英国卫报:小冰块下的大生意(9)

The epochal significance of the Super Cube should not be overlooked in an industry in which meaningful innovation has typically been considered close to impossible.

在一个有意义的创新通常被认为近乎不可能的行业中，超级立方体的划时代意义不应被忽视。

As the explosion in bottled water brands in the past few decades has shown, it is possible to persuade consumers of the need to buy something that they could quite easily obtain for themselves out of a tap.

正如过去几十年瓶装水品牌的爆炸式增长所表明的那样，说服消费者购买他们可以很容易从水龙头里获得的东西是有可能的。

But ice's main job is to be cold – in most applications, a distinctive¹ taste would be a flaw – and so The Ice Co has had to work harder than any water brand to diversify².

但冰的主要工作是降温——独特的口味在大多数应用中会是一个缺陷——因此The Ice Co必须比任何水品牌都要更加努力地实现多样化。

Pressure from retailers³ to come up with the next big thing in ice is constant.

零售商们不断施加压力，要求他们推出一款新的冰产品。

Within The Ice Co this has resulted in some ideas perhaps best left at the bar.

至此The Ice Co内部涌现了一些比较适合应用于酒吧的创意。

There were ice shot glasses (the product of a Jagerbomb-fuelled brainstorming⁴ session; "very, very gimmicky⁵", admitted Metcalfe).

有冰酒杯（野格炸弹式头脑风暴会议的产物，梅特卡夫承认“非常、非常有噱头”）。

There was the Ice & Easy brand of slushie cocktails⁶ – margaritas, mojitos, daiquiris, pina coladas – that arrived in a ready-to-pour freezer pouch⁷.

还有Ice & Easy品牌的冰沙鸡尾酒——玛格丽塔酒、莫吉托、代基里酒、皮尼亚科拉达——装在冷藏袋里。

There were Ice & Slice mixed bags of ice and sliced lemon or lime ("launched too early", admitted Woolhouse).

还有Ice & Slice混合袋装的冰块和切片柠檬或青柠（伍尔豪斯承认“推出得太早了”）。

There has even been talk of glitter-infused ice, and iced baubles⁸ – although, at the time of writing, neither of those has made it past the product development triage process.

甚至还有人谈论加入有闪光元素的冰块和用冰做的小玩意儿——尽管在撰写本文时它们都还没有通过产品开发的筛选过程。

Whatever The Ice Co is selling, there remains⁹ the tricky¹⁰ question of how to sell it.

无论The Ice Co卖的是什么，如何销售仍是一个棘手的问题。

In the US, the approach to marketing¹¹ packaged ice revolves¹² around a single idea: fear.

在美国，推销包装冰的方法只有一个理念：恐惧。

Visit the International Packaged Ice Association's website today and the same slogan blares out from the homepage header as it has for years: "ICE IS FOOD!"

今天访问国际包装冰协会的网站，你会发现多年来其首页的标题从未改变：“冰是食物!”

This central marketing message, that ice is a "forgotten food", as susceptible¹³ to contaminants as meat or fresh vegetables,

冰是一种“被遗忘的食物”，像肉类和新鲜蔬菜一样容易受到污染物的影响，

communicates the one clear advantage of packaged ice: the manufacturer's control over the conditions in which it is made.

这一核心营销信息传达了包装冰的一个明显优势：制造商对生产条件的控制。

The Ice Co's strategy has been different.

The Ice Co的营销策略则有所不同。

The product in question is undeniably cold – temperatures in The Ice Co's factory hover¹⁴ around 4-5°C, and in cold storage they plummet¹⁵ to -20°C – but ice is not without its warmer associations.

不可否认，该产品是冷的——Ice Co工厂的温度在4-5度左右徘徊，而在冷藏库中则骤降至零下20摄氏度——但冰并非没有温暖的联想。

Ice means weddings and parties and festivals or even something as simple but delightful¹⁶ as that first drink at the end of a long day.

冰的意思是婚礼、派对、节日，甚至是一些像漫长一天结束后的第一杯饮料这样简单但令人愉快的事情。

In Woolhouse's words: "It's not just frozen water, you're not buying ice – you're buying that occasion. That's what you're buying into – what would a party be without ice?"

用伍尔豪斯的话说：“这不仅仅是冰冻的水，你不是在买冰，你买的是那个场合。这才是你买的东西——聚会怎能没有冰块呢？”

As heartwarming as the sentiment may be, the Covid-19 pandemic has raised a different question: what would ice be without a party?

尽管这种情绪可能是令人感动的，但新冠疫情引发了一个不同的问题：如果没有聚会，冰产业会怎么样？

What should have been a banner year for The Ice Co has instead forced it to refocus, and work out how best to plot a course through a new set of obstacles.

对The Ice Co来说今年本应是辉煌的一年，但它却不得不重新聚焦并找出克服一系列新的障碍的最佳途径。

A quirk¹⁷ of water is that it expands as it freezes, meaning that ice is capable of breaching¹⁸ even the most concerted attempts to confine it.

水的一个奇特之处在于它在结冰时会膨胀，这意味着冰能够打破即便是最顽固的用来限制它的困难。

Is 2020 the year that ice escapes The Ice Co's grasp?

2020年是否会是冰块逃出“The Ice Co”掌控的一年呢？

1 distinctive   

adj.特别的，有特色的，与众不同的

参考例句：

• She has a very distinctive way of walking.她走路的样子与别人很不相同。
• This bird has several distinctive features.这个鸟具有几种突出的特征。

2 diversify   

v.（使）不同，（使）变得多样化

参考例句：

• Our company is trying to diversify.我们公司正力图往多样化方面发展。
• Hills and woods diversify the landscape.山陵和树木点缀景色。

3 retailers   

零售商，零售店( retailer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• High street retailers reported a marked increase in sales before Christmas. 商业街的零售商报告说圣诞节前销售量显著提高。
• Retailers have a statutory duty to provide goods suitable for their purpose. 零售商有为他们提供符合要求的货品的法定义务。

4 brainstorming   

献计献策,合力攻关

参考例句：

• With Brainstorming, treat the view on how to solve the problem rightly. 利用脑激励法(Brainstorming)，正确对待学生实验中的问题解决观。
• We are going to do some brainstorming soon. 我们很快就要做些脑力激荡。

5 gimmicky   

adj.诡计的，骗人的

参考例句：

• A gimmicky or imbalanced team relies on one powerful tactic to win. 投机取巧的团队依靠单一的强力战术制胜。 来自互联网

6 cocktails   

n.鸡尾酒( cocktail的名词复数 )；餐前开胃菜；混合物

参考例句：

• Come about 4 o'clock. We'll have cocktails and grill steaks. 请四点钟左右来，我们喝鸡尾酒，吃烤牛排。 来自辞典例句
• Cocktails were a nasty American habit. 喝鸡尾酒是讨厌的美国习惯。 来自辞典例句

7 pouch   

n.小袋，小包，囊状袋；vt.装...入袋中，用袋运输；vi.用袋送信件

参考例句：

• He was going to make a tobacco pouch out of them. 他要用它们缝制一个烟草袋。
• The old man is always carrying a tobacco pouch with him.这老汉总是随身带着烟袋。

8 baubles   

n.小玩意( bauble的名词复数 )；华而不实的小件装饰品；无价值的东西；丑角的手杖

参考例句：

• The clothing category also includes jewelry and similar baubles. 服饰大类也包括珠宝与类似的小玩意。 来自互联网
• The shop sells baubles as well. 这家商店也销售廉价珠宝。 来自互联网

9 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

10 tricky   

adj.狡猾的，奸诈的；(工作等)棘手的，微妙的

参考例句：

• I'm in a rather tricky position.Can you help me out?我的处境很棘手，你能帮我吗？
• He avoided this tricky question and talked in generalities.他回避了这个非常微妙的问题，只做了个笼统的表述。

11 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。

12 revolves   

v.（使）旋转( revolve的第三人称单数 )；细想

参考例句：

• The earth revolves both round the sun and on its own axis. 地球既公转又自转。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Thus a wheel revolves on its axle. 于是，轮子在轴上旋转。 来自《简明英汉词典》

13 susceptible   

adj.过敏的，敏感的；易动感情的，易受感动的

参考例句：

• Children are more susceptible than adults.孩子比成人易受感动。
• We are all susceptible to advertising.我们都易受广告的影响。

14 hover   

vi.翱翔，盘旋；徘徊；彷徨，犹豫

参考例句：

• You don't hover round the table.你不要围着桌子走来走去。
• A plane is hover on our house.有一架飞机在我们的房子上盘旋。

15 plummet   

vi.(价格、水平等)骤然下跌；n.铅坠；重压物

参考例句：

• Mengniu and Yili have seen their shares plummet since the incident broke.自事件发生以来，蒙牛和伊利的股票大幅下跌。
• Even if rice prices were to plummet,other brakes on poverty alleviation remain.就算大米价格下跌，其它阻止导致贫困的因素仍然存在。

16 delightful   

adj.令人高兴的，使人快乐的

参考例句：

• We had a delightful time by the seashore last Sunday.上星期天我们在海滨玩得真痛快。
• Peter played a delightful melody on his flute.彼得用笛子吹奏了一支欢快的曲子。

17 quirk   

n.奇事，巧合；古怪的举动

参考例句：

• He had a strange quirk of addressing his wife as Mrs Smith.他很怪，把自己的妻子称作史密斯夫人。
• The most annoying quirk of his is wearing a cap all the time.他最令人感到厌恶的怪癖就是无论何时都戴著帽子。

18 breaching   

攻破( breach的过去式 )； 破坏，违反

参考例句：

• The company was prosecuted for breaching the Health and Safety Act. 这家公司被控违反《卫生安全条例》。
• Third, an agency can abuse its discretion by breaching certain principles of judge-made law. 第三，行政机关会因违反某些法官制定的法律原则而构成滥用自由裁量权。