????天花亂墜的廣告宣傳，尤其是獲得媒體的追蹤報道，是所有創業公司的目標。但一些中國企業正將“炒作式宣傳”提升到一個新的高度。

????就以小牛電動車公司為例。今年夏天開始在中國大陸地區銷售面向上班族市場的電動車時，這家公司采用了低價銷售策略和大膽的市場營銷手段，而這正是小米智能手機在中國一炮而紅的秘訣。

????每個中國城市都有大量兩點一線的上班族，他們擠滿了各個十字路口，在川流不息的交通中伺機前行。盡管中國變得越來越富裕，但即便是在北京、上海、廣州等大城市，按照西方標準來看，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，電動車通常是一個家庭在智能手機之后最大宗的消費品購買開支。

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

????在最低4000元人民幣（630美元）的價位上，小牛N1電動車提供了令人心動的性能，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，類似配置的頂級電動車雅馬哈Metis GTS，需要在門店內通過一番討價還價才能以7000元人民幣（1100美元）購得。

????不過事情沒有這么簡單。就像故意削減手機供應量，以減小存貨損失、制造噱頭的小米一樣，小牛電動只是小批次地銷售產品。

????這款電動車于今年6月首次上市。用戶需要登錄京東上一個類似Kickstarter眾籌活動的頁面申請購買——共有1.6萬輛電動車在售。只有當該活動募集到500萬人民幣（79萬美元），電動車才會開始銷售。

????當然，這個活動成功了。

????直到三個月之后，第二批5000輛電動車才開售。這次小規模銷售只持續了1小時43分鐘。公司網站的標題醒目地強調了這個記錄：1小時43分鐘。

????類似Kickstarter的眾籌活動讓中國的創業公司營造出供不應求的火爆假象。傳統電動車的售價中有三分之一被低效的銷售途徑拿走——從銷售人員到倉儲庫存再到零售商。小牛成功地在一個成熟行業中開辟出一片新天地，為自己贏得了一些聲譽，但恐怕只有理念相同的營銷商才會贊賞這種銷售方式吧。（財富中文網）

????譯者：嚴匡正

????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.