Goal: The launch of Zire, Palm's first sub-$100 consumer handheld computer, creatively turned product challenges into opportunities. Palm aimed to reach beyond Palm's more familiar audience of technology and business media to mainstream consumer media outlets including Real Simple and Teen People and popular television shows.
Scenario: To bring Zire to market at this low price, Palm completely redesigned the form factor, simplifying the number of buttons from four to two and removing expensive technology elements involving add-ons, bonus software and extra memory. Surprisingly, Zire's simplicity presented a PR challenge. Tech journalists love to cover the speeds and feeds of new handheld gadgetry. Traditionally, each new Palm handheld came with more add-ons, software and memory. Zire broke the norm and offered just the most frequently used functions, such as Palm's foundational personal information management (PIM) technology, similar to the original PalmPilot from 1996.
At $99, Zire represented a significant technology milestone, making handheld computers more accessible to everyone. Product positioning was extremely important because Palm did not want consumers or the media to misinterpret the Zire design as a "dumbed down," less desirable handheld. A&R set out to prove that Zire was worthy of media attention and a great value to consumers.
To introduce Zire to the new audience, A&R researched and found there were still several publications that were new to Palm handhelds. Based on this finding, Palm doubled its list of target publications to 200, expanding beyond trade press and consumer tech publications to mainstream consumer publications in targeted segments, such as family, lifestyle, fashion, music and travel.
Approach: A&R worked with Palm's corporate communications team to develop an aggressive PR strategy that would work universally for all target audiences (consumers, tech journalists and mainstream lifestyle publications).
One of the most unexpected and wildly successful ideas was Zire's appearance in a new off-Broadway production called "The Water Coolers," a musical comedy set in corporate America. The actors sang their "I Love My Palm" number and danced at Palm's fall product launch event in New York - a surprise performance that delighted 120+ journalists and analysts.
Results: Zire's long and short lead press/analyst tour was a success, reaching more than 100 analysts and journalists in New York City, Boston, Seattle, Chicago, San Francisco, Silicon Valley and Washington, D.C. To foster close press relations and control shipping costs, A&R hand-delivered most of the Zire review units and managed 200 review units. We also set up a secure Web site for journalists to access all Zire press materials and photography in advance. Many journalists had never covered Palm in the past and had never used a handheld. The expanded tour helped to dramatically increase Palm's editorial influence beyond the usual technology and handheld industry media.
Unlike the tech press, Palm newbies didn't understand the basics of handheld usage, so Palm spokespeople had to tailor Zire messages and talk in "consumer-speak." The PR team coached Palm executives to use informal language and catchy fashion sayings such as, "White is the new black." These sound bites resonated well with fashion and lifestyle press. A&R also drafted the reviewer's guide with simplicity in mind. Palm succeeded in positioning Zire as "the handheld for the rest of us," effectively setting expectations for this new entry-level product. The press feedback was positive, especially among mainstream consumer and fashion publications that loved the simple design, white color and low price.
Results/ROI: Zire media hits and overall impressions were 60% higher than those of Palm's previous most recent launch, with more than 60 print and online stories and 50 television and radio hits. While Palm's usual group of business and tech publications came through with significant coverage, the launch was a bulls-eye with the consumer press, too. Non-tech, fashion publications such as Harper's Bazaar featured Zire in a modern layout called "Silver Streak," and regional magazines such as San Francisco Magazine included Zire in their "Wish List," a holiday round-up of stylish presents. Other mainstream coverage includes stories in Teen People's beauty and fashion special December issue, Real Simple's "Zire Test Drive," and Redbook's "Picking the Perfect Planner". During the holidays, Zire coverage once again spiked as a perfect, low-cost holiday gift idea picked up in daily paper holiday gift guides and lists of the best products of 2002.
Favorable broadcast hits included more than 50 Zire stories on top-tier business programs, such as CNN Headline News, local programs such as NBC Channel 3 and tech shows, such as TECH TV. The majority featured shots from the Zire b-roll as well as copy points from the Zire broadcast press release.
Palm's new Zire achieved consecutive waves of press coverage, beginning with product reviews and news stories in the first week. The emphasis on mainstream media notwithstanding, the most influential tech media also reviewed the new product; PC Magazine's Bruce and Marge Brown said, "At $99, you may be tempted to outfit the whole family with them." Gary Krakow of MSNBC applauded Palm for pulling "good, inexpensive components into a small, useable, likeable, ultra-affordable package." Teen People included Zire in a gift guide round up featuring things under $100 and described it as "light-weight, affordable and packed with all the amenities."
In the end, the Zire launch exceeded Palm's expectations, generating 60% more media hits than in previous launches, increasing overall brand awareness and boosting fall handheld sales. According to market-information company The NPD Group, the Palm Zire handheld was the best selling PDA in U.S. channels during the fourth quarter of 2002—accounting for 13 percent of sales. The NPD Group data also confirmed the Palm Zire handheld had the highest sales figures during its first three months after introduction of any handheld tracked by the market information company. It was also determined that 90 percent of consumers who bought Zire handhelds are new handheld purchasers, indicating that A&R and Palm reached exactly the customer they were targeting.