香蕉共和国的创富往事（节选）

    20世纪70年代末，香蕉共和国（Banana Republic）开创了一种市场营销的新形式——讲故事，它的商品目录中充斥着丛林徒步旅行与游猎的故事。曾经从事过新闻工作的梅尔•齐格勒（现年67岁）与帕特里夏•齐格勒（现年63岁）可谓点石成金。他们的新书《狂野公司：香蕉共和国不为人知的故事》（Wild Company: The Untold Story of Banana Republic）详细介绍了这家企业。Gap旗下的香蕉共和国如今已经成长为国际品牌。2012年前三个季度，它的净销售额高达20亿美元。齐格勒夫妇的故事如下：

    梅尔•齐格勒：我出生于斯克兰顿。父亲经营着一家小批发店，主要卖烟草、香烟和糖果等。我们当时一贫如洗。多亏了母亲勤俭持家，我们才得以艰难度日。

    帕特里夏•齐格勒：我父亲是威尔士人，母亲是意大利人，我从小在旧金山长大。虽然父亲当时兼了三份工，但家里仍然很困难。我是艺术生，无拘无束地从这所学校游荡到那所学校，从这个嬉皮士公社游荡到那个公社，直到有一天我该找工作了。

    梅尔：对我来说，新闻这一行非常有趣，而且生机勃勃，是个不错的谋生行当。我在哥伦比亚大学新闻学院（the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism）拿到了硕士学位后，与贝拉•阿布扎克合作撰写了一本有关她国会一年级生活的书。1972年，我驱车前往旧金山拜访一位朋友，然后，彻底爱上了这座城市。那个年代发生了很多事：帕蒂赫斯特绑架案，街头飞车党枪击事件，以及十二宫凶杀案。

    帕特里夏：我当时是《旧金山纪事报》（San Francisco Chronicle）的插图画家。1974年，我在公司的圣诞晚会上认识了梅尔。

    梅尔：我们当时才二十出头，都希望能出去见见世面。到了1977年，我们开始商量离开新闻业。有一天，帕特里夏告诉我她离职了。无独有偶，我在那天稍早一点的时间也从公司离职。我们真是心有灵犀一点通。

    帕特里夏：我们非常兴奋，但随后发现自由职业太不稳定了。

    梅尔：于是我在澳大利亚找了份杂志的工作。有一天，我在悉尼一家二手服装店闲逛，突然发现一件超赞的棉质卡其色外套，看着特像旅行夹克。帕特里夏去机场接我的时候，她一眼就看到了其中的商机。

    帕特里夏：我决定做一些改进。所以我在肘部用真皮打了补丁，把底袋的口袋盖取了下来，还把铜纽扣换成了木扣。它不再像是件军装，而是变成了一件游猎装。梅尔不论去哪儿都穿着它，好多人都问他：“你这件夹克在哪买的？”

    梅尔：我们发现了一大批各种各样的滞销货，决定换一种方式来销售它们，标榜它特立独行的个性，瞄准那些对时尚不感冒的人。

    帕特里夏：我们在奥克兰一家折扣店发现了许多老款的西班牙伞兵衬衫。经过一番讨价还价，以单价1.5美元买了500件。随后周末去了跳蚤市场，开始摆地摊销售。不过生意惨不忍睹，一天连10件都没卖出去。我们于是决定将售价翻倍，还给它们取了个响亮的名字——西班牙伞兵短袖衬衫。第二天我们大获全胜，卖了1,000多美元。梅尔提议：“我们得开家店了。”

    梅尔：所以6个星期后，也就是1978年11月，我们在米尔谷租了家店铺。我们动作神速，虽然当时几乎身无分文。

    帕特里夏：身无分文有时是个大利好，因为这时可以依靠的只有自己的想象力。

    梅尔：那时候，我们对商品目录、零售以及销售一无所知。我们只有1,500美元以及一张美国运通卡。我们争取到了协商赊购，所以公司现金流得到了保证。（财富中文网）

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    译者：项航

    In the late 1970S Banana Republic pioneered a new form of storytelling as marketing, filling its catalogues with tales of jungle treks and safaris. Former journalists Mel and Patricia Ziegler, now 67 and 63, respectively, spun their yarns into retail gold. The venture, detailed in their new book, Wild Company: The Untold Story of Banana Republic, became the international brand now owned by Gap, which had net sales of $2 billion in the first three quarters of 2012. Their story:

    Mel Ziegler: I grew up in Scranton, where my father had a small wholesale business selling tobacco, cigarettes, and candy. We had no money. My mother was good at making it happen on limited means.

    Patricia Ziegler: My father is from Wales, my mother is Italian, and I grew up in San Francisco. My father worked three jobs, and there was no money. I was an art major and moved through schools and communes as a free spirit until I needed a job.

    Mel: For me, journalism was an interesting and lively way to make a living. After graduating from the Columbia Graduate School of Journalism, I finished a book with Bella Abzug about her first year in Congress. In 1972 I drove out to visit a friend in San Francisco and ended up falling in love with the city. Those were the years of the Patty Hearst kidnapping, drive-by shootings on the streets, and the Zodiac killer.

    Patricia: I was working as an illustrator for the San Francisco Chronicle when I met Mel at the company Christmas party in 1974.

    Mel: We were in our twenties, and both of us wanted to see the world. By 1977 we were talking about leaving the paper. One day, Patricia came home and told me she'd just quit. I had quit earlier that day. We're very tuned in to each other.

    Patricia: We were excited, but discovered that freelancing wasn't steady work.

    Mel: Then I got a magazine assignment in Australia and walked into a surplus store in Sydney. I found an amazing cotton khaki jacket that looked like a safari jacket. When Patricia picked me up at the airport, she immediately saw its possibilities.

    Patricia: I decided to make some improvements. So I added leather elbow patches, took the flaps off the bottom pockets, and replaced the brass buttons with wooden buttons. It took it out of a military context and into a safari style. Mel wore it everywhere, and people asked, "Where did you get that jacket?"

    Mel: We found a huge cache of all kinds of surplus and decided to sell it in a new context, as cool clothing for people who didn't give a damn about fashion.

    Patricia: We found a pile of old Spanish paratrooper shirts in an Oakland warehouse, haggled a bit, and got 500 of them for $1.50 each. We went to a flea market that weekend but sold fewer than 10 shirts all day. So we decided to double the price and call them Short-Armed Spanish Paratrooper Shirts. We sold more than $1,000 the next day, and Mel said, "We need a store."

    Mel: So about six weeks later, in November 1978, we negotiated a lease on a store way off the track in Mill Valley. We went like lightning, even though we didn't have any money.

    Patricia: Having no money was a great asset because we had only our imagination.

    Mel: We didn't know anything about catalogues, retailing, or selling things. We had $1,500 and an American Express card. We were able to negotiate credit, so we kept ahead in the cash-flow department.