When launched back in February 2015, the campaign managed to raise an astounding $20 million from nearly 80,000 backers, turning the product an instant success. Shipped since May, the company managed to fulfill their promise and is now ready for the next step.
Unsurprisingly, people can buy Pebble Time and Pebble Time Steel for a lower price than that offered in Kickstarter: $99 for the former and $149 for the latter.
The watch is the same as offered in the crowdfunding campaign. The battery lasts up to 7 days, according to Pebble themselves. One of the reasons is the e-paper color screen, which consumes less power than alternatives, and is present in both forms.
Their reward strategy is pretty straightforward. They have a very appealing product so they chose to make a pitch for their public only. Every reward was just about the watch and some variations including extras and distributors packages. No distractions here.
They even claim on their website that they just made a watch, they were not trying to revert climate change or anything. If a user wants to do something about, they offer a link to Greenpeace.
That strategy reveals a new trend in 2015: pre sales crowdfunding focused in the product only. A simple reward strategy that includes only the product certainly doesn’t appeal to all audiences, but can be very effective if you reach out to the right public.
On the plus side, if you decide to launch your campaign that way, you won’t incur into any extra costs manufacturing perks like shirts or getting involved in time consuming activities to meet some of your best sponsors. Also, you can appeal to those people who want a cool gadget only and would turn their nose if you say your product will make the world better in some way.
The downside is that you’ll have less shares from conscious people and will miss the opportunity to meet some people who might help you in your next endeavors. But Pebble Watch is the proof that if you have a great product, you can ignore those people while turning this shrugging into a credible sales pitch.