马修·凯恩斯 王静 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，买了一张飞往澳大利亚的单程机票，此前很长一段时间，克雷根都在做着两份“前途渺茫的”工作。克雷根要摆脱夏季节日演出和冬季体力零工的束缚，去澳大利亚和新西兰休个长假，于是计划了一次公路旅行，希望体验当地的风土人情。

这段旅程让克雷根收获多多，他品尝到了当地的冰咖啡，这成为他与姐姐苏茜共同创立“吉姆冰咖啡”的灵感来源。饮料公司“吉姆冰咖啡”成立于2011年，目前价值数百万英镑。克雷根回忆道：“当时是我第一次喝到盒装冰咖啡，味道真的很棒。”之后，他联系到当地的一个咖啡品牌，想得到授权在英国销售他们的产品。但对方没什么兴趣。

回到家后，克雷根像往常一样接到邀约电话，问他想不想参加节日巡演，想不想继续打工挖洞。克雷根说：“我知道这两份工作前途渺茫，所以决定自己创业，开一家冰咖啡公司。”

首先，克雷根调查了咖啡行业的竞争状况，发现市面上的咖啡都是又甜又腻的——与他在澳大利亚喝到的提神冰饮品完全不同。克雷根说：“我希望顾客喝了我们的咖啡能神清气爽。”他一头扎进厨房，研发出一款冰拿铁打头炮推出。这款咖啡的配方沿用至今。

克雷根的姐姐也加入进来，他们将克雷根研发的冰拿铁与竞争对手的咖啡放在一起，邀请好友私下进行了一次口味测试。克雷根说：“朋友们鼓励我们放手一搏，尽管竞争对手是星巴克这样的大品牌。”姐弟俩从利乐公司订购了3000个空包装盒，在一个小型冷藏室里花了25个小时认认真真为每个包装盒贴上标签。

在目标客户的定位上，两人想更明智些。克雷根说：“我们的目标客户包括刚做完海上冲浪的人或刚结束最后一班工作的筋疲力尽的清洁工人。”这款冰拿铁在美国食品连锁店全食超市和英国高档百货公司塞尔福里奇内均可试喝，由此实现了首次上架销售。

鉴于市场反应良好，姐弟俩想进一步扩大生产。苏茜卖掉了自己的咖啡馆，但是资金仍然不够。

这时，父母伸出援手，借给了他们14万英镑——这几乎是老两口所有的积蓄。克雷根说：“我们写了一张借据，并给了二老股份。”五年前，他和姐姐还清了父母的借款。

2014年，公司迎来转折点，产品得以在樂购上架。在那之前，浪费是公司面临的“重大问题”，因为他们的咖啡要用利乐装罐机，而装罐机的最低起订量也数额巨大。克雷根解释说：“之前我们的产品供给量过大，但需求量不大，或者说货架期较短。”公司需要能够保证产品长销的零售商。“在大型超市上架真是太棒了，我们的产品也同时进入了上千家商店。”

向零售商推销产品时，克雷根的建议是：切忌将事情复杂化。“我们尽量将事情简化：直接告诉零售商产品成本以及建议零售价，并确定双方能否就此达成合作。零售商也喜欢这样的沟通方式。”

比利时巧克力摩卡等新口味产品的上市也加速了公司发展。克雷根说：“顾客的消费习惯变化太快。先是跟风慧俪轻体公司的饮食棒点系统，然后变成追捧奥米茄-3，后来又改追蛋白质，等等。”

克雷根建议，初创企业不应盲目追随顾客的需求。他说：“消费者的喜好难以捉摸，因此初创企业不能一味听从他们的意见，不仅如此，还要建立足够的自信去引导消费者的需求。”

目前来看，这一策略收效良好。吉姆冰咖啡目前拥有18名员工，年营业额高达540万英镑，产品在英国4000多家商店均有销售，其中包括维特罗斯和森宝利两大连锁超市。

克雷根为食品饮料公司提出的另一条建议是：与顾客分享幕后工作。他说：“大多数传统企业在社交媒体上发布的是一张接一张的产品特写。其实顾客对产品的样子早已一清二楚——他们想知道的是企业创始人及团队都在干什么。”

克雷根一直努力将吉姆冰咖啡打造成一个轻松有趣的品牌。“我们并非只是叫卖产品;如果关注我们的‘照片墙’，就会发现，我们希望带给粉丝灵感，让大家开怀大笑。”

吉姆冰咖啡的说唱歌曲和优兔视频《开心起来》便是该策略一个很好的例证。这首歌曲发布于4年前，迄今累计观看量已超过100万次。克雷根说：“营销是为让人记得住，而不是看谁叫得响。要想方设法让人们忘不掉，即使他们不喜欢。”

克雷根认为，在市场营销中，相比冗长重复的广告宣传，简短有力的有趣内容总是更吸人眼球。“营销就是要娱乐;必须通过娱乐大众，让顾客记住。”                                          □

（译者单位：对外经济贸易大学）