Apple is continuing to promote the Apple Watch as a personal health tool. We already know that the heart rate monitor on the wearable has saved several lives by notifying the user when his or her heart rate is at a pace that could be indicative of a major health issue. The latest Apple Watch, the series 6 model, is equipped with a pulse oximeter to measure how saturated a person’s blood is with oxygen. This reading tells the doctors whether enough oxygen is getting pumped throughout the user’s body.
Starting with the Series 4 version of the wearable, Apple added an electrocardiogram (ECG) which monitors the wearer’s heart rhythm and sends out an alert when something is not right. The goal is to provide the Apple Watch owner with an early warning that he or she might have AFib or Atrial Fibrillation. The latter can lead to blood clots and strokes which makes it a serious condition.
Today, Apple started a new television ad campaign for the Apple Watch with three spots. One is about the native sleep tracking feature that is available on the Apple Watch. Another ad discusses the water resistance of the timepiece, and the third spot explains how the ECG on the device works. All three use the identical tagline, “The future of health is on your wrist,” and all three will take up 30 seconds when you see them on television.
The upcoming Series 7 Apple Watch was originally rumored to include a huge health tool for diabetics, a non-invasive glucometer. Apple reportedly worked on this for years. Insulin dependent diabetics need to give themselves a painful and expensive blood test several times a day to see what their blood glucose reading is. This is done so that the diabetic can inject him or herself with the proper amount of insulin. This is an intensive process that starts with the diabetic pricking himself with a sharp needle called a lancet and drawing blood to put on an expensive test strip. The test strip is placed inside a machine called a glucometer which computes the diabetic’s blood sugar rating. Apple was hoping to offer a non-invasive version of the test on the next version of the Apple Watch, but it now appears as though such a feature might have to wait until at least next year with the Series 8 watch.
The first ad called Sleep shows an Apple Watch wearer ready to hit the sack. She points out that the native Sleep app helps her establish a bedtime routine by silencing her phone, and setting the mood. She notes that even when she’s sleeping, the device is monitoring her heart rate, measuring her blood oxygen level to track how well she’s been sleeping. Getting a good night’s sleep in important to one’s health.
The next ad is called Workout and starts by showing a woman standing in a swimming pool discussing how the Workout app tracks all of her exercisess. All of a sudden, we see fish in the background telling us that the swimmer is now in the ocean. Showing off her timepiece, she says that it tracks the number of laps she has done and the number of calories burned “even in open water.” As the camera moves back we see that our Apple Watch wearer has indeed been swimming in the ocean. And here is an important piece of information for you to know. In the small print at the end of the ad, it says that the Apple Watch is water resistant to 50 meters (164.04 feet). So if swimming is one of your favorite physical activities, the Apple Watch is there to track you even in the water.
The last 30-second spot is titled ECG and an Apple Watch owner is explaining that with the Apple Watch, he doesn’t need to get an appointment to have an ECG. In fact, he notes that he doesn’t even have to move a muscle. Whether he’s at the movie theater or sitting on the beach, if he wants to take an ECG, he will take an ECG using his Apple Watch.
Apple is looking to make the company one focused on the health of its customers in addition to supplying the tech products they want and need. We should see the Apple Watch Series 7 unveiled this upcoming September.
