????天花亂墜的廣告宣傳，尤其是獲得媒體的追蹤報(bào)道，是所有創(chuàng)業(yè)公司的目標(biāo),。但一些中國(guó)企業(yè)正將“炒作式宣傳”提升到一個(gè)新的高度,。

????就以小牛電動(dòng)車公司為例。今年夏天開始在中國(guó)大陸地區(qū)銷售面向上班族市場(chǎng)的電動(dòng)車時(shí),，這家公司采用了低價(jià)銷售策略和大膽的市場(chǎng)營(yíng)銷手段,，而這正是小米智能手機(jī)在中國(guó)一炮而紅的秘訣。

????每個(gè)中國(guó)城市都有大量?jī)牲c(diǎn)一線的上班族,，他們擠滿了各個(gè)十字路口,，在川流不息的交通中伺機(jī)前行。盡管中國(guó)變得越來(lái)越富裕,，但即便是在北京,、上海、廣州等大城市,，按照西方標(biāo)準(zhǔn)來(lái)看,，居民的生活依舊屬于貧困水平。北京居民的人均可支配收入僅為6600美元,。因此,，電動(dòng)車通常是一個(gè)家庭在智能手機(jī)之后最大宗的消費(fèi)品購(gòu)買開支。

????小牛電動(dòng)車徑直模仿了小米的營(yíng)銷手段,。為降低成本而摒棄傳統(tǒng)的店面和廣告,，這家公司用盡一切辦法大肆宣傳，營(yíng)造出一種供不應(yīng)求的假象,。

????在最低4000元人民幣（630美元）的價(jià)位上,，小牛N1電動(dòng)車提供了令人心動(dòng)的性能，其中包括由博世制造的前后輪碟式剎車,，50公里的最高時(shí)速,，每次充滿電可跑80公里的鋰離子電池。相較之下,，類似配置的頂級(jí)電動(dòng)車雅馬哈Metis GTS,，需要在門店內(nèi)通過一番討價(jià)還價(jià)才能以7000元人民幣（1100美元）購(gòu)得。

????不過事情沒有這么簡(jiǎn)單,。就像故意削減手機(jī)供應(yīng)量,，以減小存貨損失、制造噱頭的小米一樣,，小牛電動(dòng)只是小批次地銷售產(chǎn)品,。

????這款電動(dòng)車于今年6月首次上市。用戶需要登錄京東上一個(gè)類似Kickstarter眾籌活動(dòng)的頁(yè)面申請(qǐng)購(gòu)買——共有1.6萬(wàn)輛電動(dòng)車在售,。只有當(dāng)該活動(dòng)募集到500萬(wàn)人民幣（79萬(wàn)美元）,，電動(dòng)車才會(huì)開始銷售,。

????當(dāng)然，這個(gè)活動(dòng)成功了,。

????直到三個(gè)月之后,，第二批5000輛電動(dòng)車才開售。這次小規(guī)模銷售只持續(xù)了1小時(shí)43分鐘,。公司網(wǎng)站的標(biāo)題醒目地強(qiáng)調(diào)了這個(gè)記錄：1小時(shí)43分鐘。

????類似Kickstarter的眾籌活動(dòng)讓中國(guó)的創(chuàng)業(yè)公司營(yíng)造出供不應(yīng)求的火爆假象,。傳統(tǒng)電動(dòng)車的售價(jià)中有三分之一被低效的銷售途徑拿走——從銷售人員到倉(cāng)儲(chǔ)庫(kù)存再到零售商,。小牛成功地在一個(gè)成熟行業(yè)中開辟出一片新天地，為自己贏得了一些聲譽(yù),，但恐怕只有理念相同的營(yíng)銷商才會(huì)贊賞這種銷售方式吧,。（財(cái)富中文網(wǎng)）

????譯者：嚴(yán)匡正

????審校：任文科

????Hype, especially in the press, is the goal of any startup. But the Chinese are going to new lengths to manufacture it.

????Take Niu (buffalo), which started selling mopeds this summer in mainland China and takes on the commuter market with the same low-cost-distribution strategy and brazen marketing that have made Xiaomi smartphones a hit in China.

????Every Chinese city has herds of moped commuters taking up entire intersections and managing to avoid bulldozing each other. Despite China’s rising wealth, even the country’s major cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, remain poor by Western standards. Per capita disposable income in Beijing is $6,600. A moped is usually a household’s second biggest purchase after a smartphone.

????Niu’s pitch is straight out of Xiaomi’s playbook. Focus on specs, save margins by forgetting about traditional stores and advertising, and go to any length to build hype and the illusion of scarcity.

????The Niu N1 moped offers impressive specifications for the lowest 4,000 yuan ($630) price, including disc brakes in the front and rear manufactured by Bosch, a top speed of 50km/hr, and lithium-ion powered battery capable of traveling 80 km on one charge. The highest quality bike with similar specs by comparison, Yamaha’s Metis GTS model in Beijing, runs 7,000 yuan ($1,100) after some in-store haggling.

????The bike first went on sale in June. Users joined an imitation Kickstarter campaign hosted on JD.com JD -4.82% to apply for one of 16,000 bikes on sale. Only if 50 million yuan ($7.9 million) was raised would the bikes be sold.

????Of course, it was raised.

????Only yesterday, three months later, did another batch of 5,000 bikes go on sale. The tiny supply lasted all of an hour and forty-three minutes. Headlines blared the record: 1 hour and 43 minutes.

????The Kickstarter-like campaigns offer companies the opportunity to create the illusion of overwhelming demand and tight supply. And while Niu wins some credit for taking on an established moped industry, where at least a third of a traditional bike’s price is to compensate for an inefficient delivery method—retail stores to warehouse inventory and sales staff to sell inventory—only a fellow marketer could love how they sell them.