The Apple Watch

No matter your opinions on the new Apple Watch, the simple fact of the matter is that you have heard of it. Anyone that is even somewhat remotely active on social media or catching their news online has probably heard news about the new Apple Watch from someone, whether their comments were positive or negative. This is exactly how Apple is getting the best unpaid marketing possible.

When Apple announced its new watch earlier this month the Internet exploded. Some people were excited and others were skeptical, calling it unnecessary and over the top. Call it what you will but Apple is riding this controversial surge perfectly.

A recent social media study by Mediametric stated that on the day the new watch was announced the amount of social media chatter and buzz that the watch produced well surpassed Game of Thrones, which had just released a trailer for it’s upcoming season. That’s really saying a lot, that within minutes of being unveiled it had gathered more social media steam than one of the most social media frenzied shows on television.

Now, starting in early April you can walk into an Apple Retail store and try on an Apple Watch for no more than fifteen minutes, along with a whole other bunch of conditions that must be met before you try it on. In order to try on the watch for fifteen minutes an appointment has to be made and the fifteen minutes are guided one on one with an Apple employee. At the time of the appointment you can also schedule another appointment to pick up your watch when it’s officially released at the end of April.  
Seriously, how amazing of a marketing ploy is that after such a media uproar? What can Apple do after such a controversial social media explosion except make the product even more mysterious and controversial by allowing people to try it on with all of these crazy stipulations.

Not only is Apple using all of the social media to their advantage, despite the fact that responses seem to be split evenly down the middle in terms of positive posts and negative posts, they are also doing an excellent job of upping the hype even more by allowing shoppers to wear their watches for fifteen minutes in a very controlled environment.

Word of mouth advertising can be one of the most important aspects of a companies PR campaign nowadays, especially since opinions and thoughts travel so quickly on social media. Apple is showing exactly how you can play that word of mouth up and use it to your advantage by creating even more hype and talk.

Regardless of how well the Apple Watch actually sells, it will still have accomplished it’s goal of being one of the most talked about things on social media and that, in and of itself, is a major PR achievement. 

This guest blog post was written by PRowl staff member Hannah Litchfield.

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