Sprint and Palm to Create More Hype by Forcing a Sell Out
Not that we at Pimp My Pre aren’t guilty of hyping the Palm Pre, but Sprint and Palm look like they have found a way to gain even more hype the day after launch.
Launch of the Palm Pre is June 6th, and Apple’s WWDC is June 8th. On June 7th, the top Palm Pre story will be “Sorry! We SOLD OUT!” Big news, right?
Well, not when the numbers of Palm Pre’s available are limited to ensure a sell out. Not when it’s a done deal and made to happen. What a marketing genius it was that came up with this. We think it’s just a way for Palm to steal a little more thunder from the iPhone and for Sprint and Palm to make the headlines and live up to all this hype. I’m guaranteed my phone, cause I just got it like that – ya right. And HOW are they doing this? They’re limiting the quantities.
If you’re not connected like some people, you better pack a sleeping bag. “We don’t intend to advertise it heavily early on because we think we are going to have shortages for a while,” said Hesse, Sprint CEO. “We won’t be able to keep up with demand for the device in the early period of time.”
When translated into normal person speak – we plan for it to sell out quickly, and we’re pretending like we haven’t advertised this and people aren’t really talking about it, so we can act shocked later when they sell out and walk around fist bumping each other. You KNOW it’s going to be the big news – Palm Pre Sells Out! Then there will be a ton more chatter about the Pre, more articles, more hype, price gouging on Ebay – hmm, wait, maybe I better get 2.