Fan-made webOS commercial is full of win 65
While we're still plenty happy with Palm's new Life Moves Fast, Don't Miss a Thing ad, there's still concern out there that it doesn't quite do justice to showing that all that fancy multitasking is actually happening on a piece of hardware. Enter ThiesFX, whose entry into the PalmSpot contest is, as we say above, pretty much full of win - and not just because PreCentral leads off the video ;-)
It's funny, but the core problem with webOS is that its killer feature is nearly impossible to describe in 30 seconds. Namely: the natural elegance of multitasking and notifications all working in concert. What do you think is the best way to show that off in 30 seconds or less?
YouTube embed after the break
via Engadget and webOS Roundup, thanks to everybody who sent this in!
65 Comments
Primero!
Great ad!
Hey DIETER - you're fragmenting the playcount for this ad by linking to the palmspot video - link to the same one as engadget with 50k views already and lets not fight against ourselves! WebOSroundup can certainly be mentioned and linked to though - but link the youtube link to ThiesFX's vid :) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DdMEllAKrcc&feature=player_embedded
Having a tough time understanding your logic, here. Precentral linking to one account or another has no bearing on how the votes will be tallied.
Re: "Let's not fight against ourselves," I understand this point even less. Precentral is to be applauded for bringing this video to light. This way, more of the webOS community are made aware of the palmSpot contest and can make cool grass-roots ads for webOS. What's wrong with that???
We're all in this together, people. Palm needs our help, so let's give it to them! Create YOUR version of what a webOS commercial could be, and send it to palmspot@webosroundup.com Deadline is April 16th.
great ad thiesFX!
primero
we need more of these ads
It is pretty sick!
Yeah, this thing's posted all over the internet now. Let's hope someone at Palm is watching ;)
Palm tweeted about it: http://twitter.com/palm/status/11059846571
nice
Wow; palm hire this guy.
Very cool ad!!
Hell a good job, bravo!
It was an entry in a contest called Palm Spot. At this other website called Webos roundup. I didn't even know about this site.
I think after this a few of us should check it out.
I didn't know about it either. Thanks for the heads up!
Now that was nice!
His video been everywhere! Good Job Man...
wow, amazing ! what software can we use to make a video like that ?
great ad! i wish there was some swiping to close action so people could see how easy the UI is the use. I love how we can swipe back and forth and that webOS relies on swipe vs. Android still needs buttons. Who needs more buttons?
I'm with everyone else on this. This is a great ad. 30 seconds is all the tv world allots us without spending a fortune.
One small criticism, is that while it's good to promote webOS, the smartphone aspect of webOS still need to be in this, or any commercial about Palm, as some folks won't know that "webOS" is a smartphone os. As is this ad sort of looks like an ipod touch competitor, not an iphone 3gs competitor.
Adding "A smartphone that makes everything easy" in place of "why can't everything be this easy?" and possibly carrier logos like VZ and Sprint at the end would remedy this.
Good work!
I also think the 3 levels of moving things actually takes away from the add. There is far too much motion when you watch it full screen. But it is some well done motion graphics.
x2
That sorta boosts the who "life moves fast" part...
the last thing on the phones screen should've been it receiving a phone call. Transitioning from the music app
That was fantastic! It didn't have anyone narrating and still portrayed everything that's great about the webOS. This is the kind of ad that Palm needs to show to people everywhere. I really Palm would advertise the Pre more in the UK.
To answer the question posed at the end of the article:
Palm needs to start a campaign that goes after the iPhone and exposes Android for the fragmented mess that it is. You have the games (and now the ability to rapidly port the iPhone games/apps) and an OS that
Love the ad. The speed and visuals are just right.
I also like the idea above. I really lusted after an iphone until I played with it and it didn't do half of what I wanted.
If the elegance of the system is too hard to explain in one ad, do it in many very, very short ones. For example, having someone pull up info and having someone say to them - didn't you just enter that in (pick your favorite other app that automically synchs).
Or flipping from one thing to the next in response to a question and having the questionnaire say 'how did you do that?'
As one of the middle aged women Palm keeps targeting, I have to say their old ads are just insulting and condescending.
But I LOVE the pre because it is simple, elegant, and fits in my jean's pocket. I have a bunch of apps and tweaks loaded and I use it instead of lugging my laptop around. None of them is a hot-shot game (though I love Origami).
Just wish they had the whole document suite up and maybe even a bluetooth keyboard. Then I'd be back to my old TX. But prettier.
We really need a Bluetooth HID stack for keyboards. I was decompiling the Pre Bt binaries today to play with it. Patching into it without the C source is way past my abilities.
They need to make an iPhone style commercial that just shows how things work.
hey this is a great example that echoes the efforts of the great people in the homebrew community who contribute as well. showcasing what palm can do. i like the video effects and the scolling of the screen within the magazine, i think that's really clever.
here's my two cents on ideas that i think could really make this video both marketable commercially and relevant to the general public.
1) the lighting is too weak in the video. i can imagine this in a brightly lit room with colors and saturation to match that of the palm website, really refreshing, open.
2) i like the overlaying of the screen within the magazine. it adds a cozy feeling, leisurely sitting at home doing the things you love. what if the projections of the screen and what was going on took place in the wild in various situations? take it out on the street, and the screen has a projection of what's going on on the side of a building. in the subway, at a baseball game, concert. similar in what verizon accomplishes with its coverage maps, but with palm the projections would be stationary and would serve the purpose of hey look what i can do.
3) a big thing for me about webOS is the finger swipe interactivity. you are swiping up, across, across to go forward, across to delete, holding down your finger, flipping through cards. THIS IS FUN. this should be a prime focus on marketing to people because these actions are intuitive. i can't tell you how many times i have picked up my fiance's iphone, and wanted to swipe to go back. nope, i press an ancient button to go back to "home." palm has it. take away the buttons, put more trust in what your fingers can do virtually. instead of having the palm pre on the magazine page, have someone holding it, have someone swiping at it, have them close programs. and it doesn't have to look like the apple ad with the hand and a direct closeup of the phone, make it more environmental, zoomed out, add people in it, make it social, make it interactive, make it fun.
4) the latest palm ad with the lady walking down the street and shes getting notifications, this is good, but one thing it is not doing is showing how the users is manipulating all those things. its cool to see like that, but ill tell you, the way palm got me was in the sprint store checking out the pre for the first time, because i was actually doing it. i felt in control and i felt like the pre was doing what i wanted it to do. it was intuitive on a very personal level. and i think this ad is missing that.
5) if the tagline is life moves fast..., show it. put real situations in there that happen with people who own a smartphone. show the ads in fast paced (but not shaky, voyeuristically, and hand-held) and EXPLOIT THE MULTI-TASK. if no ones else 'currently' does this on the market right now, exploit it. show them real situations where you would need to multi-task, not playing Pandora while surfing the web.
this is a great ad, (by a fan, mind you), lets keep pushing palm and help it gain its momentum back!
So you'd basically change the entire commercial... lol
Although I think you're ideas are great, I liked the commercial as it was. It was fresh and original and I really liked the darker theme.
If you have the resources though, you should definitely throw a clip together and post it. I'd be interested in seeing your ideas brought to life.
Very nice! Would be great to see this one one TV. I must comment that this Pre is apparently running the 800MHz patch - looks pretty smoove!
I guess it's just me, but I think there was just a little TOO much going on in that ad. It started out good with the phone on top of the magazine with the same view displayed on the magazine, but bigger. However, it started to get really confusing and muddled when the screen started projecting something different. Now there's three total changing images to look at, all on top of each other.
A bit too much, I think.
It's still an amazing ad which definitely blows anything Palm has done out of the water, so far.
Am I the only one who thinks the "Pre"-Loaded (like the pun?) video that's already there in our Videos app should be a commercial by itself?
I think that video was BEAUTIFUL. It was one of the major selling points for me when I walked into the Sprint store and picked up the Pre. Watching that video made me want to start using gesture swipes and multitasking, and running through a green grassy field and a stream with my Pre.
Isn't THAT what we want people to do?
Instead of... you know... dancing around in shadows with bright colors behind them and glow in the dark headphones?
I agree completely. Two moving visuals - Pre and Magazine is fine. The third layer is just too much. Watching it full screen is just way too busy.
I couldn't agree more. I think the graphics were astounding and this person definitely put in the time to do this right, but right where the comment appears "why can't everything be this easy", I actually thought to myself "what is going on?" There's just too much moving around from above the page to inside the page, my eyes were being pulled in two different directions and I have no idea what either were doing. I lost track after the appointment that said "tell everyone why webos rocks". I was completely lost at that point. It actually looked confusing and I could easily see someone who has had no experience with webOS come away from that saying "why do these phones have to be so complex to use".
Nice job on the sound and graphics - definitely professional quality, but could use a better argument.
It's been said many times and I will say it again, apple commercials work because they give real life situations. These are not. If people can't associate something in life with getting it done faster on a phone/pda, it's just useless.
Replace that third dimension of different app windows with notifications (or the events that cause notifications) queuing up to be read or something like that (indicating that they happen, but don't interrupt the main flow on the Pre/magazine page), and in my view, this ad will be a home run. Right now it's a double that was deftly stretched out to a triple.
Wow that was pretty damn impressive. This one should be sponsored by Palm and actually air all over prime-time television!
"...if you market it right, the people will come."
=)
This video is amazing! If Palm would have dropped an ad like this last June they would have definitely sparked more consumer interest than they did. Put the creator of this vid on the Palm marketing team A.S.A.P.!
very nice...this is a talented person
Palm needs to fire everyone in their marketing department, and hire this guy.
Only problem is that everybody in Marketing & Sales at Palm IS actually Palm Management. :(
I'm just happy this made it to the front page. :)
Awesome !!! :)
Excellent! Palm, please hire THESE creative people!
I love the card that says "palm webOS" and how it gets swiped away at the end. That is perfect!
Nice video, props to the creator. Palm needs to either higher the creator or collaborate with them. Get videos like this on televiion ASAP. Short, sweet, and shows off WebOs.
thats some talented shit right there!!!
It's shows Palm and the WebOS as a brand in such an innovative and interesting way, that one is at the very least, drawn in, and probably interested in knowing more.
THAT's gonna be hard to beat!
[++]
Precentral! two days old news !
First off kudos to the person how created this. It is some great creative work.
Now as far as this video and Palms new Ad goes, these are horrible at letting consumers know about Palm webOS. The are mystery meat! The only people that can appreciate them are the ones that are using and understand it already. I would even say these type of ads actually hurt sales as a lot of people can look at them and say that thing is TOO complicated for me! Seriously, we have multiple floating cards zinging all over the place with images flashing in the background, no one has time to focus on or understand exactly what task is being accomplished. webOS is a simple, sleek, and clean user interface and these make it look cumbersome.
The ads should not be trying to show everything the device does in 30 sec. It should take a single use case (not all possible cases) of a person
This is definately the best one I've seen but I'd like to see a commercial that shows someone really using it, but someone cool. Not just an average Joe. A really busy person and show how their palm make their life easier.. Tne day in the life of a Palm a user... Man.. i should get to work on that!
What nothing here about hacking, side loading, preware, or homebrew? haha Looks good!
This fan made ad beats the crap out of anything palm's advertising team has made.
WOW! super impressed. it really shows the PRE in a useful and interesting way.
Damn, I like it, makes me want to go get another Palm for my fiance. I hope Palm hires this guy or at the very least buys this ad from him. As far as looking at from the perspective of an advertising professional, I find that a little moot, I mean, if people on here are loving it the way it is what is the point in critiquing it? Doesn't advertising ultimately boil down to pleasing the viewer? Which I believe it has, and has also put professional advertisers to shame. Bravo!
Love it!!!!!!! MUCH better than anything I have seen from Palm/Sprint/Verizon.
Suggestion: I would use a totally white background instead of a wood desk with computer (less clutter and distraction, since it is a busy visual to come). Then lead into it by having the magazine already on the white desk, and a hand quickly places the Pre on the table, then start the visuals. Then end with a finger coming on screen to swipe the Palm logo up and out :)
awesome ad I also really liked the end where webos screen is swiped away to a palm logo
MOST EXCELLENT! Palm... hire this person immediately!!!
Palm needs to cut him a check, that was a great commercial!
WIN! WIN! WIN!
Dear Palm,
This is so simple it hurts! Why can't you figure out your ads? In 30 seconds, with a camera and a bit of skill, your fans managed to put together a better commercial for WebOS than you did in almost a year. And I wonder how much it cost?
I agree with some previous comments - up the production value, lighting and smooth out the camera work, and this is the perfect start...for July 2009. Wow, we're so far behind the power curve that I'm afraid it might be too late to save our OS. Anyway, the concept of the commercial is flawless. Perfect. Shows the phone AND shows the OS in action, and does it in a slick, slick way.
Seriously Palm. Cut this man a check and play the professional ad on television. No, strike that. Your professionals will screw it up and cost you $500,000. Have this guy make your ad. Get him whatever he needs. Anything less would be putting us back in creepy ladyland.
Kudos to the ad's creator. I have never seen more win for Palm and WebOS.
I could cry. Finally, we're getting it right.
I like the "why can't everything be this easy" it may not be the best but its a whole lot better than life moves fast - don't miss a thing- which is so soft. How about "Palm- a smarter smartphone" or "Palm-do what other phones can't,or "With my Palm, I can"
How about an ad with some head to head comparison/competition against an iphone and android, have a simple task like going from email to calender to messaging and show how much faster and easier it is on the pre. or have two people one with a pre one with a android/iphone sitting and playing on their phone talking about what they are doing (maybe on a game, and a text comes in and they check facebook and go back to the game) and end with "Oh you can't do that on your phone- On my Palm I can"
the current ads are trying to show 25 cards flying by so fast you don't know what they are unless you have a phone.
Rule: no more than 5 card open on an ad- go back and forth between cards not just show how many you can zing past the screen
Definitely a great ad. If they threw in something about non-intrusive notifications (maybe that separate Z-axis set of cards could be replaced by notifications queuing up neatly to be read?) and this would be just about the perfect commercial for Pre/WebOS, hands down.
Great video. I think it'll interest people enough to look hard at the pre and webos in the store.
I also would make a male equivalent of palms latest commercial so they can see 3D games, etc. (maybe that's the plan. We can hope!)
....Wow...
I don't like this add. There's too much stuff going on at once. It's certainly the best webOS ad I've seen from that site, but it's not clear at all. Why the analogy with the book? How does that support webOS and multitaksing. Why the popping windows when the guy started with the book analogy in the first place. Why change the concept mid course and put even more stuff on the screen. Another question, what exactly is the phone doing? What kind of software is he running?
This ad is all over the place and more a display of good motion graphics skills than something that communicates with people.
I bet if Palm had come out with that ad themselves, people would be complaining that Palm released another bummer. This ad is in my opinion as confusing as the creepy woman stuff.
I think the lady in red ad is still best when it comes to explaining what the phone actually does.