Garmin all over the world

There was a word that seem to follow me yesterday - wherever I went. A brand that few had heard of a few years ago, but now seems to be everywhere.

Garmin. Chances are you have recently come across the name. You might be one of the hundreds of thousands of new satnav owners, a market in which Garmin competes with the likes of TomTom for market leadership.

I was staring at my Garmin for quite a while yesterday, navigating some unfamiliar roads. As luck would have it, I had entered the wrong postcode into the satnav, so my Garmin was directing me to the wrong place - albeit correctly.

Then it was time for a long run as part of my marathon preparation. On with the ipod, lycra shorts and the Garmin Forerunner - a satnav device which tracks your every step. I ran for 80 minutes, stopped the satnav and then downloaded the map of my run and all the 1km split times. There is no hiding place when the world’s satellites are tracking exactly where you go.

Exhausted, I settled down in front of a particularly dull FA Cup game between Sheffield United and Middlesbrough. I should have known better of course. But there on the Middlesbrough was thr name of the club sponsor - Garmin.

A quick visit to the Garmin UK website is an interesting one from a business studies perspective. Garmin is a great example of how it has developed a product portfolio servicing different consumer and business markets - all based around essentially the same satnav technology.

There is some really good stuff in here about Garmin’s business aims.

Garmin - a really good example of how product innovation and good design can lead to business success. One to watch.