Have you heard about the internet backlash to Dell’s condescending and stereotyping website? I’d hate to be the program manager on that little debacle!
Quick recap: “Della” is a website created to market netbooks to women. It features “Tech Tips” with patronizing examples of how you can use a mini-laptop: “Track your exercises…Find recipes…” Plus a video on how to shop! Since they received a barrage of complaints, they’ve rewritten the Tech Tips.
They could have avoided the whole mess if they’d read these tips from andHowMarketing: Seven Key Insights for Marketing to Women. The brilliant and lovely Elizabeth Howland has used these to help companies from Levi’s to Gallo get it right when talking with women. Dell could have particularly used #5 “…open a dialogue, determine their needs and the things they hold most important in their lives.”
andHow Marketing’s website includes some really interesting facts, such as “Women buy or influence the purchase of 85% of ALL consumer goods…” So, in a sense, we are all marketing to women.
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Those charming young women at 
