Michael Jordan's possible comeback to the National Basketball Association is currently limiting the Web promotions for Palm Inc.'s new handheld devices beholding the hoops legend's name, according to a spokeswoman yesterday for PTN Media Inc., a celebrity branding firm that put the Jordan-Palm marketing couplet together.
The retired superstar wants to keep a low-profile as he decides whether or not he will return to basketball this fall, said Ellie Glass, spokeswoman for PTN. Glass said the wireless products will be supported by ads later this week at sports Web sites, but additional promos will be restrained until the NBA kicks off in October and Jordan's plans will likely be revealed.
“He doesn't want to put a full campaign out there because it will just add to the speculation about whether he is coming back,” she said. “We are basically in a soft launch right now.”
Glass wouldn't clarify the extent to which Web promotions would be run after Jordan's decision.
The Jordan handheld follows up the Palm's celebrity branding effort with Claudia Schiffer last year. Glass said the ad dollars were limited for that effort. However, she said the Jordan brand name ensures that Palm will use the Web to push the new devices in a more aggressive manner after October.
The devices entail the $159 Palm m100 handheld and the Palm m500 handheld priced at $425.
The devices will include inspirational quotes from Jordan, as well as trivia about his career, training tips, a pinball game, among other games and information.
