As any guy knows, it can be tough to get a woman's telephone number.
每一个小伙子都知道，想要到女孩的电话号码可不容易。
Apparently, it's a little easier if she is riding in a taxi and a computer does the asking.
不过，如果她碰巧坐在出租车里，她的面前碰巧有一个触摸屏要求她输入手机号码，那么事情可能会好办一点。
About two years ago, Shanghai in-taxi marketing company Touchmedia began designing promotions and games that asked participants to enter their contact details in the touch-screen advertising devices it installs in Chinese cabs.
大约两年前，上海一家专门在出租车内进行营销的企业触动传媒(Touchmedia)开始设计一类促销活动和游戏，此类促销活动和游戏要求乘客在安装于车内的广告触摸屏设备上输入联系方式。
Touchmedia initially expected to pick up a few thousand contacts a month, says Neil Ducray, the privately held company's managing director. In fact, Touchmedia says around a half million cell-phone numbers get punched into its system monthly.
这家私人控股公司的董事总经理杜格礼(Neil Ducray)说，触动传媒最初预计每月能收集数千个联系电话。但事实上该公司的系统每月收集了大约50万个手机号码。
'They do it for coupons, for discounts, for information...for all sorts of things,' Mr. Ducray told a small group Friday on a tour of the company's headquarters. 'We were completely amazed at what people will provide information for,' he said.
杜格礼上周五对少数在该公司总部进行参观的人士说，乘客输入手机号码有的是为了得到优惠券，有的是为了能够打折，有的是为了寻找信息，他们的目的各种各样。他说，乘客提供自己联系方式的初衷令我们非常惊讶。
Female taxi riders, Mr. Ducray says, are somewhat more apt to type in their mobile number than the male riders.
杜格礼说，与男性乘客相比，女性乘客输入自己手机号码的可能性更高。
The advertising screens have their critics, most notably taxi passengers, many of whom have complained that the ads are distracting. During Mr. Ducray's presentation Friday, he leapt to shut off an office demo unit when it blasted an ad of a man standing in a jungle. 'Silent button -- very useful,' Mr. Ducray said.
也有人对广告屏幕提出了批评，其中最突出的是出租车乘客，他们中的很多人抱怨说播放广告会分散注意力。杜格礼上周五在向来宾介绍业务时，演示用的触摸屏在大声播放一则广告（广告内容是一个男子站在丛林中），他只动了一个按钮就关闭了触摸屏。他说，这是免打扰键，非常有用。
But Mr. Ducray says promotions keep viewers engaged. Event tickets, trips, electronics and even a few gulps of soda are some of the things that have enticed cab passengers to turn over their numbers. 'They're sitting there with nothing to do, so they say, 'Why don't I enter?'' he notes.
但杜格礼说，乘客对促销活动的参与度很高。赛事门票、免费旅游、电子产品甚至是几瓶饮料都能诱使乘客输入手机号码。杜格礼说，他们坐在那里无事可做，所以他们会想，为什么不输入号码呢？
Mr. Ducray says that unlike in Western countries where advertisers want home and email addresses, marketers in China almost exclusively want mobile numbers. 'Your phone number you hold onto a long, long time,' he says.
杜格礼说，在西方国家，广告客户往往希望得到家庭住址和电子邮箱。但在中国，营销机构几乎都要手机号码。他说这是因为人们很少更换手机号码。
Touchmedia says it has collected up to 5.7 million unique mobile telephone numbers in its databases, a figure that is growing by more than 100,000 numbers per month. (It's worth remembering that Touchmedia provides the personal information to marketers running the promotions, but also that you aren't going to win if you enter a fake number.)
触动传媒表示，公司的数据库已经收集了多达570万个独立手机号码，这一数字正在以每月超过10万个号码的速度增加。（不要忘记，触动传媒是要向组织促销活动的营销机构提供乘客个人信息的，也不要忘记，如果你输入的手机号码是假的，那么你也无法赢得奖品。）
Touchmedia's experience confirms one thing that the numbers are easier to get from some people than others. Touchmedia tracked how one woman entered a contest to win a Blackberry device 21 times.
触动传媒的经验证实了一件事，即想要获得某一类人的电话号码更为容易。该公司的记录显示，一名女子为了获得一部黑莓(Blackberry)手机曾21次参加活动举办方在该系统上组织的"比赛"。
James T. Areddy
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