ubergizmo
 Ubergizmo

Dell and HP Going Opposite Ways With Premium Brands Alienware, Voodoo (video)

Story posted on: July 29, 2008


After almost 2 years operating inside Dell and HP, high-end PC brands Alienware and Voodoo seem to finally find their "sweetspot" inside those 2 huge organisations.

In recent weeks, I've interviewed both Voodoo Chief Rahul Sood (pictured is the logo that was on his t-shirt!) and Dell's President of the consumer business, Ron Garriques who had radical different views in how to use Alienware and Voodoo in their consumer portfolio.

But if I have to sum it up, I'll say that Alienware=HP Voodoo DNA=Gaming and Dell XPS=Voodoo PC=Best machine. And to me, the Dell's strategy looks a bit more logical: a separate brand for gaming and another (XPS) that mimics the car industry modifiers (AMG, M, VR6, SRT, Denali...). Find both video clips after the jump, and tell me what you think.




Alienware is all about Gaming. XPS is the very best machine of any category, gaming included!

Dell will use its XPS brand for the best machine of its category - in a similar way Mercedes uses its modifier AMG sub-brand to indicate "the best of" it produces.
"So you'll be able to see Alienware, the best being XPS. You'll be able to see us with an Inspiron XPS or a Studio XPS", said Garriques.



HP machines with Voodoo DNA are for gamers. Whereas, Voodoo is the ultimate machine from HP and highly personal

On the other hand, HP chose to target gamers exclusively with "Voodoo DNA" machines using Voodoo technologies, like the HP Blackbird 002. Whereas Voodoo branded PCs will just be the best machines coming out from HP, and what Sood refers as the "Lamborghini" versus an Audi/HP.
"When we first started at HP we were asked to help bring innovation to market quicker... and so Blackbird was our first project... getting our team together with HP's team bulding up this new business unit under Phil McKinney... Because of the success of Blackbird... HP asked us to continue to be making products that are branded HP with Voodoo DNA because it's been a big halo for HP as well... But they want us to refresh the Voodoo portfolio as well... But when you look at the HP portfolio with Voodoo DNA, their systems are going to be much more agressive, futuristic designs with aggressive lines, aggressive materials and design for gamers... The Voodoo will be less agressive in terms of design... And it's going to be all about personalisation, style and performance. Most Voodoo customers are not gamers... Most of our customers are simply those who demand the best and want a really good silent PC that perform very well", said Rahul Sood.





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