There are many fitness trackers to choose from out there. I've been a loyal and outspoken advocate for Garmin as a great fitness tracker for years now. I've had three different watches from them so far, the Vivosmart HR, Vivoactive HR, and currently have the Forerunner 945. Every new watch I've gotten has blown me away with an advancement of technology, accuracy, and durability.
I originally opted for a Garmin watch instead of a Fitbit because at the time (2016) most activity trackers weren't waterproof (except for swimming specific ones), and only rated for splash resistance like rain and sweat, but couldn't be used in water. I surf on occasion and the fact Garmin had a water rating of 5 ATM which was enough for swimming and the pressures that come with getting crushed by the occasional wave.
I was originally interested in this brand because they had a well known reputation for quality devices that were built for a mission and did them well. My dad especially liked them for their car and marine GPS devices and that word of mouth was likely the reason I looked into them at all.
The company's value proposition is pretty clearly stated in their mission statement on their "About Us" page, "To be an enduring company by creating superior products for automotive, aviation, marine, outdoor, and sports that are an essential part of our customers' lives." They have a variety of activities they make devices for which helps them stay competitive, for example when car GPS got taken over by phone GPS apps they had other markets to focus on instead, but they don't spread themselves too thin into obscure markets. Their quality for the price point is likely the best talking point. They are an enduring brand and the word of mouth and person to person discussion about it (like with my dad and I) is an important part of their advertising.
The long battery life on their devices is something that is a big selling point and one of the most talked about features on social media. HunterFrench23 mentioned the long battery life and overall considered the watch better than the Apple Watch which is a huge competitor in the fitness watch market. This user is in a similar boat as me, impressed by the watch after getting it. To have a device that delivers better than consumer expects is a great way to earn outspoken customers.
This tweet also highlights the biggest marketing issue facing Garmin, which is differentiating themselves from other fitness trackers. Back in 2003 they were the first GPS watch on the market, and they continue to have superior technology in battery life and GPS, though they are lagging behind on a few aspects like O2 sensors and sleep sensing. As other companies catch up they no longer have the advantage of being the only company with the technology so they're working on finding new ways to make themselves better and appeal to more folks.
There are watch models that are more specific to different types of exercises, for example the Forerunner is made with running in mind, though has multisport capability. The newest Forerunner model, the 965 is being marketing on social media as a triathlon watch. Some folks are skeptical about the battery life, like lesleywilson12 on Twitter. The folks at Garmin responded with specifics about the battery life depending on if the user was using the watch music capability or not and other variables. I think it was a good move for them to respond even though lesleywilson12 could have just looked up the battery life details on their website. Being able to claim a long enough battery life to last through a triathlon is a big selling point and helps them expand into the more extreme fitness arenas while staying at a more budget-friendly price point.
On the flipside, there are some glitches that are frustrating for people, for example CJ dealt with poor satellite tracking causing a very wild and inaccurate GPS tracking of their route. Additionally, there's no way to fix the data after the fact either. This limits users to having to trust the technology and if it doesn't work as expected it's difficult to accurately track an activity. Garmin did respond with an apology and asking CJ to contact their team to innovators so they could work on it. I like how Garmin responded, not saying they would fix it, but empathized and indicated they had a team that used data like CJ's to work on improvements for everyone.
Users also complain about not having enough fitness type options, for example Al Fin who would like an inline skate option for their watch. Garmin replied to this complaint promptly and with a link to suggest the option to Garmin. I noticed that pretty much all comments directed towards them with suggestions for activities or features they don't have were responded to quickly.
Garmin uses storytelling the most for selling their products. For example a tweet from 7/14/23 was titled "There’s beauty in training brilliantly. Enjoy the ride and chase the light." with an active and artistic clip of a man working out with the sun at various points in the background in a city. It reminds me of the idea of selling "why we do it, not what we do". The video appeals to those who feel like they enjoy training, they take it seriously but also find a romantic nature to it. The video barely even shows the watch the athlete is wearing, and says nothing about the product, but it appeals to the viewer emotionally, saying, "hey we know what you're looking for."
The company is trying to appeal to what customers want from their watches, both by engaging with customers when they suggest ideas, having a wide range of watches from inexpensive every day watches to specialized expensive ones with TOPO mapping or water ratings good enough for diving. They use storytelling well to appeal to the reason why folks exercise and train rather than just telling us about how cool their watches are.
One aspect of their marketing plan that unfortunately is a drawback of selling to folks based on "why we do it, not what we do" is that Garmin has a lot of watches, and vague pretty videos draw the customer in, but their marketing doesn't discuss much about the different aspects of the watches. There are videos about the most recent Forerunner watch which is their flagship model, and video about a cute small fashion activity watch model Lily, but when you go to their website they have 97 current models! That's way too many to choose from and only the "current" models.
Having too many options without easy ways to differentiate the differences can lead to choice overload, which could hurt their business more than help it. There's a "compare" option online where you can compare up to four devices at a time, and you can filter them by activity or "series" but the series often overlap, and many devices will have for example a swimming option but not be ideal for swimming if that's something you want to do a lot of.
I think their advertising method of appealing to why folks exercise and train is really good and helps build an emotionally invested customer base, however if I were the marketing manager I would use social media to advise different groups of folks on what series of watches would be best for them using the readily available data from how people engage with their posts.
Garmin is advertising to folks who want some solid and particular features and are willing to drop several hundred to a thousand dollars on a watch. I think it's reason to assume they're going to want to know about particular features, so make it easy for folks and use social media to play up features folks are looking for. They should use their advantage of having superior GPS and battery compared to other watches as a selling point and not be afraid to talk about it.
One fun thing I learned from this was that Garmin was the first ones with a GPS running watch. Look at this adorable retro watch!
Also I learned that there's a new Forerunner model out... which I didn't know and might need to find a reason to buy. It's so pretty!
Most importantly learning about Garmin and reading social media comments from customers really drove home how important word of mouth is. Garmin is trying to compete in a very dense market for activity trackers, but a loyal and in some cases like mine, multigenerational customer base who value technology that overdelivers on its promises, is a priceless asset.
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