Become a MacRumors Supporter for $50/year with no ads, ability to filter front page stories, and private forums.

3rdiguy

macrumors 65816
Original poster
Sep 17, 2012
1,368
639
I understand that the :apple:Watch is being positioned as a fashion item and want to expand the customer base. I'm just not a fan of seeing all the celebrities with it before release. I liked it when even they had to wait as well. It's not a rant damning the company just something I wanted to share on this forum. Don't read too much into it.
 
I understand that the :apple:Watch is being positioned as a fashion item and want to expand the customer base. I'm just not a fan of seeing all the celebrities with it before release. I liked it when even they had to wait as well. It's not a rant damning the company just something I wanted to share on this forum. Don't read too much into it.


It doesn't make me want to buy the watch any more than I already wanted to. it just pisses me off that they beat me to it!
 
And they get them for FREE

And they are wearing variations not even sold to customers!

All gold link bracelet for Beyoncé and Karl Lagerfeld? Red Sports Bands in Milan? What's next? MacBook Pros with a solid gold keyboard only for will.i.am?
 
I shake my head at threads like these... I'm going to reword your comment to reflect what it really says.

I'm not a fan of Apple's marketing strategy and I want mine now.

Break it down into the two parts: Not a fan of Apple's marketing. Seems to be working for them pretty well, wouldn't you say? Each celebrity sighting gets every tech site to post the picture and get the crowds whipped into a frenzy. They got them literally a few days before launch. The excitement of a celebrity wearing something the common folks can get will die on Friday.

And you want yours now.... don't we all? C'est la vie. It'll be on your wrist as soon as possible, given your order time, model popularity and supply. Enjoy it when you get it.
 
I shake my head at threads like these... I'm going to reword your comment to reflect what it really says.

I'm not a fan of Apple's marketing strategy and I want mine now.

Break it down into the two parts: Not a fan of Apple's marketing. Seems to be working for them pretty well, wouldn't you say? Each celebrity sighting gets every tech site to post the picture and get the crowds whipped into a frenzy. They got them literally a few days before launch. The excitement of a celebrity wearing something the common folks can get will die on Friday.

And you want yours now.... don't we all? C'est la vie. It'll be on your wrist as soon as possible, given your order time, model popularity and supply. Enjoy it when you get it.

Hehe, I’m a big fan of Ferris Bueller, “Abe!” Love that moniker! And I’m sure you’re right
 
My only "problem" is how blatant it is. It makes Apple look needlessly desperate when they really don't have to, given how well the watch is selling already.

People on these very forums and elsewhere crowed about Oprah shilling for the Microsoft Surface and then later tweeting from an iPad, or Alicia Keys shilling for BlackBerry, or Jessica Alba shilling for Windows Phone. People mocked these companies, but now Apple is basically doing the same thing.

Previously when you saw a celebrity with an Apple product you could assume that it was their choice and not a marketing stunt. Now it's painfully obvious that these celebrities are paid shills and not actual users - Karl Lagerfeld's watch is still on the initial pairing screen, for Christ's sake - which leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

If Apple thinks these marketing efforts will sell more watches, more power to them, but it certainly isn't doing anything positive for me.
 
And they get them for FREE

Apparently in our world if you're rich you never have to pay for anything ever again. People just throw valuable things at you while the ones who struggle are charged to the penny :(

Regardless I just don't like how they have it earlier than us. I don't care that they didn't pay for it. I earned my money which I'm proud of (although it does hurt a little)
 
My only "problem" is how blatant it is. It makes Apple look needlessly desperate when they really don't have to, given how well the watch is selling already.

...

If Apple thinks these marketing efforts will sell more watches, more power to them, but it certainly isn't doing anything positive for me.

Clearly they're not marketing to YOU. You're already (I assume) ordering because you've made that choice. Marketing isn't to convince somebody who already has the product to buy it. It either tries to lure people to buy or to give a (perceived) boost to the user experience/status. If celebrity endorsement doesn't sway you, so be it. You're confident in your decision without the latest pop star validating you. Some aren't. And those people have the same $349-$xxxxx to spend on Apple products.
 
This strategy isn't aimed at the bleeding-edge, pre-order crowd, though. We are 100% not the target market here. This is to bring in people who weren't knowledgeable about, or interested in, getting one before now.

I couldn't give a rat's tiny heiney what celebrity has one, but if it makes more people buy the AW (which I have no doubt it will), I'm glad for it-- even if the hundred or so watches prepared for them means mine is 100 watches down the supply chain.

Why? Because it means the product will be more successful than it would have otherwise been, which means it will get more attention and development and has a promising future, which can only be a good thing for those of us who bought it because we were attracted to the tech.

Celeb endorsements are only a bad thing for hipsters who only wanted it because it wasn't cool. :p
 
All it really means is somebody at Apple Marcom took a lesson from the DeBeers. They gave away huge diamond rings to celebrities back in the day in order to underscore their whole hype campaign that one had to spend 2 months salary on a ring that would in reality be next to worthless at resale in order to ensure the masses bought into it and line their pockets for generations.

Churchhill was right again. As usual.

As for me, I kind of like a watch you don't have to wait for it to wake up (in order to conserve it's wretched battery life). I'll stick with my old school one that's always on, doesn't need to boot, doesn't need firmware and software upgrades to fix the bugs, and a battery that lasts for years not hours, thanks.
 
And they are wearing variations not even sold to customers!

All gold link bracelet for Beyoncé and Karl Lagerfeld? Red Sports Bands in Milan? What's next? MacBook Pros with a solid gold keyboard only for will.i.am?

You can thank Beats being picked up by Apple for that. All of this is because of brand Beats.
 
I actually have to agree with celebrities getting their wrists in one for free, before everyone else and in variations not available to "regular" consumers (so far).

I can understand the marketing behind such a move but at the same time giving a celebrity a gold link bracelet version for free (even though they could afford it) to just put it on their wrist and publicize it for them is a bit... much.

Unless they believe that putting an Apple Watch on Beyonce in gold is going to make younger girls and boys suddenly want one (which I counter with; they can't afford it), I don't see the point of it. Most news station has covered the Apple Watch in depth WITHOUT the literal prostitution of Apple Watch marketing.

I am one of the biggest Apple fan boys ever but this just screams pathetic, desperate and belittling to "commoners" in my opinion. I'm still getting one, but I was getting one from before. My partner, whom has no interest in anything Apple, and follows celebrity gossip/news like it's his job does not suddenly want an Apple Watch. He wants one after I dragged him into the Apple Store for a try-on appointment, not because some celebrity is advertising it.

At the end of the day though, who really gives a flying fart?
 
We're not the audience for the celebrity endorsements.

I 100% agree. Apple is targeting the fanbase of said celebrities. People look to these celebs for inspiration. People see them wearing one-of-a-kind Apple watches and lust for it. They will then think buying an apple watch puts them closer to looking like their idol. (Okay, pretty far fetched conclusions -i admit).

But I still agree we aren't the target for these product placements.

People who think Beyoncé is beautiful = Apple watch is
Frank ocean is hip and cool? So is the Apple watch

I like Apple products, so I buy Apple products. Haha.
 
Last edited:
And they are wearing variations not even sold to customers!

All gold link bracelet for Beyoncé and Karl Lagerfeld? Red Sports Bands in Milan? What's next? MacBook Pros with a solid gold keyboard only for will.i.am?

Why cry about it, can you afford a 25k watch?
 
Register on MacRumors! This sidebar will go away, and you'll see fewer ads.