姓易 第3期

In the topsy-turvy world of globaleconomics, Rockwell Automation Inc。hasfound an ingenious new inroad into China:

在全球化经济体系陷入混乱时。罗克韦尔自动化公司却独具匠心地找到一条通往中国的捷径。

It put up an ad in downtown Milwaukee。

该公司在密尔沃基市中心设置了一块广告牌。

The Fortune 500 engineering companyis advertising at courtside during MilwaukeeBucks’games, which this year are beingbroadcast in China because of the arrivalof Yi Jianlian, the Buck’s top choice in lastyear’s NBA draft。In Yi’s native China，wherebasketball ranks as the national pastime，Yi stirsnothing short of Brett Favre-like fan fervor。

其实这家名列“财富世界500强”之一的工程自动化企业只是在在密尔沃基雄鹿主场设置了广告牌。由于雄鹿用手中的最高选秀顺位选中了易建联。他的到来也使得该队的比赛得以在中国进行现场直播。在易建联的家乡中国。篮球已经成为一项盛行的休闲运动。因此他所引起的球迷疯狂程度丝毫不逊于布雷特・法弗。

Rockwell’s ads, displayed in waist-highChinese characters, are jarring enough tomake local fans wonder where in the worldthe Bucks are playing。After all, the ads aredirected at sports bars in Shanghai and factorydormitories in Guangdong。

罗克韦尔的中文广告有齐腰那么高足以让当地球迷感到相当不适应。他们甚至会感到迷惑雄鹿到底是在哪里打球?毕竟，这些广告的目标受众是上海的运动酒吧和广东工厂宿舍里的人们。

The Bucks charge sums into six figuresfor what amounts to at least one cumulativeminute of exposure to some 150 millionChinese par game。

为此。雄鹿开出六位数的广告费天价。付出的代价只是在每场比赛中。让这些广告至少在总共一分钟的时间里在多达1.5亿人眼前得以曝光。

“We’re doing this solely to target ourChinese customers，”said Rockwell spokesmanJohn Bemaden。

“我们这么做，完全是为了针对我们的中国客户，”罗克韦尔发言人约翰・伯纳登如是说，

Marketing to the world's most populousnation and fastest-growing major economy isa new endeavor for the Bucks，but one withthe potential to grow for as long as Yi stayson the roster，Companies from Microsoft andMcDonald’s to Mercedes all hanker for a biggerslice of China’s growing economic pie，

对世界上人口最多的国度和增长速度最快的主要经济体之一展开市场营销。对于雄鹿来说是一种全新尝试，但只要易留在队中，这种尝试却有潜力继续发展下去。从微软麦当劳，到奔驰，都无比渴望在中国经济不断增长的蛋糕中分得更大的一块。

The Fujian Peak, which says it holds thelargest market share in China for athletic shoes,also took out a courtside ad in Milwaukee，even though its headquarters are in China，

自称已经在中国的运动鞋市场上占据了最大份额的福建匹克集团，也在密尔沃基市内竖起了一块户外广告，尽管它的总部远在中国。

“It’s about building their brand in China,”Bucks business manager John Steinmiller said。

“这样做的目的是为了在中国打造品牌(竞争力)，”雄鹿商务经理约翰・斯泰恩米勒说。

To the Bucks, Steinmiller said, Yirepresents “the same phenomenon”asMichael Jordan or Tiger Woods。

对于雄鹿斯泰恩米勒说，易就如同迈克尔・乔丹或者伍兹一样。代表着“一种现象”。

Fujian Peak’s ads rotate every fewminutes with Rockwell’s on a rolling courtsidebanner，interspersed with a few English-language advertisements。

每隔几分钟，福建匹克和罗克韦尔的广告就在一块场边广告牌上不断翻转着其他一些英文广告则变成了零星点缀。

For now，Rockwell and Peak are the onlytwo advertisers using the Chinese language，The Bucks are seeking others。

就目前而言，罗克韦尔和匹克是(布拉德利中心)唯一使用中文的广告商，不过雄鹿还在寻找其他的合作伙伴。

All of this is a run-up to the season’smega-marketing opportunity on Feb，2， whenthe Houston Rockets play in Milwaukee in agame that pits Yi against Yao Ming。

这一切只不过是前奏而已。2月2日休斯敦火箭将做客密尔沃基，易建联也将和姚明对抗，这堪称本赛季最大规模的市场营销机会。

In the first Yi-Yao match in November-theRockets beat the Bucks 104-88 in Houston-an estimated 200 million Chinese tuned in，double the 92 million Americans who watchedthe last Super Bowl。

11月姚易第一场较量，火箭主场以104比88击败雄鹿，预计有2亿中国人观看这场球，比起上届超级碗的9200万美国观众，足足多倍。

At least 10 Chinese media outletshave signed up to cover the Feb，2game，the Bucks said，All told，35Bucks games will be broadcast inChina this season，21 of them fromthe Bradley Cente。

雄鹿队声称，至少10家中国媒体平台已经签约报道2月2日的这场比赛。本赛季，也将有总共35场比赛在中国境内进行直播其中21场比赛的直播信号是从布拉德利中心传出的。

Milwaukee-based Rockwell，which does business in 80 nations，is hardly a newcomer to China，Itentered the Chinese market in 1986，andalthough it won’t disclose its China sales，itsays its industrial automation business in Asiais growing by 20% a year，Its Bradley Centerad simply says，“Rockwell Automation，”inMandarin。

总部设在密尔沃基的罗克韦尔在全球80多个国家开展业务，早在1986年该公司就进入了中国市场。尽管他们并不愿意透露其在中国的销售额但该公司称其在亚洲范围内的工业自动化业务正以每年20％的速度增长。他们在布拉德利中心的广告很简单中文书写的“罗克韦尔自动化”。

“That game on Feb，2 alone is whatmotivated us to advertise with the MilwaukeeBucks，”Rockwell’s Bernaden said。

“仅2月2日的那场比赛就促使我们雄鹿主场投放广告，”罗克韦尔公司的伯纳登说。

Television is not the only medium for Yi’smillions of fans，They also can track his everypoint and rebound on a handful of Chinese-language Web sites。

对易建联数以百万计的球迷来说，电视不只是了解他的唯一途径。他们同样可以通过为数众多的中文网站追踪他的每次得分和每个篮板。

The Bucks’own site，Bucks。com，receivessome 2，000 Chinese visits on an average daywhich accounts for nearly a fifth of the site’stotal traffic。

Bucks，com，平均每天会有2000次来自中国的点击，几乎是该网站总访问量的五分之一。

The numbers spike each time Yi puts ina strong performance，On Dec。23，the dayafter he scored a career-high 29 points with10 rebounds at home against the Bobcats，thenumber of individual Chinese viewers surged to7，366，meaning 35% of all Bucks。com trafficcame from the other side of the world。

每当易有表现优异，这些数字就会不断刷新纪录。12月23日，也就是易建联在雄鹿主场对阵夏洛特山猫的比赛中得到职业生涯最高的29分和10个篮板之后的那天。来自中国的点击次数激增到7366次，这意味着Bucks。com的访问量中，有35％来自地球的另一端。

Journalists from at least six Chinese onlinemedia，magazines and national broadcastershave moved to Milwaukee to feed the mediaappetite back home。Before and after homegames，they form a gaggle around Yi in thelocker room。

来自至少6家中国网站杂志和全国性电视台的记者已经来到密尔沃基，以满足各自受众对于易建联新闻的渴望。比赛前后，他们都会在更衣室里将易建联团团围住。

“There’s a lot of debate about Yao versusYi on Web sites，about who’s more promising，”said one of them。

其中一位记者说“在网络上已经有很多针对姚VS易的争论，他们在谈论谁更有潜力”。

The athlete who generates suchfascination is so soft-spoken that onesometimes needs to stain to hear him。

让人如此着迷的运动员讲起话来却是和风细雨，有时候你需要竖起耳朵才能听见。

Although the Bucks may be playingnear the bottom of their division，Yi so faris outperforming expectations。Through theweekend，he’s averaging 10.2 points andsix rebounds a game。The NBA named him

Rookie of the Month for December。

尽管雄鹿也许是其所在赛区的底层球队但到目前为止易的表现已经远远超过人们对他的期望。到本周为止。他场均得到10.省略，with“Love YJL。”

在每场比赛之前，队友迈克尔里德和易都要彼此弯腰鞠躬，以示对(中国)文化的尊重。易在他的全中文网站的博客中留下了自己的签名，还写了一句“爱YJL”。

Of course，he also signs his name onproduct endorsements。

当然他也在产品赞助合同上签了名。

Yi is beginning to appear on billboardsaround China，although not yet as ubiquitouslyas Yao Ming，said the Steinmiller.He’s aspokesman for McDonald’s。“And he has somethings scheduled in the next few months。”

斯泰恩米勒说，尽管还没有像姚明的广告那样随处可见，但易已经开始出现在中国各地的户外广告牌上。他是麦当劳的中国代言人，“未来几个月里，他还会陆续签署些赞助合约。”

The 2008 Olympics are to be held inBeijing，and basketball is now so establishedthat some Chinese players - particularly YaoMing - have become international stars。Yiand Yao both are expected to play for China’snational team，becoming the host nation’s facefor the Beijing Games in August。

奥运会即将在北京举行，而且篮球运动已经相当流行，一些中国球员――尤其是姚明已成为国际球星。易和姚都将代表中国队参加奥运会也将是今年8月北京奥运的招牌人物。

Yi’s fans show their affection wheneverthey can。“The 7-foot forward holds the No。5 spot among Eastern Conference forwardsfor the 2008 NBA All-Star Game - which isremarkable because Yi，like most rookies，does not even appear on the ballot。

不论何时，球迷们都在表露着他们对于易的喜爱。这位7尺前锋目前在2008NBA全明星赛投票中的得票数位列东部前锋第五――这一点非常难得，因为和大多数新秀一样易的名字并没有被列入投票候选人名单中。

The Bucks，surely have a pretty good ideawhere many of these“write-in”votes，enteredvia the intemet，are coming from。

很多这样通过互联网投给这位非候选人的选票来自何方，雄鹿自然心知肚明。