Apple sunk $38M on Apple Watch TV ads since March, report says

Posted:
in Apple Watch edited April 2015
Apple is campaigning hard to trot Apple Watch in front of potential buyers, with a report on Thursday estimating the company has spent some $38 million on television ads alone.




Launching a completely new device platform is difficult even for the world's largest company, but Apple is applying its vast resources to buy maximum exposure in hopes of acquainting customers with Watch. According to recent estimates from research firm iSpot.tv, cited by Reuters, since the March 9 "Spring Forward" event, Apple has spent $38 million on its "Watch Reimagined" TV campaign.

By comparison, Apple put in $42 million over the trailing five months on commercials touting iPhone 6 and 6 Plus hardware.

Looking at the slots Apple bought offers insight into the demographics it's targeting for Apple Watch early adopters. The report said that Apple's commercial has aired more than 300 times, almost half of which showed up in primetime blocking. Examples include AMC's "The Walking Dead," NBC's "The Voice" and the NCAA basketball championship tournament Apple recently ramped up advertising for Monday's championship game between Duke and Wisconsin, ensuring a good swath of younger consumers got eyes-on time.





In addition to paid ads, Apple is conducting a guerrilla campaign in partnership with high-profile celebrities who show off Watch via social media and public gatherings. These "in the wild" spottings drum up interest in Watch, but position the product as a lust object. Just this week Pharrell Williams was seen wearing what appeared to be a rose gold Apple Watch Edition on "The Voice," later posting a short video to Instagram showing off his Watch's Mickey Mouse watch face.

Apple's own executives are also getting in on the action, as CEO Tim Cook sported a Watch when he showed up to support his alma mater Duke at the aforementioned NCAA championship. Prior to that, SVP of Internet Software and Services Eddy Cue explained Apple Watch's Apple Pay capabilities at a Golden State Warriors basketball game last month.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 27
    It will be interesting to see how apple's advertising compares to samsungs s6... Those adds seem everywhere.
  • Reply 2 of 27
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    0.02% of Apple's cash. 0.015% of Apple's revenue.
  • Reply 3 of 27
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member

    Absolutely impossible to know what the real figures are unless one is actually in charge of the advertising budget at Apple, but they're also getting plenty of "free" advertising from the usual sources, such as news organizations, magazines, bloggers, etc. The amount spend on advertising isn't important at this stage considering the coverage.

  • Reply 4 of 27
    beefjr1beefjr1 Posts: 1member
    I wonder how much they spent on this one:


    [VIDEO]
  • Reply 5 of 27
    Samsung spent $243 Million during the same time on advertising their lineup.
  • Reply 6 of 27

    It'd be nice to see some comparisons with this, and the ad budgets for the iPhone launch and iPad launch.

     

    Oldest iPhone figure I can find is 2008, and Apple spent $97.5 million on iPhone advertising. 2010 was $346.6 million, that's for iPad and iPhone combined.

     

    In 2007 Apple spent $467 million total for advertising ALL their products.

  • Reply 7 of 27
    SpamSandwichSpamSandwich Posts: 33,407member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by TheWhiteFalcon View Post

     

    It'd be nice to see some comparisons with this, and the ad budgets for the iPhone launch and iPad launch.

     

    Oldest iPhone figure I can find is 2008, and Apple spent $97.5 million on iPhone advertising. 2010 was $346.6 million, that's for iPad and iPhone combined.

     

    In 2007 Apple spent $467 million total for advertising ALL their products.




    If the sales are there, the money spent is completely worth it.

  • Reply 8 of 27
    "No doubt it's a sign of desperation. The fate of this Watch will determine if Tim Cook can go it alone without the training wheels, or if Apple's best days are behind it." /s
  • Reply 9 of 27
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    Samsung spent $243 Million during the same time on advertising their lineup.

    Source?
  • Reply 10 of 27
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    Here's video of the ?Watch mobile demo display. Pretty cool.



    And according to a thread on MacRumors the Sydney store at least is allowing you to try on different combinations than the preset models but the space black SS model is only sold with the link bracelet.
  • Reply 11 of 27
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    It will be interesting to see how apple's advertising compares to samsungs s6... Those adds seem everywhere.

    Oh wow I haven't seen one of those yet.
  • Reply 12 of 27
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Rogifan View Post





    Oh wow I haven't seen one of those yet.



    They've been everywhere on AI. <img class=" src="http://forums-files.appleinsider.com/images/smilies//lol.gif" />

     

    I've seen some in Flipboard as well.

  • Reply 13 of 27
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member

    They've been everywhere on AI. :lol:

    I've seen some in Flipboard as well.

    Oh I guess I was thinking of TV. Yeah I've seen them all over the www. :rolleyes:
  • Reply 14 of 27
    hentaiboyhentaiboy Posts: 1,252member
  • Reply 15 of 27
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:

    Originally Posted by Suddenly Newton View Post



    "No doubt it's a sign of desperation. The fate of this Watch will determine if Tim Cook can go it alone without the training wheels, or if Apple's best days are behind it." /s

     

    For a second there, I thought BF was unbanned. 

     

    To hum and people like him, anything that Apple does or doesn't do relating to the Watch is a sign of desperation and the fact that they already know it will be an epic failure- whether it's spending money, or not spending money. 

  • Reply 16 of 27
    slurpyslurpy Posts: 5,382member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by hentaiboy View Post

     

    Nice unbiased review

    http://www.theverge.com/a/apple-watch-review


     

    So, what exactly makes that review "unbiased"? What the **** does that even mean? Every review by definition is subjective. Or are you saying it's unbiased because it just so happens to be one of the most negative reviews out there? How convenient. 

     

    Oh, nevermind. Just checked your shitty, one-note Apple Watch bashing posting history. Too damned predictable. 

     

    Quote:

     What's the point of buying a f***g Apple Watch then?


     

    Quote:

     Sure I do. It would take the kid around 1.5 hours of polishing to earn enough money to buy a Big Mac. While the average American worker could earn one in 12 minutes...


     

    Quote:

     Five Awesome Watches You Should Buy Instead Of The $10,000 Apple Watch Edition




    Quote:

     "Hand polished" by a kid at Foxconn earning $2 per hour. Ah that explains the price difference then.




    Quote:

     Here's an automotive analogy for you Apple Watch fanboys predicting the death of the mechanical watch. If money were no object would you prefer to own this or this?




    Quote:

     You people are deluding yourselves if you think that the Apple Watch will still be relevant in 20 years' time. Remember mobile phones 20 years ago?




    Quote:

     I wonder what the melt value will be when Apple Watch 2 is released in 2016?


     

    What a gem you are. You should tell us again how much you hate the (unreleased) Apple Watch. You know, just in case someone on this forum missed your last 67,028 times. 

  • Reply 17 of 27
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    slurpy wrote: »
    So, what exactly makes that review "unbiased"? What the **** does that even mean? Every review by definition is subjective. Or are you saying it's unbiased because it just so happens to be one of the most negative reviews out there? How convenient. 

    I know. Since when did unbiased mean highly critical and very negative? :rolleyes:
  • Reply 18 of 27
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    rogifan wrote: »
    Here's video of the ?Watch mobile demo display. Pretty cool.



    And according to a thread on MacRumors the Sydney store at least is allowing you to try on different combinations than the preset models but the space black SS model is only sold with the link bracelet.

    Nice. Must be a 'consumerized' version of the same software or setup they use in their keynotes.
  • Reply 19 of 27
    rogifanrogifan Posts: 10,669member
    An Aussie poster on MacRumors who tried on the watch said the quality was very good and the milanese loop was the most comfortable band he's ever worn (Ben Bajarin said the same thing). This is the same band Nilay Patel said looked "ridiculous". Just shows you what a douchbag he is.
  • Reply 20 of 27
    anantksundaramanantksundaram Posts: 20,403member
    slurpy wrote: »
    hentaiboy wrote: »

    So, what exactly makes that review "unbiased"? What the **** does that even mean? Every review by definition is subjective. Or are you saying it's unbiased because it just so happens to be one of the most negative reviews out there? How convenient. 

    Oh, nevermind. Just checked your shitty, one-note Apple Watch bashing posting history. Too damned predictable. 
     What's the point of buying a f***g Apple Watch then?
     Sure I do. It would take the kid around 1.5 hours of polishing to earn enough money to buy a Big Mac. While the average American worker could earn one in 12 minutes...
     Five Awesome Watches You Should Buy Instead Of The $10,000 Apple Watch Edition
     "Hand polished" by a kid at Foxconn earning $2 per hour. Ah that explains the price difference then.
     Here's an automotive analogy for you Apple Watch fanboys predicting the death of the mechanical watch. If money were no object would you prefer to own this or this?
     You people are deluding yourselves if you think that the Apple Watch will still be relevant in 20 years' time. Remember mobile phones 20 years ago?
     I wonder what the melt value will be when Apple Watch 2 is released in 2016?

    What a gem you are. You should tell us again how much you hate the (unreleased) Apple Watch. You know, just in case someone on this forum missed your last 67,028 times. 

    rogifan wrote: »
    slurpy wrote: »
    So, what exactly makes that review "unbiased"? What the **** does that even mean? Every review by definition is subjective. Or are you saying it's unbiased because it just so happens to be one of the most negative reviews out there? How convenient. 

    I know. Since when did unbiased mean highly critical and very negative? :rolleyes:

    There's something about every new product introduction by Apple that brings out the worst of the worst. I've come to the conclusion that these people are a bunch of losers who have a hard time dealing with someone else's success. It's as though someone else doing well diminishes them. It happened with the iMac, then the iPod, then the iPhone, then the iPad, and now the AppleWatch. Pathetic.

    But we know what the outcome will be, a couple of years from now.
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