Make or Break for Apple Watch Marketing Potential
With the Apple Watch hitting the shelves last week, the jury is still out on how brands can leverage it to engage consumers. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
With the Apple Watch hitting the shelves last week, the jury is still out on how brands can leverage it to engage consumers. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
Apple’s long-awaited watch debuted with the usual fanfare in select cities around the world.
I was in the U.S last week and had an opportunity to play with this cool device. The Apple Watch is supposed to revitalize the smartwatch category, which has failed to take off despite numerous product launches.
While the watch is beautifully made, I struggled to find Apple’s smartwatch as a significant leap over existing offerings from Samsung and Sony with Android Wear.
However, analyst reports suggest differently, with Forrester Research and Morgan Stanley forecasting sales of between 10 million to 30 million iWatches in 2015.
As a marketer, I have been working with Apple products to engage consumers since 2008. The iPhone revolutionized the technology world through their new applications ecosystem. Therefore, it is crucial for brands to get involved early and adapt as the technology evolves.
Brands like Uber, Marriott, Skype, and Starwood Hotels have started their i-journey through value-added apps that allow users to book a cab and check into their hotel room at a flick of their watch!
While the Apple Watch offers numerous possibilities for brands to engage with consumers, here are a few ideas to get you thinking:
Through the iBeacon transmitters, the Apple Watch will be able to connect to Apple’s Bluetooth-powered location system. This will allow stores and businesses to send targeted messages via push notifications straight to your wrist.
In addition, as you are browsing history through their Apple Watch, valuable information is gleaned to serve relevant ads and track purchases.
The challenge here would be to overcome the privacy concerns and demonstrate true value to consumers similar to the Uber and Starwood examples above.
According to reports, the global wearables market is expected to grow from 33 million units in 2014 to 148 million units shipped in 2019, a compound annual rate of 35 percent over the next five years.
The majority of the devices will be enabled to capture health data thus allowing medical care to be highly personalized.
Continuous blood sugar monitoring is an area where the iWatch can help with the paradigm shift. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently approved an innovative blood sugar monitoring device called the iBGStar. This device uses electrochemistry to deliver 99.5 percent accurate results and the monitor connects directly to any iOS device, thus obviating painful pricks and giving users better control of their diabetes management.
The opportunities to target users with medication at the right time to products to control their weight are numerous.
With the launch of Apple Pay on the iPhone 6, Apple has taken the first step toward mobile payments. The Apple Watch will have similar functionality and will allow users to pay with the swipe of their wrists.
Not only will payments become easier, but also marketers will have access to a lot of information, thus allowing them to target users with relevant messages.
In conclusion, the Apple iWatch will offer opportunities for a deeper personalized engagement with consumers. However, more than ever, brands need to figure out how to truly add value to their target otherwise they will be off the wrist in a flash!
Image via Shutterstock.
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