Android needs to market to females

[ttamnedlog]

Do you think we'll see the Android marketing mature a bit into a more gender neutral advertising style? Right now it seems like the commercials for Android phones are all robotic-y, digital-y, "cool"... from a techy guy's (myself) perspective.

They should shift into a new advertising style that appeals to the masses a bit better. Ya?

 

[Vihzel]

I've been talking about this for quite some time now and COMPLETELY agree. I don't see many females going "OMG I want an Android!"

 

[jradicle11]

I just laugh when all the people who aren't familiar with android devices refer to everything as a "droid."

 

[Vihzel]

I just laugh when all the people who aren't familiar with android devices refer to everything as a "droid."

It's better than "iPhone". hehe

 

[tmzbeme]

it's not a woman's phone because it's not simple like the iPhone .....thankfully

 

[jradicle11]

I'm surprised a woman hasn't commented on this. I know there are a few out there.

 

[Velnica]

it's not a woman's phone because it's not simple like the iPhone .....thankfully

I'm heaps insulted by this Why should a woman be automatically pidgeonholed into the iPhone crowd? Are you saying we are simple-minded? Grow up please you sound like you are 12 and never met a smart woman before. Funny fact is most of my friends use BlackBerry.

Back on topic, the Android marketing has so far been pretty fail - to men and women alike. I live in Aussie so it might be different than in the US/UK but there is absolutely NO POSTERS for Android anywhere. The only place I've seen one is on Telstra windows because they have Desire on exclusive, however other places that offer Android phones like the Dext/Cliq, Dream etc hardly advertise it.

On the internet it's even worse. You'd think they'd at least have cheaply made banners right? WRONG! Even in technoblogs they only have iPhone ads.

I'd attribute this to the fact that it's up to the makers to advertise their phone. Because there are several they have to compete with Apple AND each other. This makes it less attractive for them to embark on mass campaigning. Google should really push forward and advertise the OS itself and not worry about the myriad of handsets. That would solve the fragmentation at least.

Anyway that's my $.02

 

[2FR35H]

Do you think we'll see the Android marketing mature a bit into a more gender neutral advertising style? Right now it seems like the commercials for Android phones are all robotic-y, digital-y, "cool"... from a techy guy's (myself) perspective.

They should shift into a new advertising style that appeals to the masses a bit better. Ya?

Is the MyTouch3G commercials not gender neutral enough or what? their whole theme is customization.

 

[jan2lid]

it's not a woman's phone because it's not simple like the iPhone .....thankfully

This really made me LOL!
I wonder if She could muster up the brainpower to get to grips with something as complex as an Android phone? (think she would be ok with an IPhone however?).
We may be a bit thin on the ground, but there ARE women know their hard drive from their handbag

 

[2FR35H]

I'm heaps insulted by this Why should a woman be automatically pidgeonholed into the iPhone crowd? Are you saying we are simple-minded? Grow up please you sound like you are 12 and never met a smart woman before. Funny fact is most of my friends use BlackBerry.

Back on topic, the Android marketing has so far been pretty fail - to men and women alike. I live in Aussie so it might be different than in the US/UK but there is absolutely NO POSTERS for Android anywhere. The only place I've seen one is on Telstra windows because they have Desire on exclusive, however other places that offer Android phones like the Dext/Cliq, Dream etc hardly advertise it.

On the internet it's even worse. You'd think they'd at least have cheaply made banners right? WRONG! Even in technoblogs they only have iPhone ads.

I'd attribute this to the fact that it's up to the makers to advertise their phone. Because there are several they have to compete with Apple AND each other. This makes it less attractive for them to embark on mass campaigning. Google should really push forward and advertise the OS itself and not worry about the myriad of handsets. That would solve the fragmentation at least.

Anyway that's my $.02

Oh please stop being such a feminist most women don't give a care for specs they mostly want something small and cute and you know it. This is partial to the reason why companies market to mainly men because we are mainly the ones setting up tents and other crap like that just for a gadget release. Blackberry's are considered "cute" for girls and sidekicks as well because they are small and fit in their purse or whatever the simple fact that they are smart phones may just be a coincidence. Most people like blackberry's for their keyboard not exactly their OS or the hardware(other than the keyboard). Look at these blogs mainly men. Sure you may be one in the million women that actually care about the OS but MOST don't. I am not going to say women are simple minded but most women definitely are not near as up to date with technology than men.

Maybe thats just in the USA but its true.

 

[yellowfrizbee]

This really made me LOL!
I wonder if She could muster up the brainpower to get to grips with something as complex as an Android phone? (think she would be ok with an IPhone however?).
We may be a bit thin on the ground, but there ARE women know their hard drive from their handbag

Thank you, sir. I would be one of them. There are ALOT of women that do actually. That said, I dont mind the commercials. Who cares how they market it? Chances are if a girl is into tech, she would have already known about android anyways. What they need to do if they want to market to females who like gadgets is make less masculine devices. Eris is pretty feminine, Moto droid is pretty masculine. Just an example. Nexus One is quite feminine aswell.


2FR35H, you cant generalize a whole population. It just doesnt work. So when you try to massively generalize all girls, all youre accomplishing is making yourself seem ignorant.

 

[jan2lid]

Thank you, sir. Madam

 

[yellowfrizbee]

Thank you, sir. Madam

Hah! Silly mistake of me. Pink android, "We" in the post. It was slapping me in the face and I still ignored it

My apologies. Good to see more girls around the forums!

One more thing; alot of my girlfriends have android phones and alot of my male friends have dumb phones. Funny, huh? Not really. Interest depends on individual not gender.

 

[jan2lid]

One more thing; alot of my girlfriends have android phones and alot of my male friends have dumb phones. Funny, huh? Not really. Interest depends on individual not gender.

Totally agree

 

[Archphoto]

Think it all comes down to personal taste *and* marketing.

In TH, phones galore - everybody has one (including Chinese Nokia & Apple knockoffs) and women buy what they feel comfortable with and know. Unlike AU though, Android is advertised quite a bit here - billboards extolling the virtues of AIS + Android abound. Hence the use of Android phones is rather more widespread than you'd think!

Women *not* technically savvy? Hmmmm, quite a generalisation there; my mum was was around 35 and took to computer tech suport around 30 years ago like a duck to water. This was in the days of DOS before Windows 3 even smelt like it was cooking.

That's kind of like saying guys don't care about skincare - seen how many ads there are around lately from upmarket companies using celebs to tout how great their products are? (More advertising on TV here for men and their skincare products than I've ever seen elsewhere . . . . )

Sure, women (and men for that matter) don't care much for the tech specs of what they are buying, but there are just as many who do their research and want to know as much as possible *before* parting with their hard-earned cash.

Women are an untapped market I think, and the sooner companies realise this and adjust their thinking (and advertising methods) accordingly, the sooner they'll reap the rewards.

Not sure about the US or the UK markets, but from an Australian based in Thailand, seems Android doesn't seem to be aimed at one particular group - they want your $$$ regardless of your gender.

 

[lekky]

Oh please stop being such a feminist most women don't give a care for specs they mostly want something small and cute and you know it. This is partial to the reason why companies market to mainly men because we are mainly the ones setting up tents and other crap like that just for a gadget release. Blackberry's are considered "cute" for girls and sidekicks as well because they are small and fit in their purse or whatever the simple fact that they are smart phones may just be a coincidence. Most people like blackberry's for their keyboard not exactly their OS or the hardware(other than the keyboard). Look at these blogs mainly men. Sure you may be one in the million women that actually care about the OS but MOST don't. I am not going to say women are simple minded but most women definitely are not near as up to date with technology than men.

Maybe thats just in the USA but its true.

lmao, you are either very young and immature, or very old and out of date.

Most women want something small and cute? I'm trying to hold back from just calling your post stupid. I will not do that, but man are you so wrong.

 

[Njcellgeek74]

From a woman's perspective, I am more likely to buy something based on it's specs than the fact I can add a "precious flowery theme" to it. It would be, for me anyway, as insulting as the used car salesman who made it a point to show me the lighted vanity mirror on a car. My sn should tell you that, lol, I am techy and I am def female. Marketing directly towards on group or another tends to alienate everyone else, so I say show us what it can do and let's us take it from there. As to the females being more suited to an iPhone, I tried it and it was to much like a toy to me. I need something a little more, well....more.

 

[InstantKarma]

Maybe Google should pay for some product placement in the next Twilight movie, or get the latest boy band to endorse Android.

I think this thread was flawed in its premise.

 

[CRPercodani]

Well now we know why geeks don't get the girls.....

 

[Trident]

Well now we know why geeks don't get the girls.....

LMAO... soo true.

 

[booklady]

Hmmm, lots of thoughts going through my head here...

As a woman who is not super focused on my looks all day, loves trucks (give me a pickup truck or SUV over a sports car any day), and has no desire for a "cutesy" phone if it doesn't do much, I liked the marketing of the Android. I'm afraid of what the commercials and ads would like like if they were intended for a female audience; unfortunately many ads geared toward women are pretty stupid.

And if all else fails, women can always put a pink case on the phone to make it cute

 

[Isthmus]

Oh course they are. Haven't you seen all the picture apps of scantly clade guys? You'd never get those on the Iphone.

 

[ttamnedlog]

Some good points in here. I think the key, as someone mentioned, is that Google needs to advertise the OS. Let the phones advertise themselves in their own individual ways. The OS ads could just tout the freedom and customization options the OS provides, maybe mention the apps, etc. And the end of the ad could mention something like "available on all these phones" with some panoramic shot. I dunno, just spitballing.

And yeah the ads suck here as they do in Australia. They need to up the ante.

 

[Rhonen]

Do you think we'll see the Android marketing mature a bit into a more gender neutral advertising style? Right now it seems like the commercials for Android phones are all robotic-y, digital-y, "cool"... from a techy guy's (myself) perspective.

They should shift into a new advertising style that appeals to the masses a bit better. Ya?

I agree, Android doesn

 

[Seas]

You fool! The female:male ratio for android users is actually higher than it is for iPhone users! Don't you realize what will happen from this madness!? So let's say we listen to you, with your infinite wisdom here, and have magical unicorns and Robert Patterson market Android? Android will become a girly phone for girls! The only way to even it out will be to get Bruce Willis to film a commercial where he shoots up a drug cartel using his Nexus One! It will all go down hill from there! It will start an all out gender war, I tell you. Android will split off with a Gynoid faction! Google will spawn Femoogle! And we'll all burn up in a bullet-riddled and sparkly wasteland of society. AND IT WILL ALL BE YOUR FAULT!

Seriously, though, plenty of women use Android, I don't think it's a concern. Numbers Don’t Lie, Android is Still Far from the Top | Droid Life: A Motorola Droid Blog

I do actually agree with you to an extent, but I don't think gender is the issue. The Droid's marketing just seems juvenile to me, like something I would have enjoyed when I was thirteen. Watch a Telus Milestone commercial to see Android marketing done right.