公司副总裁Lisa找到销售部经理Frank.

Lisa: Frank, we just got our sales figures in and the numbers are very disappointing. What’s going on here?

Frank: I haven’t actually seen the new figures. How far have we fallen?

L: We were in sixth place at the beginning of the year and we’ve now slipped to the eleventh! That’s a considerable drop.

F: Wow, that’s really bad news. Maybe we should brainstorm some ideas for a radical reinvention of our sales and marketing plan.

L: Yeah, let’s do that right now. What do you think the problem is?

公司副总裁Lisa找到销售部经理Frank, 因为最新销售数字很令人失望,年初的时候还排名第六,we’ve now slipped to the eleventh. 如今已经滑落到了第11位,下跌幅度很大,That’s a considerable drop. Frank听了这个坏消息,觉得应该 brainstorm some ideas,to brainstorm 是头脑风暴,集思广益的意思,看看怎样彻底调整一下公司的销售和市场规划。Lisa建议,择日不如撞日,说谈就谈,问Frank觉得问题出在哪里。

F: Well, it seems our competitors have managed to carve a niche in the market. They are now perceived as more “cool” or trendy than we are. Perhaps we should consider getting some celebrity endorsements.

L: You mean like a rock star or a famous sports figure?

F: Yeah, that might help. The person has to be seen as kind of a rebel so we can associate our brand with individuality.

L: That’s not a bad idea. I’ll talk to the Board of Directors about that.

F: I’d also suggest we reevaluate our packaging. Right now the box we sell our product in seems a little drab and colorless.

Frank说,公司的竞争对手 carved a niche in the market 在市场中找到了属于自己的一块地方,niche is spelled n-i-c-h-e, niche 是缝隙的意思,动词 carve 是雕刻,划出的意思。Frank说,现在消费者都觉得公司竞争对手的产品更时尚,因此不妨找两个名人,给公司做产品代言,get some celebrity endorsements, 但选择的名人一定要带有反叛色彩,让用户觉得我们的产品有个性化,individuality. Frank 还建议,眼下的产品包装有些呆板,a little drab, 可以考虑变化一下。Lisa说:

L: Yes, we could redesign our packaging. But on the other hand, there is a recent trend to move away from excessive packaging. You know…to help save the environment.

F: That’s another way we could go. We could reduce our packaging, and then advertise our environmentally-friendly business policies. Being “green” is definitely cool these days. Perhaps environmentally-friendly packaging would appeal to a younger customer demographic.

Lisa说,如今的趋势是放弃过度包装,实现包装简单化,因为这样做有利环保 environmentally-friendly. Frank觉得Lisa说得有道理,公司在包装上可以走环保路线,用环保的新思维来吸引年轻客户群,appeal to 是吸引的意思,demographic is spelled d-e-m-o-g-r-a-p-h-i-c, demographic 在这里指的是消费人群中的一部分。