vambie，女，互联网民工，经济学人粉丝 veryyang，女，教育民工，主攻演讲、戏剧 校核组： Ema, 女，外贸民工，经济学人粉丝 Forest，女，自由职业，经济学人爱好者 3 观点|评论|思考 本次观点由Damon独家奉献 文中开头就说到，在2011年，超过1亿观众在电视上收看了维密秀。而在今年的12月2日，仅有330万观众观看了演出。同样的配方，效果截然不同，这到底是为什么呢？小编在此借用张学友的一首歌<我真的受伤了》里面的歌词：是你变了，是你变了。 |
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