Dell Targets Fashion-Conscious Laptop Buyer

by Aaron Baar, Mar 17, 2009, 8:49 PM

• Comment
• Recommend
• Tweet
• 

A laptop can say so much more about a person than that they are professionals. With a new sleek design and what the company calls "the world's thinnest laptop," Dell is eschewing the traditional talk of gigabytes and megahertz to appeal to a more fashion-oriented part of the brain with the launch of its new Adamo line of computers.

"Given the positioning of the product as a premium item, it was critical to articulate the brand in a fresh way, and not defaulting to typical transactional messages," says John Stephens, account director at Enfatico, the agency that created the campaign. "Both the product and the communications were meant to signal a fundamental shift away form the 'gray' box."

Print ads for the Adamo, which takes its name from the Latin term "to fall in love," take a decidedly fashionable approach with models posing with the laptop as if it were a fashion accessory. The campaign was shot by British photographer Nadav Kander. The ads will appear in magazines such as, Esquire, The New Yorker, Cosmo, GQ, Wired, InStyle, Men's Journal, The New York Times Magazine and Dwell.

"Since Adamo was different in every way to Dell, we reviewed fashion and lifestyle photographers who could capture the 'love story' of Adamo," says. "The beauty and richness of Nadav's work seemed like a perfect fit for what the creative team was seeking with Adamo."

In addition to the print campaign, the company has designed an Adamo-specific Web site, www.AdamoByDell.com, a highly stylized destination where consumers are encouraged to "encounter," "discover," "admire" or "commit" to the computer via black-and-white fashion-oriented photographs. The site also has a section where consumers can buy leather carrying cases for their new laptop.

The laptop, which comes in "Pearl" or "Onyx," will also be shipped in clear packaging that makes the product look as if it's floating in the box. While traditional broadcast is not part of the mix, the agency also created a series of brand videos. One is a pure product video, one "tells the story" of Adamo, and another is a "behind-the-scenes approach" to the communications platform, Stephens says. The agency also created a direct mail piece.

"Great design needs to be timeless and evoke emotion in people," said Alex Gruzen, senior vice president of Dell's consumer products, in a statement. "While a premium computing experience was assumed for Adamo, the intent was for people to see, touch and explore Adamo and be rewarded by the select materials and craftsmanship you would expect in a fine watch."

• Comment
• Recommend
• Tweet
• 

Be the first to comment on "Dell Targets Fashion-Conscious Laptop Buyer "

Leave a Comment