Palm Changes Ad Agency to Young & Rubicam
Hot on the heels of the Treo 680 rollout, Palm has announced their new advertising firm as San Franciso-based Young and Rubicam, replacing AQKA.
Palm announced on Thursday a major initiative to target individual consumers with the new Treo 680 smartphone. Accompanying this new hardware is a new ad campaign warchest rumored to be in the neighborhood of $20-$25 million, up from the previous year's $15 million. Read on for upcoming example advertisements.
"The Palm brand in the Americas is synonymous with simple, elegant mobile computing; now we want to make this recognition global," said Ed Colligan, Palm president and chief executive officer. "Y&R is ideally suited to unleash the power of our brand in this exciting growth marketplace."
Palm has already begun rolling out a variety of new ads backed by heavy-duty content partners TypePad, Google, Yahoo, and the new Palm slogan, "Not just a cellphone. A Treo!"
Update: Just to clarify, this new campaign is the work of AKQA, not Y&R.
Treo 680 ads featuring Google and Yahoo.
An interactive outdoor ad. You can apparently send an sms to a number on the screen and the treo will perform and display searches and other functions.
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RE: 'Treo: So easy, even a caveman can use it!'
You like what? The ads?
The ads are good. I am wondering why Palm never put so much heart, money and effort to advertize handhelds when they were 80% of their business.
Does remember ANY handheld TV, newspaper, mainstream non-Internet ad from Palm, ever? Not me.
RE: 'Treo: So easy, even a caveman can use it!'
It's almost saying to its customers, "even the idiots among you can use our Treo". But I like the phrase regardless lol
RE: 'Treo: So easy, even a caveman can use it!'
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: 'Treo: So easy, even a caveman can use it!'
I thought it was some wag's back-handed reference to PALM's technology level...
RE: 'Treo: So easy, even a caveman can use it!'
I see some people must be skipping the ads on TV...
RE: 'Treo: So easy, even a caveman can use it!'
I am actually glad that Palm is bringing back some ads. It kind of reminds me of the "good ol' days" (back when the m505/m515 was popular and the Tungsten series was hitting the market).
Also, I think the "Do you like it?" refers to the 680 (which my answer is, despite me being a power user, yes!).
RE: 'Treo: So easy, even a caveman can use it!'
I like it! I know what commercials you are referring to, even if others apparently don't watch TV.
Good one!
All good things...
RE: 'Treo: So easy, even a caveman can use it!'
The good ol' days for Palm really ended in 1999 or 2000 when the Palm V's ironclad grip on the market started weakening after the first iPaqs arrived on the scene. The appearance of Sony's Clies and the HS Visor line didn't help matters.
No, I actually think the "2nd golden era" of Palm was in late 2003 or so...they had a pretty strong lineup of handhelds, the T3 was, and still is, a superb unit for the $, the T|E was released at an attractive pricepoint, and they were preparing for the Handspring/Troe acquisition. Of course this just lasted a few quarters until the NVFS/T5/Treo 650/PalmSource /PalmOne name change series of debacles.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Advertising: $25,000,000, R&D: $0
but there is no other way... people hate commercials yet buy only advertised products.
most people are therefore a walking paradox!
RE: Advertising: $25,000,000, R&D: $0
I actually am glad that Palm is getting back into the advertising sector.
To the poster who asked about seeing any Palm ads ever. Yes, I have seen a few. One was at a Giants game at Pac Bell Park (when it was Pac Bell Park, before AT&T Park). It was of the Tungsten W, with a screen shot of the PalmSource Web Browser 2 (a good example of "false screenshotting").
RE: Advertising: $25,000,000, R&D: $0
It used to be EIGHT MINUTES PER HOUR in the 1960s, when the FCC was staffed by people with brains and TV licenses were actually *held* in the Public Interest.
RE: Advertising: $25,000,000, R&D: $0
Gutless FCC? They had enough guts to chase Howard Stern off of the air.
RE: Advertising: $25,000,000, R&D: $0
Besides, that's language. When it comes to stemming the tide of rampant commercialism, the FFC rolls over.
ontreo.com
That's a bit silly...
Tim
I apologise for any and all emoticons that appear in my posts. You may shoot them on sight.
Treo 270 ---> Treo 650
It's about time!
http://palmdiscovery.netfirms.com/nfblog/
Palm Politics
RE: Palm Politics
In all fairness, I think the initial stuff we've seen makes much better usage of the new orange color scheme & branding than earlier efforts this year and last year after the name change.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
Respinning the same ol' **** isn't enough
#1 Lack of STANDARD voice dialing. The Treo Voice Dial from Palm, despite being developed by Voice Signal (who have the same software on numerous other manufacturers' handsets) sucks infinitely worse than the same program did on my Moto RAZR. Why? I have no idea. The insane lag doesn't help either. Asking customers to pay $20 to register something for their $600 Treo that's standard on freebie dumbphones is beyond comprehension.
#2 Lack of RELIABLE Bluetooth headset connectivity. It's bad enough there's no standard voice dialing on the Treos. But the lack of BT voice dialing just adds insult to injury. Is this a FrankenGarnet OS limitation or just Palm being lazy? My RAZR did this flawlessly and I never even bothered to train it. It's hilarious to see Palm issuing a press release touting that safe driving initiative in California yet they are the cellphone handset company MOST CLEARLY in the stone age. Sad, sad, sad.
#3 Lack of fullsize button. I don't know how Palm's going to overcome this without a huge FF redesign but it's a biggie. This is probably the #1 complaint I've heard--that the Treo is impossible to touch dial. Since it'll likely be impossible to satisfy everyone (the conventional 12-key phone pad fans & the mini qwerty thumboard fans) with one candybar FF, a 2nd Treo formfactor, a flip design along the lines of the classic Samsung i500/i550 should be developed ASAP.
#4. The SSS (small square screen) syndrome. 'Nuff said. Simply put, Palm must either release a cellular-enabled TX style handheld that omits voice functionality enntirely *OR* release a 320*480 Treo with voice that omits most of the hard buttons save the standard Palm PDA layout. Either one is better than squinting at the Treo's 320*320 screen.
#5 The worst of both worlds syndrome. Compared to a T3, T5, TX or even the LifeDrive (specs & features, not actual performane) the Treo is lacking as a PDA. Memory is still an issue for many on the 700p, especially if they are come from a TX or a Zodiac 2 like I did. As a phone the Treo feels more primitive than the handset I was using in 2001 (Moto V60c) with its absent/crippled voice dialing, weak battery life, nearly-useless Bluetooth, and miserable RF performance. Palm could at least address a few of our complaints in the existing Treo 680 FF by shoring up the BT performance, getting better performing GSM & CDMA chipsets, including a high capacity battery like Seidio's 2400mah one as standard, and including a 3.5mm headphone jack. Having a small internal flash storage space like the T5 wouldn't hurt either (256mb-1gb is fine).
Until the majority of the issues above have been addressed, the "average" Joe six-pack consumer will NOT take a Treo seriously, no matter how low they price it. And I've only addressed usability and technical complaints. There's NO way Palm can compete for $ with slim, stylish, and nearly indestrucable offerings like Sanyo's Katana, Samsung's A900 Blade, Motorola's phenomenal KRZR, SCPL, and Ve/RAZR MAXX lineup if that's all the phone buyer cares about. Customers are now spoiled in this day of free w/ contract RAZRs. Anything much larger or pricier is going to be perceived as dorky, uncool, too bulky, and overpriced.
RANT:
Palm would be wise to partner with Motorola/Samsung etc. and developed one or two slim new PDAs with killer featuresets. Key to this would with instant, painfree, and foolproof BT pairing & contact transfer via BT (ALL profiles supported) that's supported by ALL of the major TELCOS. Palm & their cellular partner could standardize on a unified charger/sync connector and market them as "Personal Phone Companions" or something. Of course the device would function just dandy as a conventional PDA as well. If a modern 320*480 color, wi-fi/BT versoin of the Visor EDGE was available in conjunction with a RAZR style phone and affordable DUN/data plans, you'd be surprised to see how many people would return to two separate devices, especially if small items like pigtail dual tip charger cords were made standard so a user could charge both devices at once. Palm would only have the minor inconvenience & expense of updating their PhoneLine software every month or two to keep up with new model introductions.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Respinning the same ol' **** isn't enough
Especially about the importance of style, size and a new version of the Samsung i500. For 99.99% of customers, Treos ALREADY are capable enough. Palm needs to fix the problems with stability, size, phone operation and style before they do ANYTHING else.
If you've seen the upcoming 2007 Nokia, Motorola and Sony Ericsson lineups you'll understand why the Treos don't stand a snowball's chance in he11 of competing with the Big Boys.
TVoR
RE: Respinning the same ol' **** isn't enough
The majority of corporate users really don't care about any of this #1-5.
RE: Respinning the same ol' **** isn't enough
#1. Entry level unit with the Treo 680's classic formfactor. Just make sure that all of the quirks are worked out and the battery last through a full workday. Also incorporate improved BT handset functionality & standard voice dialing into the mix no matter what it takes.
#2 Sleek & slim flip design Treo. This could have identical specs to the entry level device and just omit the thumbboard in favor of a Samsing i550-style design. Use either a small virtual graffiti area for input or just do a lot of typing on the 12-key conventional phone pad. Either way this would be for those that value phone performance and size/looks over multimedia features and data input while on the go. It is crucial that voice functional be super strong on this particular Treo.
#3. A traditional TX-sized tablet 320*480 unit. This one's specs can be up in the air--either make it a cellular data/wi-fi dual mode unit witn no voice functionality or a dta-centric design like the T|W with ellular & BT radios. Either way this model would need to have (in addition to the aforementioned 320*480 screen & wi-fi) an internal flash storage drive and a 3.5mm headphone jack. This would be THE Treo to win over the PDA diehards. This is the one Treo where voice functionality can & should take a backeat to data.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Respinning the same ol' **** isn't enough
anyone cares to look at GSPDA?
They have a flip, they do candybar, etc. It looks like a mayor american Palm blog needs to start blogging about those ****ers to make sales peak...hmm, I should have 300$ somewhere(world changer attitude wakes up in me)...
Best regards
Tam Hanna
Find out more about the Palm OS in my blog:
http://tamspalm.tamoggemon.com
Is Palm management on crack? Seriously.
Sorry, but W T F were they buying with their previous $15 million dollar ad budget? It's sad to see Palm's management leeching MILLIONS of dollars per quarter from the company while their products were left to suffer without any real advertising support.
Then again, if this is the best copy a fancy, ultra-hip SF ad agency can come up with, maybe Colligan, Hawkins, et. al. WERE better off just pocketing the cash themselves.
It's painful to see Palm continue mismanaging itself into oblivion.
How hard would it be to put together a website and a few billboard ads showing what you can actually DO with a Treo or a Palm? How about actually showing it in action - showing how easy it is to look up info, download email, send SMS, use Google Maps, send photos, balance a checkbook, create shopping lists, etc? Palm should be pouding home the message OVER and OVER again that the Treo can DO so much more than a regular phone and make owning a Treo as "cool" as it used to be owning a RAZR (before every trailer trash hick in America got a "free" RAZR with their contract).
Before the bottom fell out of the PDA industry a few years ago Palm commissioned the following ad (that never ran):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KYAHsz8BxDk
This is probably FAR too abstract/soft-sell, but it would have been nice to see it at least on Palm's website. How much does it cost to HOST an ad you've already paid for?
Palm needs to sit down and THINK what message it wants to put out and then come up with a better way of communicating that massage. The billboards in airports were a good idea, but poorl-stocked Palm stores run by vapid 23 year olds that don't have a clue about the products they're supposed to be selling is a waste of resources. How hard would it have been to instead set up a number of kiosks in malls demonstrating what Palm's products can do? Have a PDA set up to beam trial versions of software to current Palm customers. Why not mail out a couple hundred thousand CDs containing an MPEG video of a Treo in action (minus the frequent crashes)? Come on Palm - this isn't (Jeff Hawkins-style) brain-science or rocket-surgery.
I have a nagging feeling that these new advertising dollars are about to be flushed down the same toilet that swallowed WeSync, AnyDay.com, MultiMail, the Be purchase, the Tungsten W, etc. What a waste.
TVoR
RE: Is Palm management on crack? Seriously.
I imagine that ad would go over well in Europe, especially at the "upscale" clientele they are targeting with the 750v.
P.S. Where is Kent P./Foo Fighter these days? AdamaDBrown? Are all of the reputable names throwing in the towel these days or are they just lurking?
P.P.S. Does anyone have an edumacated guess as to how much it costs to develop, test, and issue a firmware/ROM update? There's beginning to be quite a loud rumble amongst the last of the POS faithful (ie frustrated 700p owners) about the lack of a ROM update to address the 700p's numerous bugs. It would behoove Palm to take some of that marketing & ad $ and shore up their current product line before people start taking their complaints to the carriers (Palm's TRUE masters & real customers).
P.P.P.S. You know what would be a SPLENDID idea--for Palm to partner with MobiTV or some similar outfit to have a free library of downloable public domain flicks (Night of the Living Dead, some old comedies) pre-formatted for Palm PDA & Treo devices. Maybe even offer a few full length "real" movies for purchase if the prices are right or give away a free copy of "Littel Black Book" that featured the T|C so prominently. A free 3208320 download of "Snakes on a Plane" for Treo 680 purchasers would create QUITE a stir IMO. I still maintain that Palm has not stressed the media capabilities of their devices strongly enough. Now that I have a 4gb SD card I am really realizing how compelling a properly encoded short videos can be on the go (especially stuff with replayability--3 Stooges episodes, old cartoons, maybe some sitcoms or music videos).
Most 20 & 30-somethings I know own an iPod, a cell phone and a laptop. They are loathe to carry any additional devices and would like to combine any the above IF there was anything compelling available. If Apple plays their cards right and doesn't do any of the foolishness like they tried with the ROKR and the other iTunes-enabled Moto handsets, they could blow the market wide open and leave Palm standing amidst the rubble looking confused. I never thought that the absence of a simple 3.5mm stereo headphone jack would be crippling to certain companies (Palm, Motorola, Nintendo).
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Is Palm management on crack? Seriously.
Palm wasted a TON of money back in 2000-01, but failing to properly advertise what their products could do may have been their biggest mistake.
At this stage I don't think Palm has the $$$ for a big ad campaign, but if they are clever they could create some good buzz with minimal expense. Apple are the experts on manipulation and Palm would be wise to learn from them.
Apple's iPhone has apparently been finalized and should be out early next year. I expect it will just be not much more than a more clever, better-integrated version of the LG Chocolate, but with the right marketing Apple will still have a smash hit. Remember, Steve Jobs could sell his own U2-edition feces to the masses without batting an eyelash. Business schools must have courses analyzing how that guy has manipulated a generation of Apple Cultists. Licensing their own network from Cingular is a good idea for Apple if it really works out.
Palm selling a Treo with TCPMP in ROM, DVD-ripping software and a free download of "Snakes on a Mo-F'ing Plane" would make too much sense. Only problem is that real hipsters wouldn't be caught dead with a brick-like phone like the Treo. Ask anyone under the age of 30 what they think of BIG phones and you'll wonder if anyone at Palm ever does market research. Palm's failure to release a stylish small phone has probably sealed their fate. If the company isn't sold by the end of December we'll see one of the most spectacular corporate implosions of a in recent memory. Guess what happens when all of Palm's carriers stop buying their phones? It won't be pretty.
TVoR
RE: Is Palm management on crack? Seriously.
Don't feel sorry for anyone who has to use the 700p as their primary PDA. If you turn the radio off it makes a nice approximation of a circa 2003-era Palm handheld. Who you SHOULD feel sorr for are the poor blighted souls who have to use the thing everday as their only cell phone (like me). I'm going to stick with it for the time being, until I cannot stand it anymore or Verizon releases a dumbphone worthy of paying full retail for. If there was SOME way to do a 2-device tango on the CDMA networks with my Palm TX I'd have given up on the Treo long ago.
Sad how Palm's still putting R&D $ into FrankenGarnet's UI, phone app and whatnot but abandoning their remaining loyal POS users who have tried to stick with them through the 650/700p debacles.
The last remaining question is if the 680 will be as laggy/buggy as the 700p or if Palm's going to punish all of us who paid $400-$600 for the privelage of being a 700p beta tester earlier this year.
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Is Palm management on crack? Seriously.
http://www.mobileburn.com/news.jsp?Id=1916
http://www.phonescoop.com/news/item.php?n=1685
Dump the Treo 700p as a phone ASAP. How much is your time worth? To me not having to use a Treo 700p to mane calls is EASILY worth the price of an A930 or A990. But if you're going to carry 2 devices, why even bother carrying a Treo at all. It makes more sense to enjoy the bigger screen of a regular PDA like the TH55 and just Bluetooth it to the dumbphone when you need to connect to the Internet/email. The Treo 700p is a losing proposition for power users unless it receives some major bug-fixes.
We shouldn't have to be trying to rationalize using a $650 device. After the experiencing firsthand the latest comedy of errors known as the Treo 700p I will never buy another Palm-branded device again...
TVoR
RE: Is Palm management on crack? Seriously.
> PDA like the TH55 and just Bluetooth it to the dumbphone when you
> need to connect to the Internet/email....
Great idea!
-- http://discussion.treocentral.com/showthread.php?t=33796
Giggle.
RE: Is Palm management on crack? Seriously.
In a nutshell, why'd you (along with legions of other members) get banned from TC?
Did you post The Ugly Truth one too many times?
Pilot 1000-->Pilot 5000-->PalmPilot Pro-->IIIe-->Vx-->m505-->T|T-->T|T2-->T|C-->T|T3-->T|T5-->TX-->Treo 700P
RE: Is Palm management on crack? Seriously.
TVoR
RE: Is Palm management on crack? Seriously.
WAY-OT: Getting banned at TreoCentral
I think I stepped on that one absolute-power-absolutely-corrupts moderator's virtual toes by NOT being a rabid TREO fan so he was looking for a reason to get rid of me and publically taunted me with some things that he knew were not correct. Fed up with his comments I then gave him an overt reason. Interestingly, he then went on to make FURTHER comments that he knew were blatant lies (or, at least, prior posts of his suggested he had information about posters (IP addresses) that meant he knew that those "other users" weren't me - maybe he was lying about that, too! In any case, SeldomVisitor was my only TreoCentral ID, as it is here - though Obsessed fans may take on variations of that or my Yahoo ID (hengeem/hengeema) because they're...well...obsessed!).
TreoCentral, like TREOs!, lacks the cutting-edge it once had in its discussion groups (never had it in its articles as far as I can remember). A long time ago I suggested to its owner that he either rename it or start another site that wasn't so TREO oriented.
Might be a good idea for here, too, eh?
[BTW - the technical discussions here are heads above what I find elsewhere and very refreshing]
RE: Is Palm management on crack? Seriously.
In the Treo's case, that normally comes right after "What a brick..."
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Didn't the Washington Post just get sued over using the expression "to google something"?