【每日英语科技新闻】Day 2: TikTok如何引领商业风向？
[每日英文科技新闻] [Day 2]
How TikTok Virality Can Disrupt Business?
总结自WSJ Tech News Briefing
Social media app TikTok, owned by its parent company ByteDance, has revolutionized how businesses market their products and how they strategize their research and development cycles. This platform, which has become a billion-person focus group, prompts businesses to adapt swiftly to trends, often leading to rushed mass production or adjustments to existing products based on rapidly changing user feedback. One such example is Tarte Cosmetics, which noticed a trend for color-changing products on TikTok and expedited their development process to create a similar product, significantly reducing the normal 12-18 months cycle to just three months.
字节跳动旗下的社交媒体应用TikTok，彻底颠覆了企业的产品营销和研发策略。作为一个拥有十亿用户的巨大聚焦群体的平台，TikTok使得企业必须快速适应流行趋势，有时甚至要根据用户的即时反馈迅速调整产品，或者加快批量生产的步伐。比如，美妆品牌Tarte Cosmetics在TikTok上发现了变色产品的热潮，为了紧跟潮流，他们缩短了原本需要12-18个月的研发周期，只用了三个月就推出了类似产品。
However, the speed of trend adaptation can also lead to challenges. For example, when a Chipotle menu hack went viral on TikTok, the restaurant chain found itself overwhelmed with orders for off-menu items, causing significant disruptions. Ultimately, Chipotle decided to incorporate the viral item into their permanent menu.
然而，快速适应流行趋势也会带来挑战。例如，Chipotle 在 TikTok 上走红的一种秘制菜式引发了海量订单，但餐厅无法满足客户需求，导致业务受到影响。最终，Chipotle 只能将这种爆火的菜式加入常规菜单。
While companies are often reacting to trends post-viral, some are becoming more proactive by having dedicated teams monitoring TikTok for emerging trends. However, the algorithm's unpredictability means that companies can sometimes go viral for the wrong reasons, like car company Kia did when videos of their cars being stolen became popular.
尽管大多数企业是在流行趋势形成后才开始采取行动，但也有一些企业已经开始更主动地应对，成立专门的团队来监测 TikTok 上的新兴趋势。然而，算法的不可预测性也意味着企业有时会因负面事件而意外获得关注，比如汽车品牌 Kia 就曾因其汽车被盗的视频在 TikTok 上走红备受关注。
重点表达：
- Billion-person focus group (十亿人的焦点小组): A term used to describe how a large number of people can provide feedback on trends or products.
- Example: Social media has turned into a billion-person focus group, giving instant feedback on new product launches.
- Mass-produce (大规模生产): To produce very large amounts of something, often using machinery.
- Example: The company is planning to mass-produce the new model next month.
- Expedite (加快): To make a process or action happen more quickly.
- Example: The manager expedited the project to meet the deadline.
- Go viral (爆火): Refers to something, usually a piece of information or a trend, that quickly spreads on the internet.
- Example: The funny video went viral, and millions of people saw it within a day.
- Hack (窍门): A clever solution to a tricky problem
- Example: She discovered a hack to make the computer run faster.
