"playfulness"

That’s all very well Hugh but it won’t deflect from the BIG issues the company has to face. Fix those first and then get creative. Otherwise it’s more lipstick on this particular pig.

@ – sure but right now some of that is mis-directed and, I’d argue, misleading. I’m sure you’ve seen the blog posts on this so say no more from me on that one. The biggest issue the company faces right now is one of credibility. It’s very unclear whether the company can be fiscally trusted.
It’s an inside out issue – as you’ve previously noted elsewhere.

I can certainly see your point, however at the same time ‘nobody ever got fired for buying a dell’ probably holds true because of the somewhat serious if leaden texture of their brand. I know it’s still the case in Irish businesses I’m aware of anyway.
On the other hand I have a Dell XPS M2010 and it’s very cool, and yet nobody has heard of it, despite the fact that *even* Apple users are wowed by it when they see it 🙂 – so there’s definitely room to improve somewhat/someway in the whole cool/fun/play aspects.

I think Dell makes some great boxes. I just wish they made some pretty boxes. The XPS420 and XPS730 machines make great Media Center boxes but they don’t pass muster with the better half. If I were single I would drop it in the living room no problem, but the wife wants a pretty machine without all the flashing lights and chrome.

Dell isn’t so much into gaming as it is into buying out AlienWare before they become a real threat to Dell’s high end line of PC’s – where the most margin is.
I don’t agree with the other comments that imply Dell won’t listen or views of dell won’t change unless you have all the financial numbers worked out. Good solid product with a good sense of fun will breed the right attitudes at the company.

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?

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).

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.

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

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.

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?).

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

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.