Over the years, I have learned that I’m impressed by commitment. The merit of ideas (and my appreciation/enjoyment of them) often relies heavily on the commitment of the idea creator/implementer.

Case in point: The Pomegranate Phone.

This site is well done (although patience is required). I had a good time playing around, giggling, and appreciating their follow-through.

Once I discovered the website wasn’t for a phone at all, I was even more delighted!

However, once I finally uncovered the point of their well-executed spoof (I won’t spoil the “pay off” for you), the air left the the balloon abruptly for me.

This can often happen when a marketing effort “teases” or intentionally holds back information or misdirects consumers in order to build up a sense of intrigue. The explosion of blogs and web connectivity can turn “what the heck is that?” into a worldwide mini-movement with amazing speed.

But almost inevitably when the curtain is pulled back, the reality of the thing that is being promoted doesn’t live up to where your imagination was taking you.

In this case not only was I a little let down (the site it takes you to is perfectly nice – though the navigation started to get me sea sick), but I just found the connection between the Pomegranate Phone and the entity they were marketing to be such a stretch that it just felt arbitrary and a bit manipulative.

It’s a lesson worth remembering when considering the “teasing” approach to marketing (of which we have certainly done our share): the less you tell someone about why you’re trying to get their attention, the more likely it is that they’ll be annoyed by you when you do.