Comments on: note to dell: don’t compare yourself to apple; you guys aren’t in the same business etc.

By: Michel Valdrighi

Michel Valdrighi — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:30:48 +0000

I would interpret #3 by “either release a new product that exceeds and sets new consumer expectations, or stop and strenghten your current offerings” instead of blindly following others feature-by-feature.

By: RKR

RKR — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 21:11:56 +0000

“…Delaying the inevitable inevitably backfires”
Well now, this hits home, and really sucks all at the same time!

By: Julia R

Julia R — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 13:55:03 +0000

Hi Hugh,
How do you interpret #3 from Ray Ozzie’s list — “Never follow — either leapfrog or stop?” What’s the benefit in stopping? Is it that it gives you a chance to regroup, rethink, and (possibly) redirect?
Thanks! Love your blog –
Julia

By: Drayton Bird

Drayton Bird — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 10:12:34 +0000

This is all true, but may I add that there are two laughably simple things Dell is doing wrong.
1. They are constantly discounting. PIMS research 25 years ago showed that this kills brands; it says “we make crap products”; it trains customers to expect bribes; it is one reason why General Motors which makes big cars has a far lower market cap than Mattel, which makes toy cars.
2. They fail to use data intelligently (if at all) in their direct marketing. So their messages are not personal –nor so they look personal, being what I call internet leaflets.
One could elaborate, but those things are enough a) to destroy brand value and b) screw up your marketing.

By: Dan Thornton

Dan Thornton — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 09:24:38 +0000

Totally agree with your thoughts on Dell. Do have a problem with Dell’s Hybrid being cheap and gorgeous.
It might be cheap and OK in the U.S., but as always, carrying it across the Atlantic transforms it into overpriced and a missed opportunity. $500 or £499 ($989 apparently)

By: Max Battcher

Max Battcher — Wed, 30 Jul 2008 05:02:59 +0000

Â«And now as the market changes, they're having to make the move from building "Embassy Suites", to building actual "Private Dwellings".Â» This quote, Hugh, reminds me of why I've been looking at Dell subsidiary Alienware for my next computer purchase (to replace a recently deceased machine of that same brand). I have a Dell that works great as an "industrially cheap looking generic" laptop for when I'm working in a coffee shop, and I want an Alienware desktop that is a little more "fun" and custom and fits well in my personal environment as a play/work machine snuggled beside my Xbox 360. I'm not saying that "more sub-brands" is the answer to Dell, but more that I realize how much customization and personalization seem to inform Dell's strategy at this point (and that of the other manufacturers with perhaps the exception of Apple). Perhaps the better question might be how do they bridge that gap between brand-cultures to better make "real Dell" as "exciting" and "personal" to consumers as Alienware does well enough within a smaller niche of system sales? How do you keep an assembly line producing thousands of systems a day from producing generic impersonal machines? (To me Apple designs get lauded for "personality", but whatever personality is there in the design of the devices gets drowned out in the millions of ads and clones you see in a given day.)