Gadget Makers
Court Women

But Some Critics Find the Focus on Colors and Simplicity Condescending

By Kimberly Palmer
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street Journal

The high-tech industry, which has long targeted male consumers and tech geeks, is now going after women.

The Consumer Electronics Association, an industry trade group, last year launched a "Technology is a girl's best friend" campaign and this winter plans to advertise gift ideas for women in such women's magazines as Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, CosmoGirl! and Harper's Bazaar. Gateway, meanwhile, lobbied hard to get a pink laptop prominently placed in the summer movie "Legally Blonde 2," in part to appeal to women.

"We recognized by producing a pink laptop and putting it in a strong female character's hands we'd be able to reach women in a way we hadn't before," says Gateway spokesman Brad Williams about the product placement.

'It's Insulting'

But some observers don't think the pretty-in-pink marketing, technology-made-simple themes and other girlie gimmicks are the way to reach women. Some women, especially those who are tech-savvy, suspect the underlying assumption of the campaigns is that women are clueless when it comes to technology.

"I've corresponded with thousands of women and I can tell you, they are just as offended as I am," says Aliza Sherman, creator of several early Web sites for women and author of "Powertools for Women in Business." "It's insulting to think in order to appeal to women you have to turn it pink and simplify it," she says.

While the pink Gateway laptop was just a prop, not an actual product, some manufacturers of consumer electronics are coming out with products ranging from headphones to cellphone covers in pink and other brighter colors to attract women. That's a departure from years past, when technology products usually came in a limited number of colors, such as black and silver. Marketing campaigns, meanwhile, tended to boast about macho features such as a computer's memory capacity and processor speed.

"In 1994, women made up 10% of the online population," Ms. Sherman says. "It wasn't like they weren't there, but the perception was out there that when it comes to technology, the first thing you think of is a guy."

These days, marketing to women is more important to the consumer-electronics industry. According to the Consumer Electronics Association, women are involved in about 75% of consumer-electronics purchasing decisions. The group also projects that women will spend about $55 billion of the total $95 billion spent on consumer electronics this year.

Still, experts say companies continue to assume women aren't as interested in high-tech products or wouldn't respond to the same ads as men. "Women as equals in the world of business is a recent phenomenon, and there's a lot of inertia when things are done in particular ways," says Kathy Gornik, chairwoman of the Consumer Electronics Association and president of Thiel Audio, which makes high-end loudspeakers. "You're talking about having to change the entire orientation and culture of a company."

Segmented Marketing

Even while some see the new marketing tactics as offensive, ads boasting of product simplicity and "feminine" colors have been successful in the past at attracting women. In many ways, tech companies are applying the same "segmented marketing" to electronics that has long shaped ads for everything from cars to shampoo.

Indeed, when Palm rolled out its Zire Handheld personal organizer last October, the company emphasized its clear packaging and simple name. "It was designed with simplicity and ease of use in mind," says Palm spokesman Jim Christensen. For the first time with any Palm product, more than half of Zire buyers were women.

Palm says it didn't mean to imply that women prefer simpler products. "We didn't target women specifically with a simple product-we targeted women with products that fit their specific needs," says Mr. Christensen.

Still, some women are vexed by all the colors and "simplicity" themes. "They make us sound like simpletons," says Michaela Pereira, co-anchor of TechTV's "Tech Live" show.

Most companies and industry experts, however, agree that while pretty colors may be eye-catching, practical technology is what women and men alike prefer. "We don't think there are huge gaps in how men and women perceive the ease of use of tech products," says Mr. Williams of Gateway.

With this in mind, some companies try to appeal to women with less offensive marketing. Sony's LIV line, for instance, is sold through Target stores and targeted at women. It features products such as a CD player for the shower and a CD-clock radio. The line comes in chartreuse and other stylish colors in addition to pink.

"We know what women's tastes are, and they aren't pink," says Denise Lee Yohn, a Sony vice president.

Do you believe these marketing campaigns are appropriate? Do you think they will be successful? Write to us.