Quick, what do the Verizon Droid commercials have in common?
They’re dark, dirty, industrial.  They look like a set from the latest action movie or first person shooter. Robots are common. And for the most part, they are completely unappealing to women. Ignoring half of the population segment makes sense when you’re trying to sell boxer shorts or neckties, but when it’s a mobile device, that’s just stupid.
There’s a Droid billboard near my house that says, “A Bare-knuckled Bucket of Does.” every time I drive by it, I think of female deer. And that alone turns me off to the phone.
It’s hard to believe this is intentional, but taking a look at their website makes it clear they see a division of the sexes. The Droid banner is dark, the text is bold. The red eye stares at you. Then in the next moment you’re seeing the banner for the Palm line; it’s light and airy, carefree swirls of violet surround the phones. The tag line “The 3G smartphones smart enough for mom.” Â Clicking on the banner pushes the message even further, “They’re nothing like your kids.” Â Their message is clear: Â ” Palms are for moms and girls, leave Android for the men. Oh Verizon, how wrong and misguided you are. Â To be fair, Verizon is not the only company that tries to push women to non-Android phones. Sprint is another offender; their Sprint Now Network commercials have men handling the Android devices, relegating the Blackberry and Palm to the women-folk. Their “Exclusive Sprint Apps” consist of NASCAR and NFL. Â Oh my, all this talk of Android is hurting my head, I should head to the mall for some shoe shopping.
My sis just got the Droid. The first thing she said was “Ooh pretty!” This is seriously one of those times that the marketing campaign is out of touch with the product and who it should be marketed toward. The phone is like a mini-computer. They’re really missing a lot of potential customers by focusing on dudes.
Pay attention marketing people: you don’t have to slather something in pink just to get women to buy it, and doing so may actually backfire on you. Â Accessories are great, but they aren’t the most important feature. Â It’s really not hard to get us to throw our money your way, you just need to dial down the testosterone and promote…you know, what the Droid DOES.
Still confused about that? Make Android friendlier. Ditch the eye of Sauron and push the Android mascot. Do a series of ads similar to Nexus Day 1 featuring a women and her friendly animated android, and how he helps her out during the course of her day. Â Promote the features iPhone doesn’t have, like widgets and customization, the Android Market where over 50% of apps are free, or the open access mentality.
But don’t take my word for it, I’m just a girl. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go show my husband how to upload photos from his Android.
