Apple shines, while Intel gives itself a black eye

What’s in a brand? Technology, of course, and a pleasing public face. Few companies are as adept at blending those ingredients as Apple and Intel. But this week, the two Silicon Valley heavyweights were a study in contrasts as Apple made an exceptionally smart PR move, while Intel gave itself an ugly black eye.

Apple shines with a smart “think pink” move

In a week when gender issues highlighted the presidential campaign, Apple garnered a basketful of good press when it named Andrea Jung to its board of directors. Of course, one could say it’s about time, since Jung is, amazingly enough, only the second woman (astronaut Sally Ride was first) to sit on the company’s board. Still, with Macworld Expo just around the corner, it’s a good time to generate favorable publicity.

Gender and PR issues aside, the move makes enormous business sense as well. Jung is the CEO of Avon, and she obviously knows more than a little bit about marketing to women. Moreover, she also sits on the board of GE, the parent company of NBC Universal, which has been scuffling with Apple over the pricing of digital downloads.

Technology marketing has always been wildly skewed toward men. While that may have made some sense when home electronics meant only stereos and TVs, and when computers had few uses outside the office or the hands of hobbyists, it’s unreasonable to assume at all today.

The electronics industry some time ago learned that young people, as in teenagers, have enormous buying power, and so it began to market to them accordingly. But the lesson that women — more than half the population — control big chunks of a family’s discretionary spending (not to mention the legions of well-paid single, career women with their own incomes) hasn’t altogether sunk in. Indeed, even today, trade-show booth babes are not extinct.

Barbara Krasnoff, who writes for our sister publication Computerworld, points out that tech companies seem to believe that making a device pink (literally) will convince women to buy it. Sorry. Women with an interest in technology are too smart to go for silly “targeted” ploys. Have you seen many homes with recipe computers in the kitchen or electronic inventory control devices on refrigerators? Yet that’s what too many electronics companies think that’s what women want.

The issue becomes even more important in a period when consumer spending is likely to slow along with the economy. Already faced with increased competition from Microsoft (as in Zune), SanDisk (as in Sansa), and other vendors, Apple needs to find new customers. My take: Jung is the right person at the right time.

Intel dons “kick me” sign

Meanwhile, what was Intel thinking when it pulled out of the One Laptop Per Child coalition?

Sure, sales of the supercheap PC for third-world kids have not met expectations, and there may have been some legitimate business issues on the table. But talk about a bozo PR move. Intel already is seen in many quarters as a predatory bully. Now the giant chipmaker is taking candy from babies, as it were.

It’s the kind of blunder that won’t show up on the income statement. However, companies that make themselves disliked are easier targets when antitrust issues rear their heads. Enemies have a way of getting back at you by whispering in the ears of regulators, and politicians — particularly in Europe — are sensitive to their constituents’ dislike of private-sector companies that appear monopolistic.

And customers note this sort of behavior as well. Any one such action may not turn off buyers, but several begin to switch opinion around and open the door for customers to consider an alternative. Microsoft’s bad behavior has motivated a small, but growing, set of consumers to move to Linux; Intel’s bad behavior could open a door to AMD. And wouldn’t that be ironic, since one of the reasons Intel pulled the plug on the OLPC effort was because of AMD’s presence in the box? Behave, children.

I welcome your comments, tips and suggestions. Reach me at bill_snyder@infoworld.com.