p10-11 Outdoor Garmin:SGBGolf_NEW_template 27/07/2009 14:14 Page 10
Garmin
Garmin
Synonymous with satellite navigation products across five fields, Garmin is
enjoying a higher profile than ever before thanks to great product and
smart marketing – not to mention good distributors.
SGB caught up with Lori Rosset from Garmin and Kevin Turner from
distributors SM Group to talk product and customer care…
M
arine, Outdoor, Fitness, Automotive, and Aviation – the five LR: It could be seen as a weakness, apart
fields Garmin enjoy great success in. Fitness has taken time from the fact that our R&D costs, our
to build because of the strength of competition, but in most research and development costs, because
areas, Garmin have been among the first (if not the first) to establish we take from the whole of the company,
sat-nav technology. They're a creative company, always innovating mean that we can invest a lot more into
and pushing the boundaries of what they do, and runners, hikers, research and development into a specific
seafarers, pilots and drivers love them. markets than a lot of other companies who
Their outdoor products are looking good, and we'll feature some in a only have one speciality to draw from.
future issue in more detail. For now, Lori Rosset talks to SGB about some
interesting product and the company's profile… SGB: If you're keen on doing things in-
house, including designing some great POS
SGB: The company's profile has been raised significantly at consumer level materials, why not distribute product
– how has that come about? yourselves?
Lori Rosset: The reason that our profile’s been raised is that we do it all LR: Our distributors, like SMG and
ourselves, for ourselves. So instead of having an agency that will perhaps go Madison, have their own specialities that
out there and place a product here, there and everywhere, everything is they’ve been working on for years, and
done within Garmin to have a specific strategy. So for example, our product their own relationships. And they’re bloody
manager for fitness, the same guy for outdoor, used to run in triathlons; he good at what they do. So why try and re-
absolutely loved them. So from that we now sponsor Hollie Avil, Alistair invent the wheel?
Brownlee and Tim Don. And the reason we do that is not only because We find that having distributors to help us in that way helps us learn,
they’re great for our brand, but because there’s a real empathy with what because they’re on the front line with the retailers. They see a lot of them
they do, because our product managers and it means the can feed back to us which is always useful.
understand what they need.
It takes a little bit of time when you’re SGB: What's exciting for Garmin now, product-wise? There's a lot of
bringing companies to your audience to crossover interests in your product, isn't there – from sports to outdoor, for
get it out there and to be completely example.
honest, the way we’ve done that is by LR: There's the Forerunner 310XT. This is Garmin’s first ever triathlete
letting people try our products. So a watch, and we're very excited about it. The whole point of this is that it’s
lot of the media coverage has been waterproof. You can use it to time your laps while you’re swimming, as
through us sending products to Hollie’s doing. It’s shockproof, so you can use it on your bike and through
journalists and letting them try them running. It’s also got what’s called a virtual partner which I think you may
out, and get the word out. have on your 205 that helps you to keep your current pace and time. It’s
compatible with our cadence and speed sensor, and it’s also got transition
SGB: If you've got faith in your product, periods. So if you’re training for a triathlon, you need to make sure that
that's the way to do it. your transition periods don’t go over a certain time, so you can set up your
LR: Absolutely. The other unique thing about whole workout for the triathlon. The RRP on that is £299.99.
Garmin is we are the only company in the world who operates across such There's also the Forerunner 405CX, which is basically the same as our
large markets. So instead of like say just being a running company, we are Forerunner 405 model in terms of the fact that it’s controlled by a touch
across many markets, which means that we can take bits of engineering bezel around the edge of the watch. It’s also got a virtual partner, you can
from different parts. So for example, everybody knows in-car sat-nav touch great your own courses, your own workouts, set your own distances and
screen, we’ve taken that technology over and now our marine products are paces etc to do all that kind of thing. But the main thing with this one is
touch screen as well. that its calorie algorithm is devised by your heart rate, so it is incredibly
accurate.
SGB: Could working across five markets also be seen as a weakness? Some
of your competitors specialise in their markets. www.garmin.co.uk
10 SGB OUTDOOR JULY 2009
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