One of the points Tom’s been making for over a decade is that women have an enormous impact on purchasing decisions, and companies ignore this at their peril. Dell is proving that it’s not as easy as it looks. Our Cool Friend Andrea Learned, coauthor of Don’t Think Pink and a recent guest blogger here, was featured in a piece in the New York Times about Dell’s struggles. While, as Tom quoted earlier this week, according to Kelley Murray Skoloda, 66% of personal computers are purchased by women, they’re not all using them to count calories or find recipes. Marketing to women requires more than a change in color scheme.
There is a happy ending here. Dell is handling the hullabaloo quite well. They have responded quickly to the controversy and have been making changes to their Della site (less pink!) as a result of the feedback. Let’s hope the lessons they’re learning will be shared across industries.