Situation
Availability of free navigation on smart phones negatively impacted sales of dedicated GPS devices.
Just a couple years back, GPS devices were the hottest category in consumer electronics, but consumers quickly began spending their money on smart phones with $30 data plans that offered free navigation. They no longer saw the need for a dedicated navigation device, and category sales began to decline. TomTom needed to get consumers to think differently.
Fortunately, there were reasons why consumers might still want a dedicated TomTom GPS device. TomTom provided the best maps covering more roads than smart phones and competitive devices. They also had a larger screen with a dedicated mount making it much safer to use in a car than fumbling with a smart phone. Finally, TomTom had HD Traffic, the only true solution for getting you out of traffic – a revolutionary technology that uses a cellular connection to detect road delays in real-time to reroute you before you are stuck going no where.
Fortunately, there were good reasons to buy a TomTom GPS device including better maps; large, mounted screen; and new HD Traffic.
Action
After recognizing these facts, we did three things. First, we repositioned the brand as the best navigation solution for driving – better than smartphones, because of the aforementioned reasons. Based on this new positioning, we then developed a new, fully-integrated campaign to communicate the brand’s superiority; the tagline said it perfectly: “Anything Less is Just GPS.” Finally, as part of the campaign, we launched HD Traffic – a challenge in itself since many competitive GPS devices already offered “traffic solutions” that just didn’t work.
The campaign utilized
- Digital ads with rich media and radio to engage with TomTom’s target, drivers who hate getting stuck in traffic,
- an Animated video we developed to visually illustrate what HD Traffic did and how it worked,
- Interactive, in-store and online point-of-sale communication that showed why consumers may still want a dedicated TomTom GPS device,
- Premium packaging to launch GO LIVE, the new GPS devices with a live connection that enabled HD Traffic and other apps for travel,
- Facebook promotions to grow the fan base and enable TomTom users to share their passion for the brand with each other, and
- Emails to TomTom’s known userbase to encourage trade-up.
Online
Animated Video
HD Traffic Messaging for Point of Sale and Online
HD Traffic Point of Sale – Interactive Display and Violator
GO LIVE Packaging
Promotion on Facebook
Result
Not only did the campaign enable TomTom to stay relevant during a tumultuous time, but it actually grew brand share (good for TomTom) while it minimized Category declines (good for retailers)! Moreover, we established a new segment of connected GPS devices that enabled real-time data sharing which significantly improved the functionality of the dedicated GPS device, as well as propelled TomTom to being a technologically advanced innovator in the category in the minds of consumers and retailers alike.