Comments on: “playfulness”

By: Ed Brenegar

Ed Brenegar — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 05:41:56 +0000

I just purchased my second Dell Laptop. I did because of the service — believe it or not. I didn’t mind paying for the top of the line service because they will fix the machine the next day. I’ve had a Dell for five and a half years, and have never been disappointed with the service. And I had to have service about every six months. I was hard on the machine.
My son also purchased a Dell laptop. He did so after comparing it to a MAC. He felt that for his purposes in audio recording and engineering, the Dell was much better.
The only way playfulness translates to a higher ROI is for play to be focused on a higher level of creativity in providing the customer the products and services they want.

By: vinny warren

vinny warren — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 23:24:15 +0000

As ye sow, so shall ye reap.
Dell made billions selling the corporate box for less. the one you “had to use” at work. not the one you wanted. the grey soviet issue computer. not a lot of playfulness in that. dell has a dna problem.

By: Crawford

Crawford — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 21:52:20 +0000

Core brand values.
They’re like natural resources.
You can ignore them.
You can pollute them.
But why?

By: Tom Guarriello

Tom Guarriello — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 17:53:15 +0000

ROI on coolness? Wow, that’s a big number, imo. Not if it’s pre-fab, fake, trumped-up, buzz marketing coolness, but real coolness? Big number.

By: Mike Peter Reed

Mike Peter Reed — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 07:56:00 +0000

What would you rather be, a robot or a monkey?
Robot = slave (to system, to wage, to brand, to thought, to religion, etc)
Monkey = be an ass, jump about, have some fun, who cares what others think!
I’ve noticed Dells pop up a lot, I think I’ve seen them on CSI.
However, the absolute coolest superhero laptop is the Panasonic Toughbook — very cinematic IMO. The Toughbook has a differentiating idea (it’s tough, it works in the rain, etc). Dell does not (they’re cheap, as in cheap-skate?).

By: Dennis Howlett

Dennis Howlett — Thu, 07 Aug 2008 01:41:59 +0000

@Hugh — hammers and nails: that’s a very short sighted view. Marketing should be supporting the company across multiple dimensions and while it is always attractive to go for the cool stuff, business life is a bit different. (And a bit boring, but as we both know, pays the bills.)
I have NO problem with your ‘marketing to sales’ ideas — the more the merrier. BUT — if you really want to help Dell then deal with the fundamentals and be creative there. Which is about an internal attitude change across the departmental silos. But you know that.
I said on a blog post that data centers I know love that Dell can provision within 24 hours while others have to have a committee meeting. In the current ‘cloud’ world, that is serious value. Find a way of making that ‘play’ and you’re on a roll.
In the meantime — hard assed numbers guys like myself and Francine will continue to ream Dell’s ass until it deals with the fundamentals of what we see. That’s the disconnect that a smart marketer like you should be considering — IMO.

By: sara

sara — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 23:44:23 +0000

other words that come to mind: surprise & delight. what if you powered up your new laptop and found a welcome message/video from dell? instead of the same old activation this/register that. i’m a big fan of small things that add to a better user experience.
playfulness can manifest itself in many ways.

By: justme

justme — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:46:41 +0000

Does “cool” really matter? I’d rather prefer longevity to coolness… cool will go when the next cool thing comes up

By: Dirk Stoop

Dirk Stoop — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:43:49 +0000

Then what’s the ROI on blockbuster movie product placement if noone even notices?
cheers,
– Dirk

By: John Dodds

John Dodds — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 22:15:51 +0000

Seems to me everybody is talking about playfulness this year — that doesn’t mean it’s not supremely important, but I fear it may not be as differentiating as might be hoped.

By: Xoder

Xoder — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:40:05 +0000

The other reason that Dell in Iron Man made no waves? They’re everywhere already. Seeing a Dell logo in a movie is just the same as seeing nothing at all because we see them all the time. I’m at work right now, and had to make a conscious effort to recognize that I can now see three Dell logos.
It is true that there was a very pretty Dell on Iron Man’s desk, but everyone knew that it had some weird movie OS, so it wasn’t any kind of Dell you could actually buy, even if it was in the same box.

By: Michelle Trent

Michelle Trent — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 20:18:48 +0000

You are right on, Hugh. I am wanting one of the Red or Pink Dell laptops myself, btw.

By: Dave Martin

Dave Martin — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:29:13 +0000

Dell needs to start getting different and stop wasting time trying to get better. Austin could and should be a wonderful point of difference. They have buried the lede (thus far).

By: Bill Seitz

Bill Seitz — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 19:17:24 +0000

(I'm back on Mac laptops for past few years, Linux on server. But if I had to buy a Windows desktop, I'd probably buy a Dell.) I agree Play is important. It might be more important internally now, vs as an external message. Because clearly the internal culture is severely broken, based on fraudulent earnings and consumer abuse. http://webseitz.fluxent.com/wiki/PlayEthic

By: Frank P

Frank P — Wed, 06 Aug 2008 18:59:47 +0000

If IronMan had used an Apple, I bet you’d have known, it would have been all over the blogosphere… but the fact that IronMan used Dell servers just seemed to produce a minor level of outrage that he’d use something so uncool — and as for the fact he seemed to be using an XPS M2010? Nobody even noticed.
A symptom of the brand image Dell have?