Palm has done something I didn’t think was really possible: In the days before and hours after Apple’s anticipated Worldwide Developer’s Conference they out buzzed Apple.
Who would have thought Palm--widely perceived as crawling on the razor’s edge that separates prominence and fame from oblivion—Could capture more attention than Apple, whose loyal user and developer base can always be counted on to hype announcements?
In this case I thought it not only could ,but along the way would be able to outshine Apple’s announcement of updates to its now aging iPhone line.. Here’s how I think Palm out buzzed Apple:
1. Palm has been intently focused on the launch of its new Pre smart phone and its marketing campaign has been nothing short of masterful.
2. Much of the credit for Palm’s launch goes to it’s long time PR agency, AR- Edelman in San Mateo. AR developed and executed the Palm Pre launch masterfully. I honestly believe that no other agency could have done better than AR Edelman’s efforts on behalf of Palm.
3. Within Palm, Ed Colligan, the company’s CEO but seldom identified third co-founder, quietly designed and executed a launch strategy that guaranteed a high buzz level in the protracted period between the Palm Pre’s introduction and its first availability.
4. Palm has been extremely careful not to dilute its Pre campaign with news about the imminent unveiling of its SDK for the Pre, needed to help position Pre against it’s real competitors Research in Motion’s blackberry family and smart phones based on Google’s Android architecture.
5. Palm has an installed base of very loyal developers. However, because the popularity RIM’s and Apple’s products, the number of third-party developers who have the bandwidth to simultaneously work on three or four platforms is unclear. To overcome this, Palm will have to provide third party developers with compelling reasons to develop for the Pre and a subsequent consumer version of the same platform, sources close to Palm say is now under development. A spokesman for Palm declined to comment on the reports of a consumer based version of the Pre.
Looking out at Palm’s Pre launch campaign, it’s difficult to imagine that little Palm could out buzz Apple with the first availability of its Pre. But that’s what happened.—Jim Forbes, 06/09/2009
