It seems lately that Dell is everywhere you look, trying to get you the consumer to pay attention to them. From their twitter based ad campaign, to some interesting artist collaborations with a Blitzkrieg of PR, it seems that Dell is angling to move out of the shadows of their cooler big brother Mac, and get people excited about their computers. Dell’s most recent move has been creating a sub-brand Della which will be catering to female PC users.
Many have questioned this new line, which some may say paints women’s technology needs in a rather shallow light- listed under “tech tips” is a link to track your calories, a guide to “blissing out” to yoga, and a way to “Find recipes online, store and organize them, and watch cooking videos”. This is accompanied by copywriting which would feel more familiar in Marie Claire than a gadget website, and images of women gossiping and having coffee with friends, supposedly while extolling the virtues of their new Dells. While the computers themselves seem very sleek and lightweight, as someone who had two Dells die on them in one year it’ll take more than a flashy makeover to win my patronage.
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Aside from a shallow profile of female tech needs, content is a bit thin. I recognize the folks at dell and/or the digital agency of record for them probably don’t want to spend too much energy on admin and maintenance, but as is this is just a landing page. And it doesn’t look like growth is in the infrastructure of the site. Also, with dell’s design studio surely there’s more than just the mini line of netbooks they could highlight.
We’ll see how this evolves. Good potential, execution is very constrained.
May 13th, 2009 at 9:58 am
The I’m a PC campaign was for Microsoft, actually.
May 13th, 2009 at 10:57 am
As a potential member of the target market, I find this to be bordering on offensive. Just because Sex and the City was a hit series doesn’t mean that the ultimate in female tech fantasy is to match a netbook with Manolo Blahniks. However, I do suspect Dell’s strategy will win over ‘cherrydoll’ and her manicured teenage friends with ease:
‘This is my first mobile computer or netbook I am very happy with this powerful little computer. The price is great with the economy the way it is now. I have it in Cherry Red and I love the fact that is fits nicely in my tote or case. You Rock!!’
- cherrydoll 3/30/09, Della Products photo caption
May 13th, 2009 at 11:09 am
Nice idea, but not so sure about the execution.
I think a more subtle approach would produce better results.
May 14th, 2009 at 6:08 am
Laura: Apppreciate the objective feedback. I agree with you that we can do better. We’ve already made some changes and will continue to evolve the site. Here’s a bit more perspective on Della from Laura Broderick, who’s the director of our global consumer online division: http://bit.ly/956Ut.
Lastly, I’m sorry to see that two Dell machines caused you problems. If I can help, let me know. My contact info is here: http://bit.ly/r8ivm.
May 15th, 2009 at 5:29 pm