HP signs champion boxer Manny Pacquiao to promote TouchPad 88
Mon, 02 May 2011 6:11 pm EDT 
HP’s a big company with many consumer-facing facets, and when it comes to bringing on people to do their commercials, they either have to go with complete unknowns that can’t be associated with another brand, or celebrities that have no already associated with other brands. Seemingly following in the footsteps of HP’s successful “The Computer is Personal Again” campaign, HP is signing advertising deals with celebrities for the upcoming campaign for the HP TouchPad, perhaps as part of their “Everybody On” campaign. One of those celebrities: ten-time world champion boxer and Filipino congressman Manny Pacquiao.
Neither HP nor Top Rank (a boxers promotions company that counts Pacquiao amongst its clients) disclosed the terms of the deal, though part of Pacquiao compensation will come in the form of HP making donations directly to charities of his choice. SportBusiness Daily reported that Pacquiao was a perfect fit for HP – up until recently his promotions work had been limited to his home country of the Philippines.
The exact details of HP’s planned campaign were also not disclosed, but it is apparently to be centered around the TouchPad webOS tablet, but will also feature other HP products such as laptops, printers, and smartphones. Additionally, Pacquiao won’t be the only celebrity involved in the campaign (though he is the only one we know of at this point). The campaign is expected to span all mediums: television, radio, print, outdoor, and beamed directly into your dreams, ala Futurama.
Pacquiao’s a cool and recognizable catch for HP, hopefully one that will add some punch to their advertising and hook some new customers for webOS (sorry about the puns, we’ll try to avoid straying below the belt from here on out). HP’s old “The Computer is Personal Again” campaign featured stars such as model Petra Nemcova, television producer Mark Burnett, and singers Alicia Keys, Jay-Z, and Gwen Stefani, along with other notables. If HP is to tread again down the celebrity ads path, who else would you like to see brought on board for this next round? (sorry)
Source: SportBusiness Daily; Thanks to akitayo for the tip!
88 Comments
WHY!?
Well he is a successful athlete... He is the only boxer to be 10 time world champion.. He's also being called the boxer of the decade..... Why not???
This is the first time I've ever heard of the guy.
What are you a girl?
Have you not seen boxing clubs springing up everywhere? It's not my thing but all my kids, 4 boys and a daughter, all know who this guy is.
He's also a congressman..
He also has his own cologne.
Why?... to knock some sense into Ruby & Leo.... that's why ;-)
OMG, why indeed?
It's been about ten years since anybody cared about boxing. The world is ultimate fighting now.
When you think of blood, sweat and tears,...think TouchPad!!
Why? So they can say "Our celebrity can beat up your celebrity" that's why.
But seriously, can you imaging him in a commercial saying "I use the HP Pre 3". I can barely say it and I don't spend my days getting constantly smacked upside the head.
If they want celebrity boxing they may as well have gotten Tonya Harding or Jose Canseco (or his twin brother who ACTUALLY does the boxing)
I would pay money to see him just show up at some "genius" bar and challenge them to a boxing match.
what would he fight with . . . . advertisments???
we can't take on apple, android or even the playbook when we don't have anything.
To say it in twitter's words:
#nowplaying #DevilDriver - I could care less
Does this mean webOS phones will be coming to his home country?
If I were him, that would have been my first condition. (Sure, i jest.. somewhat, but on a serious note it wouldn't make sense to not release it in the Phillipines after signing him!)
Let's get international HPalm!
Sigh. It is going to be so painful to watch them mess the marketing of a good product up again.
Have a glass orb?
Just when you think HP can't get any worse. They really don't have a clue...
And what will be the numbers in the next lottery?
You know he does have a fight THIS weekend.. Maybe they have something special planned :)
Im Actually Looking Forward To The Fight, And Hopefully I See Some HP Advertisement. Pacman Is The Biggest Name In Boxing Today.
Hope he doesn't lose...
He'll probably die in the ring just like anything HP/Palm tries to sell
HAHAHAHAHA! Funniest comment ever on here. Hopefully he does.
Wow. Really? You want someone to die?
There's so much irony in the GBU abbreviation attached to palm. Global? ha. but more on topic, i think this is kinda a lame celeb to snag. Maybe itsbecause i'm female but i have heard of him...i just wouldn't be driven to buy something just because he endorsed it.
Well, you need someone for each demographic ;)
I wouldn't mind it if they take Justin Bieber to make comercials for the Pink-Version of the Veer while having Chuck Norris for the Pre 3^^
I want the Futurama app!
So far none of the "celebrity" attachments are of any interest to me. I am not one who is swayed by celebrity endorsement so hopefully those who are easily influenced and have to be told what to purchase will be stoked that he has jumped on the HP promotion wagon.
I just want product to purchase that is far and above the rest in the marketplace.
Plus one for you! :)
Duhh i dont know who he is i have never heard of his name until now
Many peope dont know him
Actually, the fact they are hiring someone to market one device is actually atypical of HP. Sure, they'll hire celebs; but it is to sell PCs, not to sell a certain type of PC. Until we see the ads, we can't know what they have in mind. HP is the largest tech firm on the planet; they didn't get there selling garbage and having bad marketing campaigns.
Pacquiao is the best boxer of our generation (Ok Floyd Maywether is too but he has lots of personal issues).
Pacquiao is a very well known athlete in the sporting world and the Hispanic community, which I'll venture a guess is one of HP's markets that they would like to attract.
exact, the Latin-American public loves Pacquio, to this it is on what he bets hp
Boxing is soo old school. Lets get some MMA endorsements that speak to the younger crowd. Put a Touchpad in Dos Santos or Griffins' hands and I will buy it day one! Can't wait to hear more form the HP Marketing Dept.
Whose hands?
LET HP DO THEIR THING, geee. Folks here gripe about EVERY article, etc posted by precentral.
The more the better. Remember, they are putting their pieces in place and I am sure this will be an ongoing campaign of many celebs, regular folks, etc to help push webOS.
He has got his hands full with the Sugar Shane Mosley fight, but its good to see HP going all out in what they call a marathon...
I think it's fair to be cool with HP/Palm, IN THE COMMING MONTHS... but not sooner ;-)
Does HP plan to use this person to beat people up if they don't buy a webOS device?
I peronally don't think a boxer can convince anyone to buy one....unless he threatens to beat them up.
At least it's better than creepy ghost lady from Sprint and soccer mom on Verizon.
hey dont talk about my mother
I hope he starts with your **** first you wimp...
Manny is a very interesting selection. He kicks a** in just about every boxing match in the past 7+ years! In fact, he had to gain weight just to find new competition with other boxers in higher weight classes. Many people admire and many more are taking notice of his skills and talents from the multiple main event boxing matches held in Las Vegas and other major venues. And that includes President Obama.
Obviously, Manny is also a very strong celebrity in the Philippines. Just about EVERYONE in the Philippines sits/stands in front of a television during every boxing match just to see him knock down the next contender. This could be a great marketing strategy for HP/Palm.
Hopefully, HP/Palm follows through and takes advantage of this move to expand their smartphone, tablets, and app catalog to the Philippines that can increase global reach and sales opportunities. Philippines was known to be the texting capital of the world and with this potential to market their webOS products to the whole country including Filipinos working/living abroad could bring very significant results.
Maybe they can sign other great celebrities from other countries to represent.
Good move HP/Palm!
I think technical support for Palm/HP WebOS is in the Philippines while PalmOS in India, they should practice what they preach!
Well I think it's easier to outsource technical support services from another country compared to selling your products in that same country.
If I am not mistaken, the major cellular networks in the Philippines are Globe and Smart communications. You'ld have to cut a good deal with these guys first before you can consider launching a successful plan in selling HP/Palm smartphones and tablets in their region.
Otherwise, you'ld fail trying to preach your products using a communication network infrastructure with limited reach and unproven stability.
It's cool that they are even doing some promotion for the Touchpad. If I had a choice to choose someone it would be the Navy Seal that put a double tap to Bin laden's dome piece.
great choice. he's a global figure. come to think of it hp should go after the nba and all other sports they can get their hands on. if you watch the nba, they use lots of hp products, especially for replay. whenever they go to watch a replay i always see the refs struggling to turn the whole monitor around, they should just start using touchsmarts and just flip the screen their way... or give them touchpads ;)
who cares about Manny Pacquiao's opinion? promote touchpad? wtf??? I see that face and hear that name for the first time in my whole life
okay so it that event happening tonight or.... i kinda want to know the launch date or something
Maybe To hit a KO to the iPad to the Punch :)
I wonder if more sports stars will come to promote the webos devices. ?
I woud like to see Steve Jobs on their ads, playing around with some cards, hypnotized, while several notifications pop up without interrupting his hypnosis ;-D
I saw their promotion for him vs mosley. he was using Beats headphones..thats probably why
Great! Now they just need to sign someone to SELL the damn thing!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manny_Pacquiao
He is well known to anyone who follows any sports. And no WoW is not a sport.
I could see him advertising the Veer. Both Small and pack a punch!
SO HP's marketing/Sales team decided. "We need a popular boxer to promote our devices! People will listen to boxers!" Brilliant!
I'm starting to wonder, How did Apple and Google ever make it without Mike Tyson promoting their devices!? (SARCASIM)
HP you would have a better chance promoting if you got Antoine Dodson
The Philippines has a population of about 100 million people. Their primary device of communication is through wireless cell phones in which the majority use for text messaging. Most use Nokia cell phones while a few use smartphones (even iPhones). I think the people of the Philippines are ready for the next generation webOS smartphones.
Manny Pacquiao's boxing matches are always broadcasted throughout the country permitting everyone to watch for free - that makes at least 90% of the population glued to the tube. Meanwhile, you've got millions more in other countries and here in the U.S. willing to "Pay per View" just to watch the boxing match.
Bottom line is that Manny Pacquiao is internationally recognized, especially within the Filipino community. So we're talking about a potential reach and strong influence of more than 60 million potential consumers.
Manny sold out seats and viewer subscribers millions at a time while Antoine sold her songs in the thousands. What fraction of influence do you suppose HP would see by signing Antoine Dodson in comparison to Manny Pacquiao?
If you want to talk numbers...over 100 million views on youtube for Antoine Dodson.
OF COURSE IT'S A STUPID IDEA TO GET ANTOINE DODSON TO BE A SPOKESPERSON. it's called sarcasim.
Personally i've never bought anything a boxer has endorsed.
The iphone and the google phones do well without anyone endorsing them.
Actually, those ARE some pretty good numbers that may not even qualify as sarcasm. Manny's numbers on youtube figures may not add up anywhere close to Antoine's. So it may not be a stupid idea after all.
Marketing isn't always about what a celebrity endorses. It's also about turning a celebrity into a walking billboard. If Manny wore boxing shorts or Antoine wore t-shirts that always bear the webOS HP/Palm logo, and millions of people are watching, you're getting very high exposure and increasing awareness. You don't have to buy them but just like with any repetitive ad, you become familiar with it and sometimes talk about it, and eventually you may even consider buying it.
iPhones didn't use celebrities but they used radio, TV, news media, partnered with other companies and developers, etc. very well. Google on the other hand gets free marketing by using multiple manufacturers who build the phones and contribute to commercials that use their Android OS. Meanwhile Android has leveraged their outstanding performance all over the news media.
HP/Palm could do any of the same things. But even that may not be enough. I think trying something different that competitors aren't doing by endorsing anyone worth the numbers (perhaps including Antoine) could be a very good strategy.
out of 100 million Philippians, 99% will not be able to afford a smartphone, because they can hardly afford enough food to feed their their families, so much for number crunching.
I'd like him to sock Ruby and force him to RELEASE THE PRE 3 TOMORROW MWAHAHAHAHA!*Silence but Crickets* HEY WHERE'S THE THUNDER AND LIGHTNING?!
Boxing fans and especially manny fans have disposable income. He's one of the last names that ppl actually still buy the PPV in the US. So getting the attention of ppl that spend money is probably a good thing.
I can really see the PacMan punch the screen in with frustration over the choppy UI.
I would like to see Neil Patrick Harris to promote the Pre³ or the TouchPad ; )
-2 are you kidding me??? Let TouchPad be promoted by Klitschko Brothers (Dr.Ironfist + Dr.Steelhammer) or by Fedor Emelianenko (The Last Emperor). BUT WHO THE F@CK IS THAT DWARF Manny Pacquiao‽‽‽‽ who's now bad?
Michael J Fox and Christopher Lloyd.
They can travel back in time and release the TouchPad and Pre3 in 2010.
This is the best response I've seen yet! That WOULD be a classic commercial. Maybe, they could get Biff to walk up and say "Hey, McFly, I told you to never bring that iPad in here again!", and Marty shows him it's not an iPad, but a toucHPad. :)
This is a funny one. But would only work if they called it the HP Gigawatt. That's Gigawatt as in "jiggawatt", the power needed for the flux capacitor.
omg
tell me I'm still dreaming and HP does not exists.
things related to HP smartphones couldn't be any worse than this.
instead of spreading the word...=(
Ok, totaly switching gears here from boxing... HP needs to get Justin Bieber to promote the Veer (and maybe even the TouchPad)... just a thought!
Companies do this (sign celebrities) when their products cannot stand on their own.
Wouldn't you think you would want your product to stand front in center in people's minds and not some celebrity?
Might as well bring back the creepy girl at least that got people talking and wondering what in the heck is going on. This? People will just think yeah that's exactly who I want to listen too -- someone who spends his days getting punched in the head...
On second thought -- maybe they are bright on this -- perhaps they are going to work this into the "Tap to Share" concept. ;-)
Who on here really cares, I mean seriously, everyone on here will be buying a touchpad or pre3 or both (or a veer if you have child sized hands), and we will be buying them regardless of who advertises them or most likely without ever seeing an ad beforehand.
HP dont have a product that we can buy yet so we dont care! Does Pacquiao's contract start 'sometime in the summer'
Ahem, who on here really cares? EVERYONE should! Sure, you may say that everyone here will buy a TouchPad/Pre3/Veer, etc. But HP will not keep webOS alive if only the people on P|C buy devices -- they need wide exposure, they need developers, they need apps, they need to win a TON of new people over -- that is marketing.
Please get Gary Busey! He'll sell a billion Pads.
Ha Ha Ha. 20 years ago it would have been Mr. T.
At least it will give most of the WebOS lapdogs an excuse why they have another half-naked man poster on their walls. No homo.
it could still be mr. T why not? :P
"To demonstrate how well-made our new Touchpad is, we've brought out a midget boxer! Observe as Mr. Manny Pacquiao tries to close Angry Birds... With furious blows to the abdomen!" Does this guy even know where he is or is he just getting ready to get punched in the head again? Gimme a break, who besides a couple meatheads actually have heard of this guy before? Charlie Sheen needs a job! lol
insert nerd comment here:
Well actually blah blah blah, i'm a nerd with supposed facts, blah blah blah!
Plenty of people that are not meatheads have heard of him. And the guy dominates his opponents so the comments about a half brain-dead boxer are silly. The guy doesn't get hit in the head all that hard or all that often to be quite honest. I'm not saying that because I watch boxing and know about Manny Pacquiao that this form of advertising will work. I'm just defending the argument against people "listening" to a guy who gets hit the head.
I am kidding, i am also glad that HP is hiring "celebs" to push out their WebOS Products., even if they look like a neanderthal and 17 people from the Philippines voted a frickin' boxer into office! Really people? My vote is Chuck Norris for next HP celeb, then they can fight over a tablet that'll be released "sometime" and is somehow going to change the world., and space program that no longer exists! Is Obama running HP? lol
I like Pac-man, but I still find this choice questionable. Is he "mainstream" enough to get the attention of the everyday consumer? I don't think so. Nor do I think any MMA fighter, or boxer for that matter, would bring in customers . . . except George Foreman ;)
Hey, PreCentral readers, rather than bash HP's choice, why not make your own recommendations? What celebs could get you standing up cheering every time you saw their commercials promoting WebOS? I'll embarrass myself by sharing my own celeb list that I'd love to see promoting WebOS:
1) Steve, the Linux Super Villain - hilarious
2) Strong Bad / Trogdor - also hilarious
3) Josh Groban - modern, sophisticated, popular, and better by far than any other singer
4) Chuck Norris - I have to agree with another poster, Chuck Norris' mythical appeal would make for some awesome buzz and banter
5) Jack Bower (Kiefer Sutherland) - a more modern Chuck Norris
6) Rey Mysterio - I don't really follow fake wrestling, but I'll take any chance I can get to see Rey's amazing acrobatics beating up the much more muscular competitors
7) The Masked Palm Guy - he's just funny sometimes
How about they go for smart **** sophisticated next. Like Natalie Portman or Johnny Depp (I know they couldn't afford him, but maybe Keira Knightley - heck, I just saw her in a perfume commercial so I know she's willing to step out of the Hollywood limelight for spot here or there).
Wait, wait. They could use Daniel Radcliffe - or preferably Emma Watson - heck, get all 3 of them together, and have them sitting by the fireplace using their Pre3, TouchPad, and Veer and talking about how magical they are.
How about signing on thousands of stranded Pre- users on Sprint to be your promoters by giving them access to new phones?
Interesting idea with this boxer but ...
Right now I'm interested in what carriers will be promoting the HP lineup, not what characters will be promoting it.
well said
Hmm, I seriously think they should steer clear of sporting personalities. No matter which sport you choose you are going to alienate the majority of your audience (more so for something as contraversial as boxing). Even the more mainstream sports are very regional in their appeal (e.g. football[aka Soccer] in the UK, baseball or football in the States etc).
For this kind of thing you need a global campaign and that means globally recognised celebrities. Forget sports, forget TV presenters, you could get away with a major actor or musician perhaps but you are probably better off avoiding celebs altogether.
...in the meantime, Samsung snatches David Beckham. Good job, HP - that is, if you planning selling WebOS devices in Philippines as your main market?
Being a marketing expert myself, I would say this signing has the possibility of being a HUGE bonanza for HP GLOBALLY. Without knowing details of the deal (aka the fine print) I cannot really say too much more on the subject. BTW, Manny is the KING of boxing on the globe. He has a stellar reputation & he is a very charitable person. He is a politician in his home country & he seeks to use his celebrity for good everywhere he goes. This cannot hurt HP & the new Lady Gaga tie in is brilliant on the surface. Way to go HP, finally!!!