I got sent this URL today (no don’t go there just yet!), it was from a male friend of mine telling me that he’d just found the purrrfect phone for me… Alarm bells rang with the sarcasm in the message which was just the start. I then looked at the URL… I knew there was something wrong when I saw that. The device was a Samsung D900i (- Candy – otherwise known as the pink version), not exactly the most state of the art phone that’s for sure! So can you guess which company it was doing this advertisement? (without looking at the URL or clicking on it?!) Anyway here’s the offending link
After writing about stereotype bingo and the fact that companies can be incredibly lazy with their marketing campaigns I thought it was about time to bring the odd one or two to light, and just point out why and how these sites, campaigns etc just don’t hit the right mark!
The first thought that came to my mind was, why on earth would I want a pink phone! Shortly followed by, whoever thinks that this device is even suitable for a female market? Does it do push e-mail, is the camera good quality? Is it small, light and most importantly does it have a good battery life… Do they tell you the benefits of it in such terms… Oh no… they make the assumption that anyone who would like this phone would jump at the chance of getting make-up from “Benefit” for free! (but wait… is it really! After all the value of the phone is the value of the make-up… so are you really getting the phone for free and paying full price for the make-up!) The total irony of the situation really is laughable! Oh well hopefully they will learn.
So lets see how many of the stereotype bingo items it hits!
Cuteness or visual attractiveness as being attractive for women: I ticked this one because they are blatantly aiming at the “business professional” but they are hinting that they must be female through the option of makeup and the colour of the device. However they don’t actually say anything about a female… so maybe they are really aiming the pink mobile at the men who just loooove pink!
The colour choice as being attractive to women: Again this was ticked due to the assumption that whoever would want a pink phone would also want makeup… therefore the automatic assumption is that it is attractive to a female audience.
“Social” as being attractive to women: This was ticked on the colour, makeup and links to the business professional connotations. I’m really not sure that the business professionals will like the assumption that in order to look professional they should have a pink phone and wear make-up… (especially the male ones!)
Women seen as casual/ non-serious users: Any serious business user of this phone would be put off by the 6.4 hours battery life, lack of 3G support and the colour! (and I won’t even start with the fact that this is a phone that came out in December 06 – January 07 suggesting that they must also be stupid to buy a legacy mobile device and expect to look cool!)
Mention shopping or accessories: Well does the make up count? Accessory, or bribery… we’ll give you this phone for free if you pay us £99.99 for the make-up or vice versa… Not exactly a great selling point!
I think that both Samsung and O2 have a LOT to learn from this particular excercise and I’m sure they aren’t the only company to make the mistake of being lazy in their marketing tactics.
Final Verdict Stereotype Bingo Score: 5/9 Must try harder to avoid pandering to stereotypes!
About Sarah Lamb
Sarah is the founder of the Girl Geek Dinners & GirlyGeekdom. She is a lover of gadgets, geeky things and sport! Find out more about her on her website.
Web | Twitter | Facebook | LinkedIn | More Posts (288)
