While waiting to check out the Apple Watch, Apple Watch Sport and Apple Watch Edition in real life we decided to post our collective review of Apple’s PR aka promotional campaign for their Apple watch. We’re trying to keep the reviews real since no one seems to want to.
1. According to Apple, the Apple watch and its variants are a fashion accessory. True but any watch is a fashion accessory. Accessory is the key word as watches are not essential.
2. Apple further promotes it’s watch as being high fashion aka in the same class as Chanel, Lous Vitton etc… We don’t think so – it has a rectangular face for a start – ordinary. Admittedly top end one watch is coated with a gold alloy is playing to technicalities. It won’t match the iphone because the ‘gold’ iphone is a shade of copper. It’ not made of platinum which is more expensive so a bit of rip off for essentially a colour.
3. Much press is made of the different bands which are nice to look at but any smart watch can be fitted with new ones which are just as good. Also the design of the Apple bands are custom so you’re paying the ‘Apple Tax’.
4. Apple promote the functionality of the watch – fair enough. However it’s a little geeky and middle class certainly not high fashion or fashion in general just a geeky.
5. The watch is noticeably bulky which is fashionable but because is just a rectangle it seriously does not look good. The Moto 360 and even LG Watch are far more intriguing. The LG G watch R more impressive as it hide it’s size very well and the Moto 360 genuinely looks like a designer item. You can tell those who are in Apple’s pocket book by their reviews that miss the obvious ungainly size yet critise the sine of the other brands!
6. Fashion is about personality, individual and creative hence millions of the same Apple watches is not fashionable. The Apple watch is still priced as mass market model and combined with the manufactured millions, unfortunately it is the ‘kiss of death’ for any fashion brand. It’s like a Target product at best.
7. The Apple watch is completely made and assembled in the millions in a factory in China by anonymous factory workers. As a result the Apple watch will never be fashionable. Real fashion watches like Rolex and Omega are assembled be watch makers in Switzerland, admittedly the materials may be from other countries.
8. Real watches have real gold, diamonds, rubies, shappire etc.. The Apple watch is made of exotic materials for the electronics and it uses a ‘gold’ like material as a coating but nothing like real diamonds and other precious stones that don’t need a battery to sparkle. We cannot imagine music rappers showing this one off.
9. The tech in the Apple watch is not cutting edge it will date quickly like its battery. It’s a tech gadget that will have a6 month life span for most people. However it will work like any other fitness band or health watch and existing Android watches so may result in some longevity beyond 6 months.
10. Most tech bloggers have never owned a real Rolex, Omega or even the lower end TAG, Longiness etc.. so have no idea. They may have owned a digital watch though.
Conclusion, the Apple PR is just like any PR from any tech company and its not particularly sophisticated as in the past. As for the Apple watch no fashion models have been used to promote the product so far which is interesting. We believe that the Apple watch will probably be a geek style icon like the Casio calculator watch, which is not a bad thing. Finally, it will be interesting to see if one of the latest current product placement kings singer Jason Derulo or even the Kardasians will have an Apple watch.