GenDigital

Microsoft Launches Intellecutal Property Youth Initiative

If young people are aware of the laws over Internet file sharing and downloading, they are less likely to download content illegally. So basically you could say if there is more education and awareness of IP laws, less kids would download stuff illegally, or so the prevailing thought goes from Microsoft according to their press release. Microsoft is working with a company called Topics Education to create a pilot program dubbed Intellectual Property Rights Education they hope middle schools and high schools will adopt and educate their students. To help with the pilot program, Microsoft launched a corresponding web site that enables users to develop their own intellectual property and assign their own usage rights. I have to say, the site is pretty cool, especially for Microsoft and I can certainly see them extending the program to other areas. With all that said, it should be noted that the practice of illegally downloading unlicensed content by teens has actually been in steady decline over the past two years according to our tracking data from our youth Lifestyle Reports. There is a growing consensus that notes a marked shift in attitude among young people that you can't simply download anything you want for free anymore, a considerable difference from a couple of years ago during the heyday of Napster and Co.

Can New Services Set Up Help Dell?

In the advertising world, the big news last week was of course Dell's decision to hand their $4.5 billion global marketing services account to agency holding company WPP Group after what has been called a huge shootout between the giant agency holding companies including Interpublic, among others. The plan calls for WPP to build out a new agency that will be staffed by upwards of 1,000 marketing and analytical professionals in order to service the Dell business on a global basis. Dell has reported previously that it worked with hundreds of agencies and specialty service providers on a global basis and it needed to aggressively "shrink" the list in order to create more efficiencies. I dunno, for some reason, $4.5 billion (of course that is the account value, remember this is ad world where everything is grossly inflated, the actual revenues WPP can expect is probably somewhere in the neighborhood of $150 million a year for three years) seems out whack. It's a huge number, but when you look at the sagging company's revenues it's not so big. I think the real challenge will be staffing this new agency with the right set of individuals who understand what it takes to get a brand's luster back. These need to be experienced brand marketers who have been through similar type engagements in the past. All that said, the number one computer company among teens and college students needs some serious help and they need it seriously fast. We expect their downward spiral to continue through next year and by the spring, they will drop to the third in market share for laptops behind Apple and HP and second in desktops behind HP.

Can A New Pink Notebook Get Dell's MoJo Back?

Forget about the $600 iPhone and the slow and unreliable AT&T cellular network, I want one of those hot new pink notebooks from Dell that looks fit for Reese Witherspoon's character in Legally Blonde. At least that's what Dell is hoping for, take away just a little bit of the unprecedented buzz for the iPhone and shine just a little light on its new line of notebook computers available in an array of colors ranging from flamingo pink to sunshine yellow. Who do you think Dell is targeting these new notebook computers to? Right, young people. The problem and challenge for Dell is simple, yet large. Over the past two years, there has been a seismic shift in purchase intent and actual follow on purchases in the notebook computer category. Where there was once a time not so long ago where it was Dell, Dell, and yes, Dell, that just isn't the case anymore. Apple's Macbook has put quite a dent in Dell's reign over the past 18 months. With special students discounts and features and functionality we've detailed in great almost boring length at this point in previous Youth Trends reports and this blog, it has been a ninth inning grand slam home run. Now, going back to the problem...The key is all about purchase intent and then converting those intenders into customers. What we don't see right now is lots of intenders. Typically, about 16 to 20% of teens and college students purchase a new computer each year, of course the overwhelming majority of those purchases (more than 80%) are for notebook computers. According to our latest research purchase intent for a new computer is just over 10%, a rather sharp decrease from what we've seen previously and consistently. Essentially, what we believe is that for the most part, young people purchased or received their computer of choice in the past 18 months so were embarking on the down part of the purchasing cycle. Six to 12 months from now, we'll start heading upwards again, but right now from a youth market standpoint, this could be the most inopportune time to introduce a new line of computers. I would also say this time will include the upcoming mega crucial back to school shopping season when almost three out of four computers are purchased. We'll go ahead and field our back to school retail and shopping report in about four weeks and we'll either confirm what we're seeing right now in terms of the lower purchase intent levels, or we'll have some different news, news that would certainly benefit the struggling computer maker from Round Rock.

A Laptop Computer Just For Young Women

Fans and patrons of the ubiquitous Hello Kitty brand can now get their tech fix covered by the Japanese-based feline who has a broad worldwide appeal among young women. NEC, in collaboration with Sanrio, the owner of the Hello Kitty brand name have just introduced a new pink laptop finished off by nearly 300 Swarovski crystals depicting the cute little kitty's head surrounded by hearts. Unfortunately, unless you're based in Japan, you won't be able to purchase the $1,650 machine, because as of now, the glowing pink machine is only available online in Japan. Assuming demand builds up (which would be our bet) international availability shouldn't be too far off.

Dell Goes Pro Environment With Latest Pitch

For a long time there has been a king sitting atop of the desktop and notebook computer industry, and that king has been Dell. However, over the computer maker has had a relatively rough go at it over the past two years. Much of the trouble can be attributed to their well documented customer service issues, but we also believe a lot of their challenges are based on a formidable competitor who has all of the momentum lately...Apple of course. If you've been following this blog or subscribe to any of our work you are more than familiar with the whole notion of the "iPod effect." The effect came to a head this past fall as more teens and young adults purchased more Apple Macbooks than any other notebook computer brand. Sensing the threat from Apple and other computer makers, Dell is shoring up its service unit and creating marketing programs that could potentially be considered out of character for itself and others in its industry. For example, yesterday at the giant CES trade show in Las Vegas, Michael Dell took the stage to announce a pro-environment initiative where it asks consumers to pay a couple of dollars extra for their computer so they can plant a tree. Now, if they were really, really slick, they would have said, forget having consumers donate the extra $2 or $6 (regardless of how immaterial it is on a $800 or $1000 computer purchase) and just come out and say we're planting a tree in your name (meaning the consumer's). It's a start...For many members of Generation Y, the environment is their BFF and this new initiative from Dell, if marketed smartly, could get many of them talking.

Apple Rocks Out With New MacBook

Even though it was only on the market for just six weeks during Apple's most recent financial reporting quarter, its new MacBook is a flat out hit. The company sold just under 800,000 during its most recent quarter which bolstered its overall revenue and profit numbers. The company also sold another 8.1 million iPods as well. But back to the computers for a second. Just under 20% of teens and college students plan to purchase a computer this year, and among this percentage just over one in five (21%) plan on purchasing an Apple MacBook. If you ran the numbers against the general teen and college population you would see that works out to about 250,000 potential MacBook purchasers. Clearly, all of the 800,000 who purchased a MacBook during the recent quarter weren't all young people, but now I am really curious to know that if purchase intent among young people has grown significantly beyond that 21% we measured earlier. Anecdotally, we've picked up positive feedback from panelists, mainly females about the Apple MacBook. We'll know more come September when we administer our comprehensive teen survey which will measure both purchases and planned purchases, but something tells me that Apple's share of the computer market has risen more than we originally anticipated among teens and young adults.

Apple Introduces Sub $1000 Computer For Students

According to reports from Reuters, Apple has announced plans to introduce a $900 Intel-powered iMac targeted specifically to students. Details are still unclear on what components will come standard with new machine, other than a pretty sweet 17 inch LCD monitor. As more students chose notebook computers for their portability and convenience over desktops, the Apple move might be perceived as decidedly contrary to the current trend, but we'll wait and see. Remember what they said about young people paying for digital music downloads?

Business Week Tech Columnist Pushes Mac

Stephen Wildstrom, the Business Week Technology columnist has some advice for incoming college freshmen, come prepared to school in the fall by bringing a Mac. Although his math is off (there are not 3 million incoming freshmen next fall, the number is actually much closer to 2 million), his pitch is somewhat compelling. One point he makes is dead on: today's college students prefer laptops over desktops. Among the 19% of college students who plan to purchase a computer in the next year, the overwhelming majority, some 69% plan to purchase a laptop for it ease of use and portability around campus. Given a significant percentage of campuses have wireless networking capabilities, it doesn't take a genius to figure out a college kid would rather sit under a tree on nice day to log on rather than be stuck in a tiny little dorm room with poor air conditioning. Going back to Mr. Wildstrom's advice for incoming college freshmen, the numbers still speak for themselves. Among laptop purchase intenders, Dell remains the dominant preferred choice by 39% of purchase intenders followed by 21% who plan to purchase a Mac. Everyone else, including HP and Lenovo are in the single digits. Mr. Wildstrom's advice may be solid, but at the very least, he should understand what the current college computer environment looks like.