By DROOOOOID! You can’t deny that one of the main reasons for the huge success that is Droid would be Verizon’s series of take-no-prisoners “Droid Does” commercials. Now they are at it again with the release of the Droid Incredible, and they aren’t afraid to show off the high-end specs of this great new Android smartphone. This commercial sort of plays out like a red and black version of the code from The Matrix, but I absolutely love that they are showing off the hardware of the phone instead of selling it for the interface alone.
[via Droid Dog]
I wonder how much confusion Verizon causes with their Droid branding? Multiple phones with different specs all carrying the same name must leave consumers scratching their heads.
Yeah, it’s really confusing. Just like how people are always getting confused between an iPod and an iPad.
Technology is hard.
@Ross. I disagree. I think its brilliant. It consolidates the space. You have an iphone? A blackberry? I have a Droid. You have the 3Gs or the Tour, I have Droid Incredible.
.
I think it works.
I don’t know why people think a name brand is confusing to customers.
Have ou ever known anyone that brought home a FORD Mustang instead of a FORD Taurus by mistake.
@Dave
That made me snort… Nice one.
Yes, VZW is creating a BRAND! It has been quite successful so far. Why would they stop now?
Like any average consumer knows what the significance of a 1Ghz Snapdragon or AMOLED display is. The best thing about that commercial is the red effects and the way they say Droid. Don’t let tech people write your commercials.
Is that James Earl Jones doing the voiceover?
No, not James Earl Jones.
It’s a neat commercial. It invoked memories of the the same kind of camera work and sound effects from the new Star Trek movie.
Visited a store to check out the Droid Incredible. Sadly, I was not impressed. It’s quick, but I definitively discovered that I hate HTC Sense. I couldn’t even find a way to restore vanilla Android Home. It wasn’t even listed as an available process.
I’ve had to phone just 28 hours now and it freaking rocks
@smoknjo me too–got it at lunchtime yesterday. Thank you VZW and FedEx for delivering it early. This thing is just so much faster and smoother in every way than pretty much any other phone I’ve ever seen or used.
I think HTC branded touchscreen phones are the new Apple iPhone of today. HTC just exudes quality. They better be careful though, they are on the edge of becoming another Samsung with their updates…
The only “confusion” that customers have is thinking that any Android = Droid. There doesn’t seem to be any confusion between Droid, Droid Eris, and Droid Incredible. I think the Droid branding is genius though.
I really love the way they’re using the camera/flash as the visual identifier right at the end. I don’t think it’s damaging the brand, I think it explains why they’ve continued to push the droid commercials this long, because it allows them to continue the brand momentum. Go to Verizon, get something called droid and you’re guaranteed to have a really nice phone, that’s the message.
I’ve had the following conversation at least four times regarding my Hero:
Them: What kind of phone is that?
Me: An Android.
Them: That doesn’t look like the Droid in the commercials. And where’s the keyboard?
Me: Well it’s called the Hero, but it runs on the Android operation system.
Them: So it’s not really an Android?
Me: No. Well yes… Well you know how you have a computer, but it runs Windows? Well I have a Hero, and it runs Android.
Them: Then what does the iPhone run?
Me: iPhone OS
Them: I’m confused.
Me: Me too.
sure wish the Incredible had a QWERTY.
My friends don’t even know about this yet. They just talk about the Droid and that other Droid with no keyboard.
Bray424 I get the same problem.
@bray424 – So if you have a Hero and somebody asked you what kind of phone is that then why did you say an Android? It seems like either you’re confused or you’re trying to confuse them.
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I’m loving the commercial and the DROID branding as I said from the get go is genius. Its actually going to eliminate part of the problem bray424 just described. The term DROID will become popular and people will immediately recognize the sound effect and know exactly what type of phone you’re talking about. As Android increases in popularity people will understand that its the OS and can be found on all sorts of phones. But Verizon’s marketing will lead the way into the mainstream. And I bet people start calling any Android phone a DROID no matter what carrier. Of course thats not what Verizon wants but it will help Android.
I usually just say I got an Android phone
I think Droid was good branding effort from Verizon.
The worst branding I’ve felt was when Intel came out with the Core.
The what?
The core.
How many?
Depends.
You mean a Pentium Dual Core?
No I mean a Core Single Core and a Code Dual Code and a Core Quad Core.
How many cores does my Pentium have?
It can be 1, 2 or 4.
So my Pentium Dual Core has 2 Cores?
Yes
So my Pentium already has an advanced processor in it?
No, your 2 Cores are different. They are not Core processors.
Then what are they?
Pentium processors.
But they do have Cores.
Yes.
But the core in my Pentium machine is different from the Core you are talking about?
I’m talking about Core Duo and Core 2 Duo
So Core Duo has 2 cores, but what is the processor called?
The Core
How many?
Depends.
You mean a Pentium Dual Core?
………
dude, that incredible has decepticon written all over it. they used the same lettering and sound effects. AWESOME!
@Travis, I could not agree more.
Love it!
the name “droid” is a brand just like “blackberry”. That doesn’t confuse anyone. It’s just a “style” of phone for verizon
@chris – do you think they knew what open source was when the Droid was being teased in the World Series? I’m doubtful on that one… definitely didn’t matter. People are smarter than you want to give them credit for. I work for a bank, with a bunch of stuffy old people. And “Android”… not “Droid” mind you… is a buzz word. From the Droid, to the Droid Eris, to the G1, to the Evo… they’re all well aware of the difference between Android and Droid.
@TF, “People are smarter than you want to give them credit for.” No, they’re really not. The people that we associate with and work with tend to be similar to ourselves. There’s usually a reason why we work where we do, and have the friends we have. Go outside of your own social circle and look around sometimes. It’s scary out there. The only thing that could make brand confusion a non-issue is that the vast majority of the people who will be confused will be scared to death of operating a smartphone anyway.
That ad was incredible (seriously, no pun intended). I actually even like the fact that they don’t show the phone.
Verizon is building a really nice brand with the Droid. I wonder how much that brand is becoming the symbolism for Android in general, though? So many times I hear people ask about Android phones by simply referring to them as “Droid” (not sure that’s a bad thing, just an observation around my stable of friends)
the only thing that really annoys me about the droid branding is i still cant tell if it is here to stay or not. You can tell by the box of the incredible and the splash screen that attaching the droid to make it droid incredible was an afterthought / late though. Why isnt the moto devour called the droid devour?
IF they are trying to create a brand that is recognizable they better do it right and not f it up.
@Ted
Would you mind elaborating on what you dislike about HTC Sense? I’m looking to get an Evo this summer – my first Android phone – but HTC Sense is one of my concerns. I don’t mind waiting for updates, I just want to make sure that I’m not missing out on stock Android features that are available in the same version.
Just was at Verizon messing around with the Incredible. Wow. Makes my magic look like the dog that it is. I like sense and I run it on my magic, but could easily live without it.
Makes my wife’s iPhone 3gs look old.
I just saw the commercial for the Droid incredible, looks a lot like an iphone. Anyway my old phone took a shit and i don’t know which droid to get. They all have great features. I dont know much about phones though and i was hoping for some feedback.
Wow not to be snarky but Im reading. This on my incredible and I completely forgot it had slash support.
I love the Incredible, and I am posting this from my 5th blackberry because as an employee I had to wait to order. Verizon Rocks, Incredible is amazing, and I’m giving up my Blackberry messenger for it…so anyone have any good alternatives for my messenger? PS Tiny Altus OK is now 3G! And the Droids run great on our network, so at&t put that on your popscicle stick and lick it!
ppl often dont realize droid is android..with my g1, ppl are always like, is that like the droid? and after failed attempts of explaining it, i say, yea, its the first droid..but i refuse to call my fone the droid incredible…i tell everyone its the htc incredible
just got my incredible this afrternoon and i gotta say it truly is the best droid out there and i have had my fair share of droids(even paid full retail for a few) from looks,software, media, storage and HTC sense it prevails all other phones on the US market today… next step i see is custom roms and with a 1ghz processor it’ll open up a whole new spectrum…
HEY ROB LIKE THE POST EMAIL ME…
After that ad, I woudl expect my phone to turn into a truck.
@Brian
The problem with sense is that you get updates very very late take the droid eris for example that has yet to get an update and was said to get one a little after its release with stock android you will get the updates much faster granted the droid didnt get it very fast thats more on verizon sending it back to motorola to continue to work on even tho other countries had 2.1 released on there phone i refused to buy anything but stock android mainly cause of that reason although rumor is with the next update of 2.2, which will be coming out in the next few months more then likely, is going to solve some of those issues because they will be putting on all the system apps on the market and updating them on there but that still wont update the core software just my 2 cents but i will not be buying anything that don’t have stock android il stick with my droid till something better comes out on verizon that has stock
I’m not a bit confused. Have Moto Droid and Droid Incredible. No more Blackberry. I guess that means I have two DROIDS. Traded in my last BB yesterday and bought the first Incredible sold in my local store and all I can say is INCREDIBLE!!! By the way always wanted an Iphone but hate AT&T. Droid really does, make me not want an Iphone that is.
teh Droid is incredible, eh?
love the physical keypad
oh i got to get myself one of those Incredible phones. Oh wait i already got and it is amazing. I like the commercial.
IM A SALES DUDE FOR VZW AND HONESTLY NOT REALLY ANY PROBS OR CONFUSION WITH THE BRANDING OF THE PHONES MOST PEOPLE KNOW THERE ARE A FEW MODELS WHEN SOMEONE IS PREPARED TO DROP A COUPLE HUNDRED BUCKS ON A PHONE THEY USUALLY HAVE SOME KIND OF IDEA WHAT THERE SPENDING IT ON
I still hate that someone could take android, the word, remove the first two letters and get legal protection for the resulting word… Talk about stupid law…
My problem with the verizon phones is that I want android, but I want to be able to have a phone call while I browse… While I might not need it every day, not having that ability is like not having a mobile phone when travelling-you are like “What?! I can’t do that?!”.
I hope AT&T doesn’t continue to cripple android phones or I will be switching carriers…
Counsel;
Am sure Verizon will change that one day. To be honest with you and don’t browse and talk on phone at the same time, no need for. I have that option with WiFi on and I never used it before. Am happy the way it is now and I don’t think ATT will ever cripple Verizon with that feature. If Verizon ever gets the Iphone, I probably will get it too, only because I am a gadget freak.
@java And let’s not forget the true target audience. If the matrix queues do not clue you in, then the commercial’s sound design should. Robots, speed specs…. This phone is TARGETED to Geeks. The likelihood that a geek gets confused about an Android purchase is pretty laughable.