How SHOULD Palm/Sprint advertise the Pre?

west3man · 07/19/2009, 02:25 PM

I'm not a big fan of the latest Pre commercial with the ghostly apparition holding up her Pre, but after seeing a recent LG featurephone commercial, I'm not sure how to make the Pre stand out from the crowd. I think it *does* stand out but not necessarily to people who don't scrutinize features the way that many of us do.

So, how is the average Joe (or Joan) supposed to be convinced that THIS phone is better than all the others... from a 30-second commercial? (And remember, many of these people have never owned a smartphone before so multi-tasking may mean little to them. That's why they ask US what phone they should get.)

Affe · 07/19/2009, 03:24 PM

Well I think Sprint is going completely the wrong way. They keep mentioning having "multiple live applications open." I think in the most people's minds that means nothing. "Hey my iPhone has a lot of apps on it too and I can open and close them whenever I want." I don't think multitasking is something you can really advertise as something "cool" or "unique."

If I were Sprint I would advertise many things including synergy by saying "All your contacts and calenders from all over the web 'seamlessly' integrated together." Make it sound like something people would really want. Possibly advertise photo geotagging, direct Facebook picture uploading, and wireless charging! Not necessary the biggest features for us, but I think these things are what people will be like "wow that phone sounds cool" even if those aren't the most unique features. Their current multitasking ads, imo, have no real appeal.

yiffzer · 07/19/2009, 03:59 PM

Actually... multitasking is huge! And you can make it a worthy thing in people's minds. Here's some catchphrases off the top of my head (and I think Palm should consider using some of those, hehe).

Quote:

Don't be limited to one thing at a time. Do it all at on the Palm Pre.

Quote:

Time goes by fast. With the Palm Pre, you will be able to stay ahead of the game.

Quote:

Ever felt there aren't enough hours in a day? With the Palm Pre, you won't feel that way anymore.

Quote:

Time is precious. Get things done with your Palm Pre and spend the rest of the day with your family, friends, or whatever it is you do.

Quote:

We all know efficiency and effectiveness is important in running a business. The Palm Pre was built with that in mind.

Quote:

With the Palm Pre, you can connect your family and friends by texting, instant messaging, e-mailing, twitting, and Facebooking. All at the same time. Stay connected with the world with the new Palm Pre.

Quote:

Ever wanted to do multiple things at once but just couldn't? You now can with the Palm Pre. Tap to launch an application. Slide out your keyboard and type. Swipe either left or right to switch to new applications. When you're done, throw it away. It's that easy with the new Palm Pre.

Quote:

The Palm Pre lets you take control of your life. Do what you want at your own discretion. Swipe left and right through according to your needs and get things done. The Palm Pre. The world at your fingertips.

Okay, I was really nearing a dead end here...

galavanter · 07/19/2009, 04:24 PM

Resurrect what Ad Age calls the #1 campaign of the 20th century:

THINK SMALL

west3man · 07/20/2009, 10:47 PM

I'd love to see Palm show someone frustrated with another phone, maybe an iPhone, because it can't do X, then show someone with a Pre doing X quickly and easily.

Maybe Palm thinks that particular box has "Pandora" written on it (and not the musical variety) and would prefer to leave it closed.

The problem with the Pre is that you kinda have to be a smartphone user to get what a big deal some of its features are. Otherwise, before sharing the feature, Palm needs to make people aware of the problem that it addresses.

That kind of thing has to be done very very delicately otherwise eyes will glaze over... except for tech-heads like us.

wynand32 · 07/21/2009, 12:37 AM

I think that Palm should choose an actor--best, a woman actor--with a very distinctive look. Place her in a location that evokes feelings of peace and harmony, say, on a large, solid-looking boulder in the middle of a field of flowing green. Have her speak in a very peculiar manner, again evoking feelings of peace and harmony, of those aspects of her life that the Pre might positively impact. Things like managing a busy schedule (the notion of "many lives," maybe a play on reincarnation, would be good), recalling information ("deja vu" might work here), and other things like that.

It would be memorable, might create some buzz (what IS that strange new thing, and how about the woman who's holding it?!?), and would be a unique and innovative way to demonstrate the Pre's ability to bring, well, peace and harmony to one's life. Sure, it wouldn't necessarily appeal to the smartphone geeks on this forum, but then again we already have Pre. It would appeal instead to the rest of the market, the consumers who've only seen unique and innovative advertising around the iPhone.

Then again, I don't think Palm would have the guts to put out anything so different.

Really mobile · 07/21/2009, 12:52 AM

If/when the iPhone allows third party multitasking, it wil be interesting to see how they advertise it. I suspect it will be simple and to the point. Wishful thinking here?

west3man · 07/21/2009, 01:02 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Really mobile

If/when the iPhone allows third party multitasking, it wil be interesting to see how they advertise it. I suspect it will be simple and to the point. Wishful thinking here?

I'm sure you're absolutely correct.

Palm really needs to distinguish itself, though, so I gather that's why they went with the surreal approach. I just hope it gives people an idea of what they'd be getting into with the Pre so that the buzz doesn't just result in a bunch of returns.

anonymoustipster · 07/21/2009, 01:44 AM

I would have an extension of the now network ads but make it about the announcer saying right now x people are mutting this ad then one persone is running x y z a b c all at the same time all on the same phone and then each app swiping by the screen as announced and zooming out to a pre that is open revealing keyboard, and held by the announcer who closes the pre keyboard while saying the bit about being all on one device.

Not very coherent but its bedtime and I'm writing this from the pre

Mannyman · 07/22/2009, 04:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wynand32

I think that Palm should choose an actor--best, a woman actor--with a very distinctive look. Place her in a location that evokes feelings of peace and harmony, say, on a large, solid-looking boulder in the middle of a field of flowing green. Have her speak in a very peculiar manner, again evoking feelings of peace and harmony, of those aspects of her life that the Pre might positively impact. Things like managing a busy schedule (the notion of "many lives," maybe a play on reincarnation, would be good), recalling information ("deja vu" might work here), and other things like that.

It would be memorable, might create some buzz (what IS that strange new thing, and how about the woman who's holding it?!?), and would be a unique and innovative way to demonstrate the Pre's ability to bring, well, peace and harmony to one's life. Sure, it wouldn't necessarily appeal to the smartphone geeks on this forum, but then again we already have Pre. It would appeal instead to the rest of the market, the consumers who've only seen unique and innovative advertising around the iPhone.

Then again, I don't think Palm would have the guts to put out anything so different.

Like This?

Kasracer · 07/22/2009, 09:20 AM

1 word: ****.

gbp · 07/22/2009, 10:55 AM

Sit in the car.

Bring up the navigation system then plan a route.

Let the voice activated commands be heard.

Bring up the SPRINT TV or Pandora , and start listening to music.

When the navigation system kicks in for a turn by turn prompt , SPRINT TV or Pandora goes mute.

This is not a great feature , but for the majority non tech dumb phone users , this is huge.

They will run to the closest SPRINT Store to buy one.

Navigation is a must for many.
SPRINT is wasting time here not marketing the Pre to the fullest potential.

west3man · 07/22/2009, 11:16 AM

No offense, but I disagree. It's true that the phone aspect is essential, but these are not phones with other features in them. They're pda's with
phones in them. (I forget this sometimes.)

west3man · 07/22/2009, 11:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gbp

Sit in the car.

Bring up the navigation system then plan a route.

Let the voice activated commands be heard.

Bring up the SPRINT TV or Pandora , and start listening to music.

When the navigation system kicks in for a turn by turn prompt , SPRINT TV or Pandora goes mute.

This is not a great feature , but for the majority non tech dumb phone users , this is huge.

They will run to the closest SPRINT Store to buy one.

Navigation is a must for many.
SPRINT is wasting time here not marketing the Pre to the fullest potential.

I'm inclined to agree with everything except the Pandora/Sprint Nav pause thingee not being a great feature. It's a big deal that I wouldn't take for granted because not everyone would've done it.

Jonathan I Ezor · 07/22/2009, 11:26 AM

Palm can swipe (ha!) a page from Apple, and compare/contrast the inflexibility of Apple's iTunes App Store control with what we expect to be Palm's openness to developer creativity. As others have said in various places, there is *an* app for a particular function, and if you don't like the one Apple chose to bless with App Store inclusion, your choices are to suck it up and deal or violate the law and risk bricking your iPhone through jailbreaking. With the Pre, there is no limit to the number, creativity and innovation in apps. More freedom = better apps. {ProfJonathan}

meriwether · 07/22/2009, 02:22 PM

Start with the premise that they should not copy the iPhone ad format, where they show the phone and then show it doing something, like opening and editing a video.

They obviously went with a strategy of name recognition and buzz, instead of providing information, but I don't like that strategy. Even if the ads were ok instead of being creepy, they need to get the most bang for their buck on these ads, especially with Palm having financial trouble.

There are an infinite number of ways to sell the Pre to the public, but one that came to me was to emphasize the cards metaphor. So, have a series of ads that play on the use of cards and multi-tasking--an arena where Palm has an advantage over the iPhone. For example, an ad with a street magician saying, "pick a card, any card" to a throng, and you pan in, and he flips through a series of apps on the Pre, showing calendar, Pandora, email, photos, TV, whatever you want to show off. People in the crowd are oohing and aahing, and shouting out, "we want pandora", "play a video" "check email", etc. Then the magician says, "no problem we can do all of them. All at the same time." The crowd cheers, except one guy with slumped shoulders, who slinks away.

Next, do one with people at a poker table. One of the guys is holding his Pre. "How many cards do you want?" The geeky guy with the iPhone in his hands wheezes, "I'll just take one, that's all I need". The guy with the Blackberry says "I would love some, but I just can't". Then they pan in to a guy holding a Pre. It shows him reading his email. He then minimizes and slides over to another app, and brings it up. "Two". He minimizes again, slides a new card over. "Three, no, Four. Never mind, I'll take all the cards. He flicks the cards on his Pre confidently, they have a shuffle graphic and sound effect, and it comes up 4 aces, like a video poker game. The other players at the table look dejected, and hang their heads.

Follow up scenarios: Old folks playing bridge, Tarot reader, souvenir shop with post cards.

3-5 ads with this way of introducing the Pre would get it in the public mind, and in a creative way. Then, a few months down the line, follow it up with more informative ads, telling all the other things that it does. Especially after the updates have added some new features.

meriwether · 07/22/2009, 03:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by west3man

I'm inclined to agree with everything except the Pandora/Sprint Nav pause thingee not being a great feature. It's a big deal that I wouldn't take for granted because not everyone would've done it.

I agree, I think that a lot of thought went into that one little feature. On my instinct, I could play music or use the nav, but not both at the same time. If I was using Nav, and a call came in, I could take the call, but the Nav would cease.

On a trip when I first got the Pre, I learned that the Pre lets them all work at once. I was running Pandora, put on the Nav and both were working at the same time. When the lady told me to make a turn, the music was paused and the lady spoke, then the music started up right where it left off. Then, I got a call, spoke over the phone mic while hearing the other party over the car speakers. The Nav was still operating, and the lady would tell me to turn even while the phone call was going on. The Nav did not go to the caller, though, just over the speakers. Very nice.

An ad that empasized the Nav that is included free in all the plans that the Pre requires would be a good one. If the Pre added voice control, it would be even better. On the Instinct, I used to use Live Search to find businesses, restaurants, gas, parks, schools, whatever. You then tap a link to call the business, get directions, or bring up the Nav which will guide you there. If Pre adds voice commands, it should add Live Search, and then show it off in a commercial. For that matter, Sprint should have emphasized it more with the instinct.

ronlongo · 07/22/2009, 04:04 PM

Multitasking/Life management Ad Idea

How about an ad where they show all of life's things going on all over the place (meetings, tasks lists, emails, etc.) like a jumbled chaos maybe as separate (but live) images moving around at random on the screen and the actor going crazy trying to manage and remember it all.

Then swap to another actor. Suddenly all the activities resolve into a deck of playing cards again with live pictures on them. For example, one depicting a meeting at work going on, another showing Little Pete's baseball game, etc. the actor shuffles through the cards with ease managing them with complete ease. The meeting card depicts the meeting come to an end and the actor discards the card.

Finally the actor pulls all the cards together into a stack. Touches the top of the stack (where the Pre's power button is) and the stack resovles into a Palm Pre.

Alternate ending: The actor pulls all the cards together into a stack, with Pandora or other music player on top. Starts playback. Puts headphones on. Sit's back relaxed, enjoying the music with the knowledge that his/her chaotic life is in order.

gbp · 07/22/2009, 05:28 PM

Folks,
don't have to go deeper into cards and multitasking.
Just show the browser ( multitouch like iPhone) and show the Navi.

I bet about 20 million on the 30 million sprint customers don't even know that they have the the true NAVIGATION ( I mean voice enabled) on their phone.

The other cool feature they can show is about
typing on the keyboard for a google search.

I bet this will get the ball rolling.

Its a shame that SPRINT and PALM didn't advertise this thing.

We have been crowing about this issue for a long time in this forum , and it is showing up in the sales.

Last time I checked two stores , they have it available.
In late june , that was not the case.

MY 2 cents , PALM sold Pre to the old PALM FAITHFUL customers with SPRINT.

Time to release it on Verizon.

nyquistJack · 07/30/2009, 10:20 AM

If I were Palm, once the app store and development community are more stable, I would attack Apple on this. I could definitely see a PC vs MAC type commercial.

"Hello, I'm an iPhone"
"And I'm a Pre"
Pre: "I am having some gas pains"
iPhone: "I have an app for that" <farts> "and 50,000 other apps"
Pre: "Oh" <looks down> "I only have 5,000, But I have this really cool app that lets my phone sound like a piano when I touch the keys" <plays a tune> "do you have an app like that?"
iPhone: "Apple says I don't need any apps like that"
Pre: "I see. I also have this app that <something>"
iPhone: "Apple says I don't need any apps like that"
Pre: "Oh. Surely they let you have an app like <something>"
iPhone: "Apple says I don't need any apps like that" (and don't call me shirly)
Pre: "Well, at least you have your " <farts> "other apps"
iPhone: <farts again><looks stupidly at the screen>