When I met with Motorola at CES and they showed me the Droid Maxx I suspected they were on to something. What is interesting to me as an analyst about this device is that it is not just another Android device that is thrown into the sea of sameness. Motorola took a great design like the Droid Razr, a product with terrible marketing in my opinion, and packed a 3300 mAh Li Ion battery to get roughly 21 hours of talk time. This is enough of a differentiator in my opinion to generate genuine consumer interest.
This product represents what I think the future of mobile hardware will look like. One where companies pick out segments of the market and design their hardware accordingly. In this case Motorola is specifically targeting those for whom battery life is a established problem.
You could argue that is true for every consumer but I would point out that there is a segment for whom it is a bigger problem than most. My wife for example has no problem going more than a day on her iPhone 4S on a single charge. She just isn’t a heavy user and has no perceived “battery life” problem. Many consumers are like her. My iPhone 4S, however, is below 10% by the end of the day–every day–and often doesn’t last until 9pm. Mainly because I use it extensively for my job. Battery life for me is a known issue I battle with every day. For me a device with longer battery life is an attractive feature.
When I first saw the Droid Razr Maxx commercial, my first thought was that it was the first Droid commercial I have ever seen that actually made me want the device. Most Droid marketing is trying to be overly cool or appeal to geeks and techies. Most Apple commercials appeal to the mass market because they point out features average consumers find valuable or can associate value with. This is the first Droid commercial that actually does this well.
By highlighting the shortcomings of most devices battery life, Motorola points out a problem that for many is close to heart. If you have issues with battery life you know. If you don’t have issues with battery life than this device isn’t for you–plain and simple.
That is the sign of good marketing. It is speaking to a segment. I applaud Motorola for taking this approach as the Droid Razr Maxx is the first device that I believe stands out in the sea of sameness. More importantly the commercial communicates features that a segment will associate as valuable. If a feature or feature set is valuable the product will sell itself. I wouldn’t be surprised if the Droid Razr Maxx is one of the more successful Android products.
If you haven’t seen the commercial here it is: