Eight Questions with TomTom’s VP of Marketing, Anne Louise Hanstad (GPSmagazine.com)

TomTom

This week I had the opportunity to speak with TomTom VP of Marketing, Anne Louise Hanstad and ask her some of the most pressing questions I've received from GPS Magazine readers:

Fletch: Why did it take so long for TomTom to address the issues with the GO 910 mount? GPS Magazine began hearing users complain of broken mounts as soon as the 910 launched.
Anne Louise Hanstad: Actually it has only been a very small percentage of customers that have experienced issues with the mount. However, as soon as we began to hear there was an issue, we started working on an a corrected mount. We wanted to make sure that we addressed all the issues we were hearing about, to ensure that all the issues would be permanently solved with the new mount. Now that the new mount is ready, we’re offering a replacement mount to any customer that may have experienced a problem with the original mount. We want our customers to know that if there’s a problem, TomTom wants to hear about it, and will do the right thing to fix the issue.
Fletch: Are there any plans to use NAVTEQ in your devices in North America? The use of Tele Atlas was the only reason the TomTom ONE didn’t get the GPS Magazine Editor’s Choice award.
Anne Louise Hanstad: Map source data is something we care a great deal about. We fundamentally believe the quality of the [Tele Atlas] maps are good. Maps are always a sensitive issue; we use NAVTEQ maps in Rider, and we still hear complaints about mapping accuracy from those customers. I think the key question to ask here is what’s coming next from Tele Atlas. We are weeks away from their final integration with GDT. We expect that integration will produce an even better map quality experience than Tele Atlas’ competitors [NAVTEQ]. Before we make any decisions, we want to see what the GDT integration will bring.

Fletch: Regarding TomTom’s Distribution, how many “doors” did TomTom have last Christmas, and how many will you have this Christmas?
Anne Louise Hanstad: This is another success story for TomTom. We had 8,000 doors last year, including major big-box stores like Best Buy and Circuit City. This holiday season we’ll have 20,000 doors.

Fletch: The GPS market is really heating up. Is the competition based on price, or features?
Anne Louise Hanstad: You forgot the most important element: brand. The competition did not anticipate the impact of TomTom’s brand. Simplicity and ease of use are at the core of TomTom’s brand. The bottom line is if it’s complex, customers won’t adopt it. Our competitors’ products were not easy to use before TomTom entered this space.

Distribution is also key. For example, last year Lowrance launched the iWay 500C. It had a ton of features but went nowhere. For us, it’s not just about throwing a ton of features into a box. It must be simple to operate. TomTom has really led the market with the innovative 3D view, touchscreen operation, and ease of operation.

Price ultimately will become a driving factor when we expand the market beyond early adopters. Price is not the key driver yet, because these products are not yet commodities.

Fletch: Has Garmin’s response to TomTom been what you expected?
Anne Louise Hanstad: I think the key part of your question is “response”. Garmin has been reacting to TomTom, and not the reverse. Of course we’re always conscious of our competitors, but we don’t spend time looking over our shoulder and saying what do we need to do to be like our competitors. It’s actually the reverse! Garmin has followed TomTom in product design, marketing, and retail strategies.

Fletch: Who is the typical TomTom customer in North America?
Anne Louise Hanstad: European consumers are 12-18 months ahead of American consumers. That gap is largely an mapping issue. European maps were better sooner than North Amercian maps were.

TomTom is also a big part of why the European market matured more quickly than the US market. We really focused on the European consumer market first. Because the US market is 12-18 months behind Europe, the basic consumer principals apply. Up until very recently, the average GPS price point has been above the $500 mark. So right now the average GPS consumer tends to be a male customer with disposable income. The shape of that will change as price points change and we move into retail outlets like Wal-Mart. We know this from our European experience. Fundamentally, navigation is a universal need for all -- not just tech-oriented early adopters. We’re already seeing this with the TomTom ONE. The ONE will change the face of who’s buying navigation; it will bring it to the masses.

Fletch: What’s the best selling TomTom in the US right now?
Anne Louise Hanstad: The TomTom ONE is the best selling GPS right now. It’s the number 2 selling SKU in the U.S. (within 2-3 weeks of its initial launch with virtually no advertising).

Fletch: What’s the long term vision for TomTom?
Anne Louise Hanstad: What I can tell you is that we’re not going to just start putting features into a product simply because we can. Throwing in tons of features that add layers and layers of technology only serves to complicate the experience. We want features that compliment the navigation experience. For example, when TomTom implemented the MP3 playback feature, TomTom is the only device on the market that pauses the music when a navigation voice instruction is announced.

What you can expect from TomTom is features that improve the driver experience, but are still easy to use -- that is at the absolute heart of who we are. Sometimes that may mean implementing complicated technology. Text-to-speech, for example, is a complex technology. To the end-user, however, it appears seamless and enhances the navigation experience. In 2007 you’ll also see a broader range of price points from TomTom.

With the introduction of the GO 510 and 910, TomTom launched TomTom HOME. Another thing you can expect to see from TomTom in 2007 is a commitment to allowing customers to customize the navigation experience to suit their own preferences.

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September 27, 2006

Eight Questions with TomTom’s VP of Marketing, Anne Louise Hanstad

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