Observations from the company that defines innovation

1. CORTHOUGHTS
Apple Live - 2014
Observations from the brand that defines innovation
By Philip Storer
Yesterday, Apple announced the Apple
Watch, a product that may be the most
disruptive healthcare technology to
date. The Apple Watch will not be
available until early 2015, to the
disappointment of technophiles and
fanboys everywhere. Apple has,
however, provided those of us who are
both fanboys and digital marketers
with another example of some of the
world’s most brilliant advertising.
Below are three things we have
learned from yesterday’s Apple event.
Even the world’s greatest brands
need to be refreshed. The Apple
Watch has moved away from Apple’s
iconic iProduct brand family. Apple had
signaled that the iProduct may be in
the end of its life cycle when it
released the Apple TV. For products
that depend on a brand identity that
communicates a commitment to being
on the cutting edge of science and
technology, it is imperative that those
brands continue to evolve to avoid
being perceived as relying on past
successes to define future results.
The wallet is an endangered
species. The announcement of Apple
Pay has the potential to be the most
game-changing announcement from
yesterday’s Apple event. The wallet
has been in the process of
consolidation for years ever since
Seinfeld prophetically signaled that the
ubiquitous male accessory was in
major need of disruption. In fact,
Google used the Seinfeld bit to
announce the release of its new
product, the Google Wallet (you can
INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE? PLEASE CONTACT PHILIP STORER - Phil.Storer@navicorgroup.com
Apple has
provided those
of us who are
both fanboys
and digital
marketers with
another
example of
some of the
world’s most
brilliant
advertising.
September 2014

2. Apple Live - 2014
Observations from the brand that defines innovation
By Philip Storer
watch the commercial here: http://
bit.ly/1p6ZxVG). In pharma
marketing, we use the wallet as a
marketing channel for things such as
co-pay cards. With the
announcement of Apple Pay, the
metaphor of the card is moving to the
smartphone. The market is now ripe
for applications that allow patients to
carry insurance and co-pay cards in
their front pocket and not the back.
Just because we can doesn’t mean
we should. From a business
standpoint, the single most
interesting thing about Apple’s Pay
announcement is that Apple is
making a big deal about a technology
that is more than 20 years old. Apple
Pay utilizes a technology called near
field communication or NFC for short.
Near field communication was being
utilized by Sony and Philips as far
back as 2002. Not only that but Apple
is more than a year behind Google’s
use of the technology for Google
Wallet. So, why wait? Apple, a brand
that practically defines innovation,
only embraced the technology once
there was a clear and demonstrable
ROI. Apple’s spike in stock value
today is a reflection of this patience. It
is likely that Apple waited to strike a
deal with the credit card companies
to take a fraction of every transaction
that will be made with the iPhone. At
Navicor, we never recommend that
you engage in digital for its own sake.
A channel strategy that includes
digital should never embrace
technology just because it is new.
To see the full event as it happened
yesterday see the following link:
http://www.apple.com/live/2014-sept-event/
INTERESTED IN LEARNING MORE? PLEASE CONTACT PHILIP STORER - Phil.Storer@navicorgroup.com
September 2014
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Phil began his career as a front-end HTML/CSS developer.
Since making the switch to strategy, Phil has drawn on his
technical background to lead digital projects for a diverse set
of clients. He brings over 10 years of digital marketing
experience to The Navicor Group.