It's Time: Enough with this Palm Pre Campaign
Imagine a world where Palm's commercials for the Pre were uncontroversial, effective, compelling, and well liked. A world where Palm followed up on the original "Flow" commercial with ads that established the Palm Pre as a brand to be reckoned with. Despite some focus group approval of their followup ad, that is not the world we live in. Instead, we live in a world where the Palm ads are 'creepy.'
Yes, Modernista! still backs their ads and yes, in our world they've got us talking about them ad nauseum. What about the world of Mad Men? Perhaps the professionals in the field have some Don Draper flashes of insight into what these are all about? According to the folks interviewed by ADWEEK, it's just as much a mystery to the pros as it is to us.
Let's peruse the reactions, shall we? After the break, their thoughts and mine.
- "I certainly don't enjoy watching them"
- "the messaging is questionable"
- "They lost me"
- "feels a little tone deaf and self-indulgent"
The killer comes from Robert Birge, CMO of Kayak and formerly of TBWA\Chiat\Day. He thinks that the ads don't built brand awareness for the Pre, but "for PDA devices in general." Ouch.
If they don't clearly express the Pre's functionality (despite some recent moves in that direction), then building the brand is basically all that's left. Brand building commercials are a good idea -- I personally think that Apple's commercials work more because of the feeling of lighthearted ease they evoke than any particular message. Palm's ads seem to try to evoke a feeling of mystical, fairy-world connections channeled through the Pre.
Any Tim Burton fan will tell you: The thing about mystical fairy worlds is that the line between whimsical wonder and horrible surreality is all too easily crossed and you never realize you've crossed it until it's too late. How is a creepy world good for Palm's brand?
Imagine a world where Palm's ads evoke serenity and connection instead of creeping you out. I bet you can't. Once you've crossed that line, you can't go back.
From where I'm sitting, there's no way to un-creep this campaign, just like you can't have the yellow brick road without flying monkees or Wonderland without the Queen of Hearts. From where I'm sitting, it's time to pull the plug on this campaign.
Thanks to Brian for the tip!
