It is hard not to pity Palm these days: the company is projecting very poor sales for its upcoming quarter and analysts have abandoned any pretense of liking the stock. Worst, Palm’s attempts to reconnect with its customers - arguably it's main problem - have been overshadowed by a head-turning ad created by Palm aficionado Heiko Thies.

The ad, writes Wired, "manages to be both exciting and slightly edgy. It also totally makes me want to buy a Pre.The ad does what an ad should, especially when it is for a cool and capable product as the Pre: it shows the phone in action. The jerky handheld camera is great, too, somehow setting it apart from the super-slick iPhone ads."

Essentially, in 30 seconds the spot effectively demonstrates webOS - Palm's operating system that it rolled out last year in the hopes of regaining its lost ground in the smartphone market - and its multitasking capabilities.

Not coincidentally, these are considered Palm's greatest strengths. The fact that so few consumers are aware of them have left marketers and analysts scratching their heads about Palm.

"This is a classic case of where a good technology alone cannot turn around a company," says Azita Arvani of the Arvani Group (via the E-Commerce Times).

"I don't think the company did enough to take advantage of the old brand and connect up with the positive aspects of the old Palm brand. Instead, they went for a more technology-based branding that may have enticed those of us in the industry, but didn't connect up with the consumers."