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Michael Dell feels too cheap
TINMAN Michael Dell is apparently feeling a bit cheap and is spending millions to change his company's low rent image into something more pricey.
According to Reuters, Dell has been looking at Apple which has managed to make a killing selling basic PCs for a huge mark-up.
Seeing that style will always win out over substance, Mr Dell has announced that he is spending "hundreds and hundreds of millions" on an advertising campaign for Dell's consumer business.
This will coincide with the launch of new products, including laptops with JBL speakers.
Paul-Henri Ferrand, chief marketing officer for Dell's global consumer and small and medium business division said that advertisers are no longer going to mention Dell being cheap as chips as the single important reason for buying its hardware.
Instead Dell will emphasise that it has premium products, as well as less expensive options. He did not say how much the company is spending on this marketing make-over.
While Michael Dell has correctly worked out that Apple's success is largely a triumph of marketing over substance, what he has overlooked is that Apple's black-shirted fanbois have also had a hand in it. Jobs' Mob has a hard core of customers who will pay any price for any old rubbish with an Apple logo on it. Dell is never going to get that kind of fanatic following, no matter how much advertising he buys. µ
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Apple Fanboi Insecurity, Defensiveness again, with arrogance this time. You forget, that just because Michael Dell is saying he's going to take a page out of Apple's book, doesn't mean he's only worried about competing with Apple. The top 5 vendors last quarter worldwide (source: IDC) were:
1. Acer (5.99 million units)
2. HP (5.32 million units)
3. Dell(2.54 million)
4. Asus (2.37 million units)
5. Lenovo (1.64 million units)
Another article lists HP as the number 1, but perhaps their list is for YTD, but to quote that article, "Apple does not rank among the top six PC makers globally.." Apple moved UP to number 3 for the U.S. alone, in the 3rd quarter.
The point is, Dell shifts a lot more kit than Apple. But it's the same hardware. Intel CPU's, DDR3 RAM, hell, they even shio with SSD's, blu-ray drives, and dual SLI/Crossfire <ready systems. The difference is, and where Apple is more successful than these other companies, is in net margin. Why? because they sell the same computer parts, in prettier to market shells, with better advertising. They have product placement in TV shows and movies, strategic commercials, and lastly, they key in on a basic psychology principal: People subconsciously and consciously associate 'more expensive' with 'better'. So, even if Dell shows no increase in unit sales, but they can increase their margins by increasing prices and then couple that by getting more marketable style appeal tied into an improved, and well funded, marketing strategy based around the "more expensive=better" strategy, they <hope turn in better quarterly numbers. As mentioned above, it is all about the perception of the company, and a few extra million can go a long way towards improving image. Regardless, Dell is keeping their eye on Apple, but PC unit sales, is not why Apple is successful. Acer and HP are who Dell has in their targets...but, because someone mentions Apple, and this particular article is loaded with Apple references, it is the arrogance of Apple fanbois to assume Dell is concerned firslt with Apple.
Towing the marketer's line, putting words that sell behind a product, pulling the wool over the consumer's eyes, and dishonesty behind the purpose of journalism hurts everyone.
What I see today is nothing short of the most awful journalism on the planet (over the life of journalism as we know it).
It is pathetic to read article after article that is ultimately nothing more than marketing material. I visit some of the most technical and some of the most surface sites out there regarding tech. I read article after article where the authors are doing nothing more than marketing the products instead of giving us a real view of what's happening.
In Apple's case this is truly nothing more than fanboism with the ugly pathetic "comment writing" minds following up with ridiculous letters claiming anything other than pro marketing of a product is nothing more than failed journalism.
The fanbois seem to have just taken for granted that today's journalism is less than honest and twists words to fool the consumer so that companies like Apple can sell cheap Intel kit as if they are made of gold.
How pathetic is that?
Towing the marketer's line, putting words that sell behind a product, pulling the wool over the consumer's eyes, and dishonesty behind the purpose of journalism hurts everyone.
What I see today is nothing short of the most awful journalism on the planet (over the life of journalism as we know it).
It is pathetic to read article after article that is ultimately nothing more than marketing material. I visit some of the most technical and some of the most surface sites out there regarding tech. I read article after article where the authors are doing nothing more than marketing the products instead of giving us a real view of what's happening.
In Apple's case this is truly nothing more than fanboism with the ugly pathetic "comment writing" minds following up with ridiculous letters claiming anything other than pro marketing of a product is nothing more than failed journalism.
The fanbois seem to have just taken for granted that today's journalism is less than honest and twists words to fool the consumer so that companies like Apple can sell cheap Intel kit as if they are made of gold.
How pathetic is that?
Didn't DELL buy AlienWare a few years back, mainly so that they could flaunt a super-premium, bleeding edge, excessively high-performance product line? How is this new attempt even as good as that one? Instead of starting with a well-known and respected high-end product line, they're planning to invent a new one from scratch. Well and good. Suppose they do invent an "apple beater". Are they planning to sell to current apple owners? Or to try to create grass-roots support for their new wunderkind from current PC owners. These are both unlikely to succeed, and I don't see a third option.
Apple has very very few products compared to Dell. If you only have a few products, that is what you get known for. Take Ferrari for example, all you think of is fast and expencive. Then think Ford, and your fist thought is not the GT, but all it's common cars and trucks.
Dell should embrace it's image or change the product line, not paint the mirror they're looking at.
Apple has always maintained its position and its following. Their efforts have been to expand that following and they have been successful with their products and campaigns. I relate most of their success to having a full ecosystem and this enables them to have 'weaker' products as their value is 'perceived' in branding, quality, services, etc.
Most companies make the mistake that they can put a quick advertising campaign and tell the consumers their 'differentiation'. But they fail to understand, what matters is how consumers 'perceive' the company. If you want to be premium and then cheap, that will not work. They have to walk the talk which takes time but I doubt they have the patience.
I laughed about Ford's campaign from a couple of decades ago saying "Quality is Job 1"... Don't know what happened, but I still don't see anyone associating Ford to quality... I see people associating McDonalds with quality more than Ford. I see Dell as a product company and not a full services company with an ecosystem as Apple. So, this will be indeed very challenging for them.
Hardly.
Design is what it does and not how it looks. Mies Van Der Rohe said that form follows function. For Apple, that goes from OS X's Unix underpinnings (fast, secure, no viruses), to their laptops containing light weight, sturdy material. They even have a magnetic attachment to the power supply on laptops in case people trip over the cord so they don't bring the laptop crashing to the floor!
My work recently purchased a Dell desktop that arrived DOA. Dell's support is terrible and their products stink. That coupled with the fact they bundle Windows means they have a long way to go if they want to make great products.
This article is a prime example of the rot that has infected this website.
Wont be long before everyone deserts for good
One of the biggest problems with Dell is the high end computers still have low end Intel graphics and plastic cases. I don't why he is whining, he makes plenty of money. The one big advantage Dell does have is many computers warranty have in home repair.
He will just be wasting his money though.
Right now is a bad time for people to spend a lot on a computer, as many can't even afford food.