Saint Steven

Steven, the affable spokestar whose popularity helped catapult Dell to the top of the PC charts, almost never existed. Yes, client executives initially rejected actor Ben Curtis, the dude who inspired Dell to launch a Web site to satiate fan interest and introduce a line of clothing and accessories, Dude Gear."We had to beg them to use him," recalls Carol Fiorino, creative director at Lowe in New York. Curtis has now been a fixture of Dell's advertising for almost two years, during which time the client has switched agencies, Steven has moved on to college and Dell has climbed from the fifth-ranked PC brand in the U.S. to No. 2 behind Hewlett-Packard. The character is so popular that Dell says it's concerned about a backlash—this fall, the marketer will break a Steven-less consumer campaign, although there's no indication he will be dropped entirely.Back in 2000, Fiorino and her copywriter partner, Jeffrey Asch, were searching for a teen to peddle computers to 15-20-year-olds—as the client had directed in its brief—and settled on unknown actor Curtis, a student at New York University's Tisch School of Performing Arts. Cast during the Screen Actors Guild strike, Curtis, now 21, "had a raw quality," Asch says. The pair worked tirelessly to promote him. It wasn't easy. Dell executives thought the Chattanooga, Tenn., native was "too pretty for the part," Fiorino says. The Round Rock, Texas-based client eventually agreed to test Curtis with one spot on network TV, and that November the public was introduced to the blond, spiky-haired kid. In the ad, he films a video of himself in his room, flashing homemade cards at the camera to let his parents know he wants a Dell for the holidays. Steven was an instant hit, generating a 61 percent response rate, says Claire Ben nett, group manager of consumer marketing at Dell. Lowe created just three spots before Dell moved its then-$200 million account to DDB in April 2001. Steven survived the shift, but Lowe's "Dell for me" tagline did not. The Chicago shop introduced the "Easy as Dell" tag and created the popular "Dude, you're getting a Dell" line. DDB creative directors Paul Tilley and John Siebert sought to broaden Steven's appeal to older computer users. Steven started singing Dell's praises to everyone he encountered, whether at the mall or on the street. DDB's first work broke last September, with Steven trying to persuade a mom to leave a computer store and buy her son a Dell instead (the PCs are only sold online and by phone). Steven's now-trademark dude line came from copywriter Skip Tramontana's own lingo. "When I write copy for Ben, I don't have to reach too far from myself," says the 30-year-old former Arena Football player. Dell registered an increase in calls, many with comments about Steven, Bennett says. "He re minds me of my grandson," one caller said. Steven generated less of a response when he appeared alone in a follow-up ad, and since then he's always had company. This summer, Steven became a college student, with spots shot at a Toronto campus. His redheaded room mate, Skip (actor Bill Turnbull), who made his debut last month, is the anti-dude, awkward and clumsy. He tries to surf on an ironing board and gets doused by Steven with fake snow in an ad promoting Dell's $50,000-a-day vacation giveaway. Dell is now giving away a BMW a day through September. Steven outlines students' "plethora of choices" for getting to class, including roller skates, a bike or, thanks to Dell, a BMW.Bennett would not provide figures, but says the campaign has had "a significant impact" on sales. Second-quarter revenue was up 11 percent from 2001, to $8.5 billion; the rest of the industry is expected to show sales down 10 percent, according to Dell.Despite Steven's success, he'll be absent from this fall's campaign featuring young interns brainstorming about new products Dell can offer, a source says. The spots were tested in late spring in two markets and did well. But Bennett says the company has no plans to do away with Steven. It's just time, says John Hamlin, vp of Dell's consumer group, to add something to the mix. "Clearly, at some point, you've got to do something new and different," he says.

Brand Marketing

Saint Steven

Tania D. Panczyk

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Tania D. Panczyk