Byline: Claire Prentice Claire Prentice
Women the world over are finding the pashmina and the Prada handbag a little low-tech for their tastes. Swapping their Vogue subscription for the latest edition of Stuff and What Hi-Fi?, they're hitting the shops in droves to snap up the kind of hi-tech gizmos that were once regarded as boys' toys. And, at last, companies are waking up to the monetary muscle of the gadget girls.
It all started with Nokia's mobile phone, the 8810 (pronounced eighty-eight ten). As a cunning marketing ploy, Nokia sent freebies to top models and the style press, ensuring the latest fashion accessory was seen clamped to all the right ears. Sure, it was a handy business tool, designed with the career women firmly in mind, but the compact silver casing catapulted it into the league of design classics.
"When you take your phone out and slap it on the table people do notice the model," says Alison Brolls, Nokia UK marketing manager. "Nowadays it's not so much what you wear but your business accessories that people judge you on. The 8810 is a classic example of that - it isn't just a phone, it says something about the user." Surveys carried out by leading mobile phone companies show that people do make value judgments on the strength of your electronic accessories. Which means social or professional death for those not kitted out with the right gear.
It's a sign of the times that Clare Newsome has taken over as editor of the lads' gadget mag Stuff, and Prada Bags Replica appropriately for the post she's been splashing out on new toys. She has just bought herself a bright blue Motorola CD930 and admits design was important when it came to selecting the right model. "In my job it is essential to be seen with all the right gadgets and today style does matter. Electronics companies can no longer afford to keep churning out plain black boxes with flashing lights because that's not what the customer - be it a man or a woman - wants."
While cautious about saying the 8810 was designed specifically for women (David Beckham and Prince Naseem also received theirs), Nokia is happy to admit it's targeting women with its marketing. An advert for a new model reads: "Do you know the difference between clothing and style? Then you know the difference between a mobile phone and the Nokia 8210." Instead of wheeling out their new product at an anoraky trade fair, the company decided to launch their new dog-and-bone at Paris fashion week. Similarly, top fashion designers, including John Rocha and Nicole Farhi, developed their own limited-edition changeable covers for the 3210 - thus enabling the style-conscious girl to co-ordinate her wardrobe from top to technological toe.
Dominic Strowbridge of Motorola believes that the current focus on the female market is simply the result of maturing technologies. "With any hi-tech industry, when you first start out the emphasis is on chasing new technologies and the resulting product is very technology-led - and thus tends to appeal more to men. Now there is a growing emphasis on design and lifestyle, which LED Street Light SP90-28W appeals to more and more women."
So where will the current trend for girl gadgets end? Sony spokesman John Henden believes that the advertisers should sharpen up their act if they want to capture the canny female market. "There have been some appaling examples of marketing targeted at women, particularly in the computer industry, where a company has highlighted how easy their product is to use, implying that if you're a female you don't understand anything hi-tech."
Sony product
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