dell

android / apple / dell / iPad / observatory / streak — 8 Comments
31
Mar 11

Dell: daydreaming of iPad’s failure

Never mind that Dell has been losing its luster for many consecutive years now. Its leadership retains the ability to see the world through Dell-colored glasses.

That is, they use the same reasoning that worked so well in the good old days — when Dell was leading the pack, instead of struggling not to fall farther behind.

Andy Lark, Dell’s global head of large enterprise marketing, recently made waves by predicting iPad will ultimately be overtaken by its competitors in big business.

To be fair, he is talking about the enterprise world, not the consumer marketplace, where the rules are different. Unfortunately, iPad is proving that the rules aren’t quite as different as he wishes.

Think what you will of his conclusion. I was more aghast at the reasoning he used to arrive there:

[Apple has] done a really nice job [with iPad], they’ve got a great product, but the challenge they’ve got is that already Android is outpacing them.
I must have woken up in the wrong dimension today. I could have sworn iPad had 80-90% of the market and Android tablets had barely begun to ship.

Apple is great if you’ve got a lot of money and live on an island…
As everyone knows, the “Apple is too expensive” argument went out the window with iPad. No competitor has figured out how to significantly undercut iPad’s price. Andy might want to look at the pricing of Dell’s own 7-inch Streak tablet. Significantly smaller than iPad, it sells for $449 without contract vs. iPad’s $499.

…It’s not so great if you have to exist in a diverse, open, connected enterprise; simple things become quite complex.
It is also widely reported that iPad is finding lots of friends in the enterprise world. Three reasons: it simplifies things for a great many people, it is successfully being integrated into corporate networks, and while IT departments used to be free to maintain their decades-old allegiances, today they’re being pushed to give people what they want. What people want now are iPads — right up to the executive suite.

We’ve taken a very considered approach to tablets…
 Dell’s “considered” approach to tablets is frighteningly similar to their considered approach to PCs and laptops. They wait until someone else lights the way (normally Apple), then try to copy the other guy’s success at a lower price point — sacrificing quality along the way.

…given that the vast majority of our business isn’t in the consumer space.
Basically, Andy clings to the same hope that RIM does with BlackBerry: “We have a huge audience in business, therefore we will win by being business-oriented.” Good luck to both of them. The flaw in their theory is that most business users are consumers too, and all users are human beings. People want devices that give them the best experience, period — for business and personal use.

An iPad with a keyboard, a mouse and a case [means] you’ll be at $1500 or $1600; that’s double of what you’re paying. That’s not feasible.”
What’s not feasible is Andy’s math. 32GB 3G iPad: $729. Keyboard: $69. Mouse: $69. Fancy case: $100. Total: $967. And — only in Dell’s world would we be talking about tablets that require keyboards and mice. The whole point of iPad is that it lets people accomplish things without a keyboard and mouse. Those who find those things essential are better off with a laptop.

When Andy thinks about winning in the enterprise, I’m sure he means selling more devices. Which, again, is a very Dell-like argument. Dell already sells far more computers and laptops than Apple, yet they make only a fraction of Apple’s profit. This is why Apple’s market capitalization is now over ten times that of Dell.

You can be sure that everyone at Apple hopes Dell continues to “win” like this for years to come.

advertising / creative / dell / observatory / simplicity — 5 Comments
1
Mar 11

Dell rearranges the deck chairs

The marketing business is full of smart people doing it their way.

Then they get fired.

And new people step in to do things their way.

It happens at clients, it happens at agencies. It’s happened before, and you can be pretty sure it’s going to happen again.

In marketing, there is a time-honored tradition of revamping, rejigging and restructuring — and a fairly dismal record of these moves producing desired results.

Far be it from Dell to buck tradition. In 2008, after years of dissatisfaction with their marketing, they boldly consolidated the work of many agencies into one new global entity. Now they’re boldly going back to where they started. They’ve recently named three new agencies to handle consumer, small/medium business and public/govt marketing, leaving “brand strategy” at its current agency (Y&R).

Unfortunately, Dell has proven itself more than capable of floundering under either system. Whether they have one agency or a boatload, they find new ways to run their brand into the ground. They have many ideas about how to fix things, yet they never seem to wake up with that wide-eyed epiphany: “My god! It wasn’t our agencies. It was us all along!”

Given the facts, it’s hard to come to any other conclusion. Dell’s multi-decade record of marketing mediocrity has almost miraculously survived a parade of agencies and internal reorganizations. By sheer chance, you’d expect them to do better at some point.

What Dell suffers is what many brands suffer: a lack of appreciation for great marketing and the power of creativity.

It’s really that simple. They don’t put value on such things, and therefore they don’t invest in such things.

Dell could easily go out and spend a small fraction of what they spent on their agency search (millions) to hire a well-traveled and passionate expert to lead the marketing charge. Of course, they’d have to be willing to give that person real responsibility, and the chances of that are virtually nonexistent.

In a world where the power of simplicity is on display every day, Dell digs in its heels. They’d rather create a grid of agencies that segregates strategy and creative than recognize the power of those things being conceived and implemented together.

Let us not forget that agencies are ruthless creatures. Ultimately they will claw and scratch for a bigger piece of the pie. I think Dell likes it that way though. In their world, this type of competition is a good thing.

Others — Apple and IBM included — would say that partnership is a far more powerful thing.

apple / creative / dell / observatory / simplicity — 10 Comments
24
Feb 11

Great ads vs. laundry lists

As we all know, ads can fail for a number of reasons: bad creative, bad strategy and bad clients.

It takes a special kind of client to understand that the best way to win a customer’s heart is to focus on a single compelling point — not to stuff a commercial full of goodness.

Some clients just have a laundry list of points they want to get into their ad, and they find it impossible to let go.

Even Steve Jobs is capable of having — as Pink Floyd once said — a momentary lapse of reason. I saw it with my own eyes at a meeting when Steve was trying to get the agency to squeeze a few more product benefits into an ad we were about to produce.

Sitting across the table from Steve was Lee Clow, past and current leader of Apple’s agency. Lee crumpled up 4-5 pieces of paper and tossed one to Steve. “This is a good ad,” said Lee, as Steve easily caught it.

Then, all at once, Lee tossed the remaining pile of crumpled balls of paper to Steve and he caught none of them. “That’s a bad ad,” said Lee.

If I’d known that the incident would have become a blog post, I’d have made it a point to remember if Steve then let us have our way. But I do stand behind the principle, as would most every right-thinking marketing person.

Simplicity beats complexity every time.

People tend to remember one thing well said better than a laundry list well recited.

Fortunately, just as I need to illustrate the point, Dell rushes in with a new ad. Or, more accurately, a new laundry list. It goes like this:

If you buy an Inspiron 15R (catchy name, fellas), you’ll get:

(1) More fun, (2) more control, (3) more durability, (4) more sales support, (5) for less, (6) with an Intel Core i3 processor for (7) faster multitasking and (8) McAfee Security Center. It concludes, of course, with the dueling theme lines, “You can tell it’s Dell” and “The power to do more.”

When y0u compare the Dell-style  laundry-list commercial to a more single-minded Apple commercial (like “Mac vs. PC), it’s not hard to understand why Apple is better at winning both customers and advertising awards.

advertising / dell / observatory / strategy — 1 Comment
17
Feb 11

Again, Dell proves it isn’t Apple

Dell’s latest quarterly numbers are a beautiful synopsis of the company’s plight: income on business computers nicely up, income on consumer computers disturbingly down.

And bear in mind, this decline occurred during the holiday quarter — when visions of laptops and Streaks should have been dancing in consumers’ heads like sugar-plums.

Dell’s problem becomes more obvious with each passing year. They radiate “innovation envy,” but rarely innovate. They imagine themselves to be in Apple’s league, but demonstrate — product after product — why they are not.

A laptop that wasn't exactly laptop-friendly

Not that we need more proof, but consider Dell’s latest disappointment: the super-thin, and now super-dead, Adamo laptop.

Like most of Dell’s products, Adamo was less of an innovation, and more of a reaction to someone else’s innovation. (Zino — Mac mini, Streak — iPad, etc.) Adamo was Dell’s ode to MacBook Air. It didn’t exactly blaze new trails. It was created, Dell-style, to “cash in on that thin computer thing.”

Unfortunately, the cash didn’t quite materialize. With the high cost of miniaturization, Dell had to price their echo of an innovation at more than $2,000 — which is unsettling to a customer base trained over many years to expect value pricing.

Clearly, Dell wished to copy Apple’s success. Just as clearly, their own brand DNA made that impossible. Suffering poor sales, they tried to innovate their way to a turnaround by offering up the even thinner Adamo XPS — which was a bit of innovation gone amok. With its oddly hinged display, Adamo became the first laptop that was tough to use on a lap.

While Dell imagines itself to be an innovator in computers, it also imagines itself an innovator in marketing — with similarly unimpressive results. The marketing of Adamo fell somewhere between ill-conceived and laughable.

The ads here are representative of the overall Adamo campaign, which used ultra-fashiony, super-chic models to appeal to those interested in a razor-thin laptop. Never mind that half the ads didn’t even show the razor-thin part. Some future Mad Men-type show will have a field day with this one.

Given all of the above, it’s inaccurate to say that Dell killed Adamo last week. Looks like a suicide to me.

advertising / android / creative / dell / observatory / streak — 9 Comments
23
Nov 10

Streak video: good hoax or bad ad?

Help. I’m losing touch with reality. This YouTube video for the Dell Streak is horrifying on so many levels, I can’t tell if it’s on purpose or not.

Adding to my confusion is the fact that this video was pulled from YouTube by the original poster, only to be posted again by another.* Dell’s site contains no mention of it.

The video is about as awkward as it gets. It stars Chicago hockey players Patrick Kane and Jonathan Toews, who use the features of the Dell Streak to help them pick up women. A narrator calls the action, sports-style. For two grueling minutes, we watch bad actors performing a script that would be deadly even for good actors.

So is it real or not? Well, watch it for yourself, then consider the evidence.

It’s fake.

1. No corporation with adult supervision could possibly think this is funny or in good taste.
2. Pro hockey players have managers who normally advise them against doing stupid things.
3. Production quality (titling, voiceover, music, writing) is below professional standards, including even Dell’s.
4. No company would be so insensitive to women when women represent half its audience.
5. There is no Dell logo or theme line, nor does the typography match any current Dell effort.

It’s real.

1. Dell is eminently capable of creating a dud. Certainly they have a rich history in this department.
2. Hockey players don’t make videos like this on a lark. Someone has to pay them.
3. Dell has already exhibited an ability to offend women. Heck, why not do it again. (Despite #4 above.)
4. Many hockey blogs have reported on this video, mostly slamming it for bad acting and bad taste. Dell has remained silent in the face of criticism.

Considering all of the above, I have a theory. Maybe this ad was produced internally at Dell to fire up the troops. Maybe an enterprising up-and-comer thought it was funny enough to share on YouTube. Maybe he was quickly slapped and forced to remove it.

Of course that doesn’t let anyone off the hook for creating and approving the video in the first place. It’s not easy to create a really good ad. But it’s really, really easy to have some standards when you’re doing so.

[Thanks to Bill McGuire for the tip.]

*Update 11/24: The YouTube video to which I originally linked has been removed “due to a copyright claim by Dell, Inc.” (Draw your own conclusions about that.) Unfortunately for the perpetrator, these tracks aren’t so easy to cover up. You may still see the video here.

advertising / dell / observatory / tablets — 6 Comments
3
Nov 10

Dell Streak’s moment of truth

Of all those watching Dell’s new ad for Streak 5, two groups of people are probably more nervous than the rest.

First, of course, is Dell. Having spiraled for years, they crave a hit in two hot categories where they’ve been mostly invisible: smartphones and tablets. Then there’s Mother, the agency currently handling Dell consumer marketing. They could use a creative home run just as Dell embarks upon a formal review to hear pitches from other agencies.

Unfortunately, it comes off more like a bunt pop-up. (Last baseball metaphor till spring, I promise.)

The device itself is a bit of a puzzle. Streak 5 is either an oversized smartphone or an undersized tablet. It’s hard to imagine it being a hit for two obvious reasons. What’s most seductive about tablets is multi-touch on a spacious screen. And the whole point of mobile technology is to fit easily in your pocket — which this device doesn’t. (Never mind the fact that Streak is born with the already out-of-date Android 1.6.)

But if the size of the screen is the reason for Streak 5’s existence, and Dell believes this is the “sweet spot” between two popular form factors — you’d never get that from this ad. Streak comes off more like a smartphone, only casually described at the end as a “pocket tablet.”

Even more damning, the characters in this commercial don’t do a single thing with their Streaks that couldn’t be done with a smartphone. So what’s the point of carrying around this extra bulk again?

It seems that Mother is more focused on helping Dell grow a personality than define the Streak. But they aren’t helping. In context of such past embarrassments as Lollipop and Doorway, they appear to believe that quirky people, dancing people — or better yet, quirky dancing people — are key to reviving the Dell brand. Years later, however, Dell’s brand personality remains confused. We can all agree, “quirky” is not it.

I do hope Dell is preparing its defense for the International Court of Branding, because they appear to be serious about this double dose of theme lines. This ad ends with “You can tell it’s Dell,” followed immediately by “The power to do more.” Pick one, please. This is such a basic violation of advertising principles, it’s surprising that even Dell would do it.

Dell has every right to be nervous about Streak 5. But who knows. Maybe it will be a surprise hit, Dell will suddenly be seen as an innovator and Mother will ride this advertising success to a fat new contract. I’d just hate to see the Vegas odds on that one.

advertising / creative / dell / observatory — 8 Comments
28
Oct 10

Brand-building, Dell style

Dell, as we know, prefers to live in an alternate reality. Theirs is a place where numbers trump emotion, brands languish and barely amusing passes for hilarious.

Now, after an 18 month-gestation period, Dell is poised to unleash a new campaign. The first ads are now posted on Dell’s site.

Purely out of scientific curiosity, let’s dissect one:

Mission. For some reason, the press is describing this as a brand campaign. It isn’t. It’s a product campaign. When your brand stands for innovation, product ads are brand ads. Ask Apple. When your brand is wandering the desert without water … not so much.

Headline. It was a hoot when Spinal Tap did the “turn it up to 11″ thing 26 years ago. Now it gets the same, polite half-smile we give Uncle Fred when he cracks a joke. Awkward.

Layout. Let’s see: five lines of type — five different sizes and/or weights. I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for any awards from the Art Directors Club.

Copy. Dell marketing maven Paul-Henri Ferrand describes this campaign as “Crisp copy with a dash of humor.” Probably just an honest mistake. He said “dash” when he really meant “microscopic particle.”

Personality. Dell needs one. These ads don’t have one. Problem. This stuff reeks of committee approvals and focus group testing — well homogenized.

Lovability. Ferrand says, “We believe there’s a real space for us to become the most loved PC company in the industry.” In PC-land, there’s real space for anyone to become the most loved. It’s just going to take more than a harmless ad campaign. It will require breakthrough products, a compelling vision, great customer support, a simple product line and marketing that builds a real bond with customers. Only the big guy can conduct the entire orchestra here. CEO transplant desperately needed.

Dueling theme lines. Leave it to Dell to think so hard, they end up with two theme lines. The press (and Dell itself) refers to this campaign by the line You can tell it’s Dell. But look. Up in the sky. Under the logo. There’s yet another theme line: The power to do more. If you want customers to make the catch, it isn’t wise to throw two balls at once.

The power to do more. If this line is meant to ultimately unite the different Dell divisions, that would be a step forward. Unfortunately, it’s also two steps back — because the line itself is well-worn and harmless. It’s old Apple (The power to be your best) melded with old Amex (Do more).

Simplicity. Layout violations aside, at least these ads are somewhat clean, right? Not so fast. This pristine ad was lifted from Dell’s site. Once it appears in the world, we can safely assume it will be garnished with Microsoft’s ugly come-on and Intel’s garish processor badge, which will be larger than Dell’s. Hey, somebody’s got to pay for these ads.

Word is that a real brand image campaign for Dell is in the works. I’m sure that will change everything. Hopefully it’s being fine-tuned in focus groups as we speak.

advertising / creative / dell / observatory — 2 Comments
20
Oct 10

“You can tell it’s Dell”

Prepare to be dazzled. Dell is about to unveil a new ad campaign.

No samples provided yet — but even with the scant clues offered, you can definitely tell it’s Dell. Because it’s taken an eon to produce and doesn’t sound very distinctive.

According to a story in Adweek, Dell intends to move the focus from price ads to brand image ads.

Can Dell undo its addiction to "creative" like this?

This, of course, would be a major miracle. (A) Dell has lived and breathed transactional ads for years, and (B) they need to stand for something before they can run a brand campaign.

This campaign will be Dell’s first major effort from Y&R, which took over the account from Enfatico. Interestingly, after Enfatico got slammed for taking 8 months to produce its first campaign, it’s taken Y&R 18 months to produce this one. That’s progress.

A new computer can be conceived, engineered and manufactured in less time than it takes Dell to produce an ad campaign.

One might also quibble with the fact that this brand campaign isn’t really a brand campaign. From the nuggets provided by Adweek, it seems that each ad simply highlights one feature of a particular computer. In most circles, this is considered a product campaign.

Apple can get away with ads like this, because they’ve created a brand that stands for innovation. When they run a product ad, it enhances the brand.

Not so much for Dell. When they run a product ad, it’s just a product ad. If they wish to imbue the word Dell with distinctive and positive meaning, they’ll need to do a major companywide rethink — from product lineup to communications.

It will take more than a product ad with a rhyming theme line.

advertising / dell / observatory — 9 Comments
23
Sep 10

Dell: in search of the creative grail

My my, isn’t this a shocker:
Dell is out hunting for a new agency.

As their spokesperson explains, “we think it’s appropriate to continuously review our creative.”

At some point, Dell may figure out that the idea is to continuously improve their creative, not just review it. Despite a parade of agencies in the last 10-15 years, their marketing efforts remain continuously forgettable.

An anonymous industry sage once observed: Clients always get the advertising they deserve.

That’s certainly the case here.

As a long line of psychologically damaged creatives will attest, it ain’t easy working with Dell. Campaigns that end up running are typically a faint echo of the original idea, ground down by second-guessing and never-ending revisions.

In my opinion, it’s because Dell lacks one essential ingredient: a passion for great marketing.

The tone inside every company is set at the top. And Dell has a leader who is driven by efficiency, not imagination. Quantity is Job #1. To Dell, selling to a customer takes priority over engaging a customer.

So, year after year, Dell’s agencies deliver what is demanded of them — creative that lacks in heart and rarely takes risks. In other words, Dell gets exactly the marketing it deserves.

I don’t imagine too many are surprised that Dell is sniffing around for a new agency, now that their three-year, $4.5 billion deal with monolithic holding company WPP is about to expire. You may recall, WPP started the relationship by creating Enfatico, a global agency devoted to Dell, with 1,000 people across 13 offices. That lasted all of a year. Then most of the Dell responsibilities were shifted to other WPP agencies — with no visible change in the work as far as I can tell.

(Uh-oh. I’m having some kind of weird flashback. A vague recollection that I actually had something to do with Enfatico. That’s not even possible. Is it? Whatever, back to our story…)

Dell will be listening to creative pitches from a number of agencies — including the WPP agencies they currently use.

Personally, I’m always amazed when clients do this. It’s as if Dell is saying to WPP, “Ya know, honey, there’s something missing in our marriage. So here’s my plan. I’m going to sleep around a bit, and if I can’t find anything better, I’ll keep living with you.”

The fact is, agencies invest a huge amount of time and energy in learning a client’s business. Making a switch is expensive. So my advice to clients is: If you think your agency is talented, work with them. If you think they’re not, fire their butts. Walking the middle ground just frustrates everyone.

If Dell is serious about improving creativity, however, they’ll fix themselves before they fix their agency roster. Since Michael Dell is missing the marketing gene, he needs to hire someone who’s got it — preferably someone who has been spectacularly successful elsewhere. He needs to give him/her the authority to streamline Dell’s sprawling marketing machine and make final decisions. He might also make more compelling products, but that’s another story.

Without this kind of substantive change, it will be creativity as usual at Dell.

Winning the big Dell creative shootout will be some agency’s reward — it will also be their punishment.

apple / dell — 3 Comments
26
Jul 10

The dark side of the dark side

While many Mac users already see PCs as “the dark side,” Dell has somehow managed to up the ante on darkness.

According to the S.E.C., the company has been dabbling in a little nastiness called disclosure accounting fraud — and they’ve  just coughed up over $100 million in penalties to make it go away.

In a nutshell, Dell lied. They told the world they were meeting their quarterly goals because of their legendary strengths, when in fact it was because of their legendary weakness: an addiction to Intel’s rebate money. Dell received money for using Intel chips, as well as not using A.M.D. chips. Messy.

The S.E.C. said Dell acted “to project financial results that the company wished it had achieved but could not.” They met Wall Street’s expectations “by breaking the rules.”

Okay, so companies get themselves in legal hot water every day. But Dell managed to do something special. The S.E.C. not only fined Dell the company, they took the rare step of fining Dell the person — along with a handful of his former executives. Seems they created their own little Cosa Vostro.

Documents released by the S.E.C. show just how murky this operation was. Former chief executive Kevin Rollins boasted in 2004 that Dell can meet Wall Street expectations because of its “tightly controlled supply chain, highly efficient infrastructure and direct relationships with customers.” Somehow he confused that with “We’re getting a new shipment of cash from Intel.”

He fessed up in an email to Michael Dell, saying that Intel’s money was the only reason they’d made their numbers for three consecutive quarters. It’s “a bad way to run the railroad,” he said, adding “we are going to have to get off their drug…”

Rollins’ behavior was 100% despicable, but his assessment was 100% correct. They do have to get off this drug. All PC makers have to get off this drug — but they can’t. They became addicted ages ago, when PCs became commodities. Since they can’t make a profit on their products, they hungrily take payments from Intel, Microsoft and the software makers who bloat new PCs with dandy demos. According to The New York Times, some of the emails released by the S.E.C. showed Dell begging Intel for money to make their quarterly results.

All of this, of course, is in stark contrast to Apple — to whom Intel is an ingredient, not a paymaster.

Honestly, I don’t get why Michael Dell still runs his company. CEOs are routinely banished for failing to meet goals, and Michael hasn’t come close to restoring the company in the three years he’s been back. As CEO, he should be dumped even if he had nothing to do with the current mess — and in this case it’s obvious he had everything to do with this mess. Where are the angry villagers with their pitchforks and torches?

(Read The New York Times story here.)

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