Palm launches Treo kiosks

SUNNYVALE, Calif. — Palm Inc. launched a $25 million worldwide marketing campaign to generate mainstream awareness of and attract new users to the Treo smartphone line. The six-month campaign highlights Palm's new Treo 680 smartphone and encompasses a fully integrated media mix consisting of print, out-of-home, online, mobile and viral-marketing components. AKQA, a leading interactive marketing agency, developed the campaign, which combines non-traditional marketing approaches with tried-and-true media.

The campaign includes Palm's first-ever SMS-activated kiosks, which enable people to select and view category-specific content on larger-than-life Treo smartphones. The kiosks contain a live monitor in place of the Treo screen and displays canned and dynamic content. The interactive kiosks are located at bus stops and window fronts in major metropolitan cities, including Los Angeles, New York and San Francisco.

"By aligning with passion brands such as Amazon, Orbitz and Yahoo!, we're demonstrating that Treo smartphones do much more than the average cell phone," said Scott Hancock, director of marketing communications for Palm. "We're showing people how easy it is to interact with these sites while mobile. For instance, one ad might simply say 'Buy tickets on Fandango' or 'Orbitz and go' with the corresponding logo appearing on the home screen of the Treo smartphone."