经济学人33:全球来袭 夜店 Nightclubs

 　　Business.

　　商业。

　　Nightclubs.

　　夜店。

　　Getting down globally.

　　全球来袭。

　　Western nightclubs eye Asia, and clever technology.

　　西方国家的夜店在盯上亚洲的同时，也在完善相关技术。

　　FEW businesses are as local as nightclubs. Or so you might think. But a few hardy¹ entrepreneurs are trying change that. In 2010 Matt Hermer, the owner of Boujis, a trendy London nightspot, opened a pop-up club (a temporary one) for three days in Hong Kong. Something clicked. Fun-seekers thronged² through his doors. Mr Hermer will open a permanent venue³ in Hong Kong in September.

　　少有企业会像夜店一样具有地方特色。或许你也可能会这么想。不过一小撮坚韧的企业家正试图改变这一局面。2010年，Matt Hermer，伦敦时髦夜店波吉斯的老板，在香港开了一家临时性（不在专门场子，临时租一个地方办几场派对）夜店。虽然该店的营业仅维期三天，但它引起了极大反响，寻求快乐的人们蜂拥而至。这便使得Hermer计划9月在香港开一家永久性的夜店。

　　No big Western club has cracked Asia, but Pangaea and Avalon, two American brands, recently launched spin-offs in Singapore. Marquee, another American chain, just opened in Sydney. "There are only so many opportunities to grow," says Marquee's co-founder, Noah Tepperberg.

　　尽管西方国家的大型夜店尚未成功打入亚洲市场，但来自美国的夜店潘吉亚和阿法伦最近就在新加坡开了分店。另一家美国连锁夜店马奎也刚好在悉尼开了分店。"这里的市场就只有这么些发展机会了，"马奎的合伙创办人Noah Tepperberg说。

　　Global data on the nightclub industry are patchy. Clubs tend to be privately⁴ owned and deal a lot in cash. Many last little longer than a pint⁵ of lager at a stag party. IBISWorld, a research group, estimates that bars and nightclubs make profits of $800m on takings of $20 billion-25 billion a year in America, where data are most reliable.

　　全球范围内关于夜店的资料零星不齐。夜店常为私人所有，大多以现钞交易。不少人在夜店的单身派对上喝完一品脱淡啤酒后，呆不了多久就离开了。研究机构IBISWorld估计，美国的酒吧和夜店一年200亿~250亿美元的营业额中，利润有8亿美元，而且美国酒吧和夜店提供的资料其可信度相当高。

　　Asia could offer equally rich pickings. Pangaea's Singapore venue, for instance, is already claiming receipts of $160,000 a night. Michael Ault, Pangaea's owner, says that the key in Asia is to have "the most expensive of everything".

　　在亚洲市场也能轻轻松松地赚那么多钱。举例来说，位于新加坡的潘吉亚分店表示，其一晚的营业额已达16万美元。潘吉亚的老板Michael Ault说，在亚洲开夜店的秘诀在于提供的"一切东西都要是最贵的"。

　　Otherwise, the operating model is much the same as in the West. Raise money, find a dramatic space, befriend celebrities⁶, promote, promote and promote. "First you go for the A crowd," says Mr Ault. "You spend all your money on DJs and celebrities to build the brand. Then the A crowd moves on. So you go from the A crowd to the B crowd. Then you have to ask yourself: do you want the C crowd?"

　　除此以外，亚洲夜店的经营模式与西方的大同小异。募集资金，装修豪华，与名流交朋友，然后推广，推广，再推广。"首先你要争取到A类人，"Ault说，"你得在DJ和名流身上下重金，从而打造夜店的品牌。那么这些A类人便会成为常客。之后你的目标会从A类人转向B类人，接着你得问问自己：你还想要C类人成为你的消费群吗？"

　　Nightclubs are a risky⁷ business. Spreading your bets across regions ought to mitigate⁸ that risk. But venturing into unfamiliar⁹ cities can mean dealing¹⁰ with unfamiliar undesirables¹¹. As one nightclub owner puts it: "Anyone can walk in and say: ‘Get out, or your head is in the trunk of a car'."

　　开夜店存在着风险。不过在各个地区全面撒网应该能够降低这种风险，但冒险在不熟悉的城市开夜店便意味着需和不速之客打交道。正如一位夜店老板所说："任何人都能进来说：滚出去，否则让你脑袋搬家。"

　　Anita Elberse of Harvard Business School predicts that more clubs will do deals with hotels to penetrate¹² emerging markets. A rooftop club can make more money for a hotel than its rooms. Morgans Hotel Group, a luxury chain, last year bought the Light Group, a big American nightclub operator, for this reason. Andy Masi, the Light Group's boss, says that working with a hotel helps him meet the right people as he expands abroad.

　　哈佛商学院的Anita Elberse预计，会有更多的夜店与酒店联手打入新兴市场。酒店内的顶层夜店为其带来的利润远超其客房利润。正因如此，奢华连锁酒店摩根酒店集团去年买下了美国大型夜店莱特集团，该集团董事Andy Masi说，在他寻求海外扩张之际，与酒店联手能帮助他认识需要认识的人。

　　Some bars and clubs are using a novel technology to help partygoers decide where to party. SceneTap, an American start-up, uses cameras to scan the faces of those who enter and leave participating establishments. Its software then guesses each person's age and sex. Aggregated¹³ data are streamed to a website and mobile app. This allows punters to see which bars are busy, the average age of revellers and the all-important male-to-female ratio.

　　一些酒吧和夜店正运用新技术来帮助派对参加者决定去哪儿参加派对。美国软件新贵SceneTap使用摄像头扫描进出派对者的面部表情。随后，该软件便会分析猜测每个被扫描者的年龄及性别。数据汇总后会传输到网站和手机应用软件上。这便能使顾客了解哪家酒吧热闹，去酒吧的人的平均年龄以及最重要的男女比例。

　　Bar owners gain publicity¹⁴ and intelligence about their customers. Did a promotion¹⁵ aimed at women attract many? Since drinks are often paid for in cash and by men, it used to be hard to tell.

　　酒吧老板在为酒吧宣传的同时也获得了顾客的信息。针对女性做的宣传会吸引来更多的人吗？这很难说，因为饮品由男性以现金支付。

　　SceneTap's cameras are watching more than 100 American watering holes. But they are controversial. The app could make life irksome for large groups of women, by summoning hordes¹⁶ of predatory males. So SceneTap has fixed¹⁷ its software to mask extreme sex imbalances. That will please bar owners, who would prefer not to admit when they are packed with men. But it will disappoint precisely¹⁸ the people most likely to use the app.

　　美国有超过100家酒吧都安装了SceneTap的摄像头。但这些摄像头也引起了一些争议。因为该款软件会引来大批寻求伴侣的男性，这会令不少女性感到厌烦。因此SceneTap已对其软件作了改动，从而掩盖极端的性别失衡。这会受到酒吧老板的欢迎，因为酒吧老板们往往不会承认自己的店里都是男人。但是改动后的软件也会让最有可能使用该软件的人失望。

1 hardy   

adj.勇敢的，果断的，吃苦的；耐寒的

参考例句：

• The kind of plant is a hardy annual.这种植物是耐寒的一年生植物。
• He is a hardy person.他是一个能吃苦耐劳的人。

2 thronged   

v.成群，挤满( throng的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Mourners thronged to the funeral. 吊唁者蜂拥着前来参加葬礼。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The department store was thronged with people. 百货商店挤满了人。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 venue   

n.犯罪地点，审判地，管辖地，发生地点，集合地点

参考例句：

• The hall provided a venue for weddings and other functions.大厅给婚礼和其他社会活动提供了场所。
• The chosen venue caused great controversy among the people.人们就审判地点的问题产生了极大的争议。

4 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

5 pint   

n.品脱

参考例句：

• I'll have a pint of beer and a packet of crisps, please.我要一品脱啤酒和一袋炸马铃薯片。
• In the old days you could get a pint of beer for a shilling.从前，花一先令就可以买到一品脱啤酒。

6 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

7 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

8 mitigate   

vt.（使）减轻，（使）缓和

参考例句：

• The government is trying to mitigate the effects of inflation.政府正试图缓和通货膨胀的影响。
• Governments should endeavour to mitigate distress.政府应努力缓解贫困问题。

9 unfamiliar   

adj.陌生的，不熟悉的

参考例句：

• I am unfamiliar with the place and the people here.我在这儿人地生疏。
• The man seemed unfamiliar to me.这人很面生。

10 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

11 undesirables   

不受欢迎的人，不良分子( undesirable的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are guards at the door to keep out the undesirables. 门口有卫兵防止不良分子入内。
• The club hires a bouncer to keep out undesirables. 这个俱乐部雇用了一个保镳来驱逐捣乱分子。

12 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

13 aggregated   

a.聚合的，合计的

参考例句：

• He aggregated her to a political party. 他吸收她参加一政党。
• The audiences aggregated a million people. 观众总数达100万人。

14 publicity   

n.众所周知，闻名；宣传，广告

参考例句：

• The singer star's marriage got a lot of publicity.这位歌星的婚事引起了公众的关注。
• He dismissed the event as just a publicity gimmick.他不理会这件事，只当它是一种宣传手法。

15 promotion   

n.提升，晋级；促销，宣传

参考例句：

• The teacher conferred with the principal about Dick's promotion.教师与校长商谈了迪克的升级问题。
• The clerk was given a promotion and an increase in salary.那个职员升了级，加了薪。

16 hordes   

n.移动着的一大群( horde的名词复数 )；部落

参考例句：

• There are always hordes of tourists here in the summer. 夏天这里总有成群结队的游客。
• Hordes of journalists jostled for position outside the conference hall. 大群记者在会堂外争抢位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 fixed   

adj.固定的，不变的，准备好的；(计算机)固定的

参考例句：

• Have you two fixed on a date for the wedding yet?你们俩选定婚期了吗？
• Once the aim is fixed,we should not change it arbitrarily.目标一旦确定，我们就不应该随意改变。

18 precisely   

adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地

参考例句：

• It's precisely that sort of slick sales-talk that I mistrust.我不相信的正是那种油腔滑调的推销宣传。
• The man adjusted very precisely.那个人调得很准。