《乔布斯传》翻译笔记：苹果第三号人物的营销哲学

 《乔布斯传》自问世以来受到了全世界人民的关注，对此恒星英语推出《乔布斯传》翻译笔记系列，让我们在翻译学习中回顾乔帮主的伟大一生。第六章中，沃兹设计出了部件完整的一体机苹果二代。苹果公司的发展急需一位市场营销方面的人才，乔布斯挑中了33岁的迈克·马克库拉（Mike Markkula），他成为苹果的第一位投资人，在接下去的20年里对苹果的发展起着关键作用的角色。马克库拉是乔布斯的营销导师，正是他教给了乔布斯对产品的执着关注和对顾客体验的重视。马克库拉著名的“苹果营销哲学”指的是哪三点？

【英语原文】

Markkula would become a father figure to Jobs. Like Jobs’s adoptive father, he would indulge Jobs’s strong will, and like his biological father, he would end up abandoning him. He began to teach Jobs about marketing¹ and sales. “Mike really took me under his wing,” Jobs recalled. “His values were much aligned² with mine.” Markkula wrote his principles in a one-page paper titled “The Apple Marketing Philosophy” that stressed three points. The first was empathy, an intimate connection with the feelings of the customer: “We will truly understand their needs better than any other company.” The second was focus: “In order to do a good job of those things that we decide to do, we must eliminate all of the unimportant opportunities.” The third and equally important principle, awkwardly named, was impute³. It emphasized that people form an opinion about a company or product based on the signals that it conveys. “People DO judge a book by its cover,” he wrote. “We may have the best product, the highest quality, the most useful software etc.; if we present them in a slipshod manner, they will be perceived as slipshod; if we present them in a creative, professional manner, we will impute the desired qualities.” (Chapter 6 The Apple II: Mike Markkula)

【译文】

马克库拉之于乔布斯，是一个父亲的角色。他像是乔布斯的养父，放任乔布斯强烈的自我意愿；他又像是乔布斯的生父，最终还是把他抛弃。他开始手把手地传授乔布斯市场和营销的知识。乔布斯回忆道：“马克真的一直很照顾我，我们的价值观很一致。” 马克库拉把他的原则写在一张纸上，标题是“苹果营销哲学”，其中强调了三点：第一是共鸣，强调与客户情感的紧密联系。“我们会比其他任何公司都了解顾客的真正需求。”第二是专注，“为了做好我们决定去做的这些事情，我们必须拒绝掉所有无关紧要的机会。”第三个很重要的原则名称有些奇怪，叫灌输，这个原则强调的是人们对一个公司和产品的看法主要基于它所传递的信号。“人们真的会以貌取人。” 马克库拉在这一点中写到。“我们也许有最好的产品，最优的质量，最实用的软件，但是如果我们用粗糙马虎的方式展现，人们也会觉得我们的产品很差劲；如果我们用积极创意的方式，那么我们就会给顾客灌输这些品质要求。”

【翻译笔记】

1. take me under his wing：照顾、庇护、帮助（某人）。这个词语来源于鸟妈妈保护幼鸟的动作，那就是把幼鸟藏在自己的翅膀下。

I wouldn’t have gotten promoted as quickly if my boss hadn’t taken me under his wing at work. 如果不是我老板在工作中对我诸多照顾，我也不会升迁地这么快。

想要表达照顾、保护某人时，还有一个类似的短语：give wings

Megan’s history teacher give wings to her during her first semester in high school. 梅根的历史老师在她高中第一学期时真的给了她很多帮助。

2. impute: 本意是归罪、归咎、嫁祸，常用短语impute to。在这里表示将优质产品理念传递给顾客，所以译为灌输。

How dare you impute the failure to me? 你怎么能把失败怪罪到我头上？

It is preposterous⁴ to impute to mere⁵ external conditions. 仅仅以外部环境解释一切是不合理的。

3. judge a book by its cover：根据封面判断一本书，即为以貌取人，相当于judge people by looks/appearance.

4. 迈克·马克库拉的苹果营销哲学：

Empathy 共鸣 focus 专注 impute 灌输

1 marketing   

n.行销，在市场的买卖，买东西

参考例句：

• They are developing marketing network.他们正在发展销售网络。
• He often goes marketing.他经常去市场做生意。

2 aligned   

adj.对齐的，均衡的

参考例句：

• Make sure the shelf is aligned with the top of the cupboard.务必使搁架与橱柜顶端对齐。

3 impute   

v.归咎于

参考例句：

• I impute his failure to laziness.我把他的失败归咎于他的懒惰。
• It is grossly unfair to impute blame to the United Nations.把责任归咎于联合国极其不公。

4 preposterous   

adj.荒谬的，可笑的

参考例句：

• The whole idea was preposterous.整个想法都荒唐透顶。
• It would be preposterous to shovel coal with a teaspoon.用茶匙铲煤是荒谬的。

5 mere   

adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过

参考例句：

• That is a mere repetition of what you said before.那不过是重复了你以前讲的话。
• It's a mere waste of time waiting any longer.再等下去纯粹是浪费时间。