Thursday
Jun042009
Palm Pre Commercial Officially Released
Tony PericWhat do you get when you cross 1,000 Shaolin Kung Fu students, a phone, and Tarsem (Singh) who directed The Cell and The Fall? You get a Palm Pre commercial!
What do you get when you cross 1,000 Shaolin Kung Fu students, a phone, and Tarsem (Singh) who directed The Cell and The Fall? You get a Palm Pre commercial!
Reader Comments (12)
great commercial, can't wait for the release!
The commercial was pleasing to the eyes and ears, but didn't really do the job. I am already planning on buying a Pre, but the target audience of that commercial should be people who have never even heard of it. A far more effective advertisement would be similar to the iPhone commercials that show the device (from beginning to end) and have a voice-over that points out the phone's most innovative features in easy to understand terms.
Picture this: The phone is shown in the middle of the screen, and a demo begins showing multitasking and Synergy and all the other highlights. And a narrator asks, "Have you ever wished there was a device that could do more? A device that doesn't make you choose between business and fun? A device that integrates your life and the people in it? Then, welcome to your new phone. The Palm Pre." That would have peaked the interest of potential buyers more than a pretty background and a bunch of martial artists jumping in a circle.
@Adam, your commercicial is what I'd like to see as well, but, in my opinion, it makes Palm look like they're only targeting the Apple iPhone. I don't think Palm wants to start (another) P.R. Apple vs Palm War. They're still haveing "fun" paying all the lawyers <sp?> for the two finger zoom. (no spell check in the Blazer Browser)
Loving the 'zen' of it all. My life with my Palm Pre - now that my 700p has started to die.
excellent.
@Ash, I understand what you're saying. But "my" commercial would never directly reference the iPhone. In fact, you don't have to make it look exactly like the iPhone commercials. Show the device in the center of the screen, but with a background of the mountains and green grass from the actual commercial. And the woman from the real commercial is holding it and demonstrating all of the "wow" features while the narrator's voice-over is playing. The main problem is that the commercial they just released shows almost nothing about the device or webOS. Also, it doesn't clearly get across any reasons a consumer should consider this device over any of the other choices out there.
It reminded me of the old Obsession cologne ads. A bunch of artistic images followed by the product name in the last 2 seconds of the ad. Of course, a cologne or perfume doesn't require much information. A game-changing device like the Pre requires some very real information in a 1 minute commercial.
Oh well, I will still be picking one up. But this commercial did nothing to make me more excited.
I agree with Adam. I'm not sure that this commercial shows enough of the phone's features. You'd think palm was selling monks in orange robs. Reminded me of the opening to the recent Beijing olympics. Very cool visual effects, but SELL THE PHONE!
@Tuck: the commercial reminds you of the opening ceremonies at the Beijing Olympics because the guy in charge of the Kung Fu students, Sun Yupeng, choreographed both those Olympic ceremonies and this commercial.
In my opinion this commercial does two things:
1) It grabs the attention of somebody sitting in their living room waiting for the show they're trying to watch to come back on.
2) It gives just enough hints about the Pre that people will be interested to learn more.
I'm no advertising expert, but I do think that a "features" commercial is not going to grab attention like 1,000 monks in bright orange robes. Much of the market Palm is going for with the device is not necessarily interested in a laundry list of the phone's capabilities, but rather the simple stuff, at least at first. I think Palm has a good approach here: release an eye-catching commercial with hints of the phone's abilities and then, once people are interested, follow that up with another commercial showcasing the full extent of the Pre's features.
It's not that bad of a commercial, but for the average consumer who is not familiar with the Pre may not have noticed the little things going on in the commercial that the Pre enthusiast and people that follow the Pre would have. Notice how the monks emulate the gestures mainly the "ripple" effect or forming what looks to be a symbol for "Synergy". Also throughout the commercial the monks are doing different motions in sections of the circle. I think this is showing that within one circle (device) you can do multiple things that all tie in together without disrupting the flow of the circle (device). Also the location, Palm is really selling the earth stone look and feel of the phone as well as trying to be eco-friendly ( I would tie that in to the Touchstone and similar products to come). Towards the end you see the clouds coming in, another feature of the OS and how in some demos and articles they mention this as well. Although it could have been a better commercial for the general public, I think with all the mystique the Pre has generated so far this commercial adds to it. "Hopefully" the next commercials will bring out more of the phones incredible features. But for me this was a good introduction to the Pre. This is just my opinion, cant wait to cop this phone. 1 or 2 days left!! !
d-_-b
curiosity question: Any idea why, if I read correctly, this ad will not debut on TV until the 22nd of June?
@Ash, my guess? Because they expect a shortage of devices until then. I think that is why there wasn't a major ramp-up of advertising in the press this past week. They know they will sell out all their initial devices, and the real advertising will kick in once there is real volume out there.
what's the music in the background?
>what's the music in the background?
Song: Lower Your Eyelids to Die With the Sun
Artist: M83
Release: Before The Dawn Heals Us