Separate-sex print and TV ads aren't new, and we expect a certain amount of neutrality and savvy from them, as "spillover" for either sex, is ad-money well spent.

Also, the Coach Edition could be had w/ a briefcase, alternately, if I recall. The VW Trek edition let you choose what mountain bikes came with your Jetta, etc...

My hunches with this campaign.: Dell is looking to hit the professional, married, age 30-50 woman, who uses a desktop computer at work, and a shared, older desktop PC at home (that's on it's way out). Alternately, Dell wants to snag females of all ages that have disposable income, and are ready to make a tech purchase, but are not acquainted with tech, and don't feel like asking someone else "what to get" and risking embarrassment.

Dell wants to snipe from RIM (Blackberry) and Apple (iPhone and MacBook) by trying to make the netbook a power-fashion accessory. I can't imagine it's worth the risk they've already taken, or the money they've spent.

"Why carry a portfolio and a smartphone and use a desktop?" - I bet that's how the pitch went...

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I would like to say that I worked for the agency that handled Dell's interactive marketing for years. Interestingly enough, they also handled Mercedes Benz -- and both accounts that I worked on had a lot of blatant pandering to women. Open up any women's mag vs. a men's and you'll see that car ads directed at women are focused on the cutesy style factor and include lifestyle shots of girly girls singing along to the radio in their convertible. Ads targeted at men feature product-as-hero shots and mention performance, speed and reliability. Same car. Marketed two different ways. Happens all the time, in EVERY industry.

As for your "hunches," they're right about both, not just one. The agency likely created personas -- as in multiple -- and pitched to those demographics. Not rocket science or shocking; every agency does this.

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They'd have spent the money better either doing a more gender-neutral campaign, or by paying celebrities to carry them around, as the mobile phone industry does.

The profit margins are too thin and there's too much competition to justify this type of niche marketing on them - especially when women as a whole perceive that they are being patronized, rather than being able to identify within or without the niche.

A lack of tech-savvy is seen as sexism here. A focus on fashion and other topics that interest women is seen as sexism here. It's a complete backfire.

How the larger market views the campaign is more important than how well it serves the niche.

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I hate to generalize, but this is what patriarchal society hath wrought. Marketing ideas that dictate women will pay more for laptop computers in candy colors 'cause we're hardwired for sparkly things.

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In Dell's case, though, we're talking computers. There's really no need to break the customer down by gender. I suspect they were told their female customer was dropping off and this was their effort.

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