Apple Watch was recently launched with the customary glitz, glamour and expectation we have come to expect from Apple launches in recent years.

The biggest opportunity for marketers will be in the apps launching on the new Apple Watch. But will the Apple Watch be a game changer for marketers the way iPad and iPhone was? Will it allow companies to connect with their customers and their own people in a way they have never had before?

And of course we've been asking ourselves for some time now, how will this change testing - how you will test new, connected wearable apps?

We're all getting to be secret agents

I can't help but love James Bond. Now I'm one step closer to being like him. Apple Watch is promising us a whole new experience that we haven't seen yet - keeping connected through a device on our wrist. We saw the names who are already on board, Uber, Instagram, etc. and we're about to get a seriously new experience, one that brings out our inner 007.

Apple Watch is an example of what Apple does best - it's the creation of something that goes beyond an object of desire and straight on to an object of necessity. It quickly becomes an extension of you, another piece of your personal puzzle.

The opportunities for marketers

It has been reported that BMW and Facebook have already produced apps for the Apple Watch. Certainly, the opportunities are endless for brands looking to create a new touchpoint with consumers.

One of the big opportunities for brands on smartwatches is likely to be notifications, but the killer application that can drive mass adoption is yet to be built.

Smartwatches enable users to take immediate action, eliminating the need to pull out a smartphone, enter a passcode and open an app. Interactive buttons on the watch enable immediate customer interaction not possible with other devices and beacons will be able to interact with watch wearers at retail locations.

While smartwatch notifications offer the benefit of being interactive, savvy marketers will need to make sure they create succinct, contextual experiences to guide users as the visual real estate is smaller than other devices.

The unique features of the Watch are a treasure trove for developers to explore and make more meaningful, personal connections with Apple Watch users.

Apple Watch is also increasing the relevancy of sensor-based apps. Starwood is planning to let you open your hotel room door with the watch, and I believe this is only the beginning. With innovation around sensor technology, here I think we're going to see functionality arise that we don't even know about yet.

Mass adoption of the Apple Watch will be particularly interesting for advertisers as it is the most personal device ever and as Tim Cook said “it’s not with you, it’s on you.” There will be opportunities for huge amounts of data to be captured, and to target customers with contextually relevant messages. However, Apple Watch should not been seen as just another ad platform.

Quality gets complicated

Quality is always complicated. Quality in mobile is even worse - most people are still solving this challenge despite many years of app development.

In fact, the reality for current app quality is that far too often apps are released with defects. This leaves consumers as the first line of quality assurance. Indeed, when we surveyed the industry last year, almost half of mobile application issues are identified by users.

Bringing wearables, like Apple Watch into the mix only complicates this situation even more.

The Apple Watch demos clearly showed that content has to be reimagined for the device – repurposed experiences from desktop and iPhone or iPad won’t work. This brings with it a whole new set of mobile app testing challenges. Just like with mobile devices, each wearable device and app needs UI testing to ensure the app renders correctly.

Take-off?

With smartwatch adoption still on the low side, many marketers are taking a wait-and-see approach. However, with the introduction of the Apple Watch, adoption is likely to begin to take off.

The biggest challenge for companies who want to develop for wearables is going to be defining a business case. Uber, Starwood and Instagram are on it, but the rest of companies need to evaluate how to find value in developing apps for wearables. Brands that are already signed up to have apps on the watch have an advantage to the early adopters and will be able to work out any of the testing errors before it becomes mainstream.

My prediction? It's going to take a while. The real business value of apps working on smart watches and wearables won't come until the beginning of 2016, as a second wave of wearable apps rolls through. And even though this is a bit delayed from the initial market launch, it still wouldn't happen without the release of Apple Watch.

Now we're really, really paying attention to wearables!

 

By Eran Kinsbruner, Technical Evangelist at Perfecto Mobile. 

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