Editorials
PR Wars Between Palm and Apple Brewing
There’s nothing like a good old fashioned PR War especially when the stakes are high. Rumors are starting to circulate that the Palm Pre may be officially rolled out June 7, the day before Apple’s anticipated new iPhone announcement at WWDC. Of course that means analysis of the rumors is in full swing with some saying Palm is foolish to do this right before Apple’s big announcement and some saying it is a brilliant move.
I’m in the latter camp. Everybody and their headline writing brother is ready for the Palm Pre’s unveiling with headlines ranging from “the second coming” to “Palm fails to impress with the Pre.” No question Palm has stacked the expectation decks and has a lot riding on the Pre. So, in my mind, if you’re taking the big gamble and betting the future on a new product, you might as well go all in with the marketing and publicity. In this case, all they have to lose is everything, so fire with both barrels.
Sure, Apple will suck a lot of oxygen out of the air with the iPhone release, but the gamble, if these rumors prove to be true, is that Palm might put a kink in that oxygen hose. Any story that comes out about the iPhone that mentions the Palm Pre (assuming it isn’t a complete negative comment and in some cases even if it is) will be in Palm’s favor.
As long as they spell your name right someone once said.
Sumocat
04/29/2009 at 9:52 am
Given Apple’s marketing power, Palm doesn’t have much choice other than to get ahead of the new iPhone. Day before the iPhone announcement, they’ll get media coverage. Day after, they’ll get seriously overshadowed.
JoeBidenThePlumber
04/29/2009 at 2:03 pm
From a PR perspective, this is a brilliant and cost-effective move.
Cost-effective: Apple will spend a gazillion dollars on (and get 100 billion gazillion dollars of free) publicity for the new iPhone. Palm will be guaranteed to get mentioned in a very large fraction of those articles and blogs with virtually no PR expense.
Brilliant: Palm needs to reach consumers who are considering buying a state-of-the-art phone, and get them to try theirs. What else are these consumers considering? iPhone. With this timing, they will get lots of comparisons, and thus lots of consumers wondering if they should evaluate the Pre. And for those who don’t like AT&T’s horrible coverage or who are already Sprint customers …