Less is now a lot: PR in the age of Apple Watch
Gaurav Bhatnagar
Public Relations; Corporate Communications; Technology; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Gen AI; B2B; Social Media; Digital Media; UAE; Saudi Arabia; Middle East; Africa; Turkey
9 years ago, Twitter arrived and we wondered if 140 characters would ever be enough to communicate. It is 2015 and now nearly 9000 tweets go live every second. News updates constitute nearly 4 per cent of this enormous statistic and media houses around the world now generate attention grabbing ‘micro content’ that is aimed at instantly gratifying our snack like appetite for news.
But just when we thought that it couldn’t get any more micro, we have wearable devices like the Apple Watch ready to bring us news in an even shorter format. ‘Glance’ is the name of a feature that will allow Apple Watch wearers catch up quickly with only one-sentence stories crafted specially for the small screen. Yes..one-sentence stories like the one below.
With millions of Apple Watches on order from around the world, prominent news organizations like the New York Times and CNN have already developed their respective apps for Apple Watch that are now available for download. This is not a fad and the news industry is calling it ‘Glance Journalism’.
While modern day PR outreach is already attuned to the nuances of social media engagement, some adjustments would need to be made in order to convey your message through this new tool. Here are a few thoughts.
Less is also a lot now: 140 characters look great on your smartphone, but that will not be the case for a 38 mm smart watch. With this new tool, it would be imperative to create bite-sized news for consumers.
Only awesome headline will win: With only a few seconds of attention grabbing opportunity, the headline will hold the key to success. This was true for the long form press release as well for the tweets, but now a lot more is riding on the quality of the headline. Ask yourself if the headline is seductive enough to capture the attention of that glance?
Frequency: Apple Watch is said to alert its wearer about an update with a buzz. While regular tweets appearing on your smartphone is acceptable, frequent buzzing of the watch on your wrist will be a cause for irritation. Challenge now will be to achieve desired levels of engagement with minimum interruption.
Apple Watch has started selling in select countries starting today and while it is still early days to say with authority how consumers will actually consume news and information using the Watch, there is little doubt that a new form of storytelling has indeed arrived.
Managing Director at The Buzz Factory PR
9 年I've used a smartwatch for a while. I switched most of the alerts off. They were driving me mad! I think people will use different devices to consume different types of information. I have a tablet I use exclusively for online magazines and kindle - no social media. My laptop and smartphone are useful for more long form content and emails. The smartwatch lets me discreetly know who is phoning me first and foremost. It will be interesting to see how much real influence smartwatch content will encourage.
Public Relations; Corporate Communications; Technology; Cloud Computing; Artificial Intelligence; Gen AI; B2B; Social Media; Digital Media; UAE; Saudi Arabia; Middle East; Africa; Turkey
9 年These are indeed exciting times for the industry Sarita Bahl..impact of technology is evident across all aspects of communications.
Independent Board Director I ESG & CSR I Corporate Governance I Agriculture & Healthcare Expertise I Stakeholder Advocacy I Storyteller I Podcaster I Brand Management I ICF - PCC Coach I EMCC Sr Practitioner & Mentor
9 年Traditional PR is already under assault - only those who have integrated digital and social media strategies that combine to enhance media out reach continue to grow. Storytelling became big and continues to be the buzz word. And now comes "Glance" PR! Gaurav Bhatnagar storytelling takes a new form! Interesting and challenging don't you think so?