Do Palm's Ads Make You Want a Pre?

Jordan Golson — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 00:00:57 +0000

So, you launch a brand new product with a lot of publicity into a very crowded market. How do you promote that product? If you’re Palm, by running what some folks have dubbed “creepy,” “annoying” ads that don’t explain — at all — what makes your product great. The ad agency behind the spots, Modernista!, says the campaign is a success because people are at least talking about the phone. Gary Koepke, executive creative director at Modernista!, told AdAge, “The Pre is probably being talked about more than other phones right now because of the marketing and advertising, and that’s a good thing.” But does it help sell more phones? I think at this point, the network a phone is on does more selling than the handset itself. Regardless, the Palm ads, featuring actress Tamara Hope vaguely comparing a woman juggling and keeping track of her past lives to using a Palm Pre, are nothing like the ads Apple ran when the iPhone was first released — you know, the ad that actually showed what the iPhone could do, and how it was totally different than anything that came before. Give both videos a watch, and let us know what you think:

Palm Pre: “Deja Vu”

Apple: “There’s Never Been An iPod”

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Do Palm's Ads Make You Want a Pre?