TomTom 2005 Annual Report Download - page 18

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Our฀sales฀and฀marketing฀activities฀are฀currently฀focused฀
on฀the฀countries฀where฀we฀believe฀there฀is฀a฀significant฀
commercial฀opportunity฀and฀for฀which฀reliable฀and฀
high-quality฀map฀data฀is฀available.฀
In฀the฀United฀States,฀we฀increased฀our฀brand฀awareness฀
via฀a฀major฀TV,฀radio฀and฀print฀marketing฀campaign฀and฀
this฀helped฀to฀significantly฀grow฀our฀sales฀and฀market฀
share.฀We฀are฀currently฀developing฀our฀software฀for฀the฀
Asian฀market฀and฀we฀are฀looking฀for฀appropriate฀
opportunities฀to฀enter฀this฀market.฀
We฀are฀investing฀significant฀resources฀in฀building฀an฀
attractive,฀international฀brand฀and฀brand฀experience.฀
Brand฀plays฀a฀key฀role฀in฀emerging฀categories฀like฀
personal฀navigation฀as฀it฀reassures฀consumers฀that฀they฀
are฀spending฀their฀money฀wisely.฀For฀most฀consumers฀
the฀purchase฀of฀a฀TomTom฀product฀will฀be฀their฀first฀ever฀
personal฀navigation฀solution.฀We฀have฀aligned฀our฀brand฀
experience:฀the฀design฀of฀the฀packaging,฀the฀product฀
user฀experience,฀the฀in-store฀information,฀the฀website฀
(www.tomtom.com)฀and฀our฀advertising.฀Our฀brand฀
values฀are฀about฀being฀smart,฀simple-not-simplistic,฀
accessible,฀modern฀and฀attractive.
Distribution
The฀vast฀majority฀of฀our฀sales฀are฀made฀through฀retail฀
channels,฀and฀we฀place฀great฀emphasis฀on฀our฀
relationships฀with฀our฀retailers.฀They฀are฀the฀key฀point฀of฀
sale฀for฀our฀products,฀often฀actively฀promoting฀and฀
educating฀consumers฀about฀those฀products.฀We฀seek฀to฀
benefit฀from฀their฀knowledge฀of฀local฀markets฀and฀their฀
ability฀to฀reach฀a฀large฀number฀of฀consumers฀through฀
their฀retail฀outlets.
We฀supply฀the฀majority฀of฀our฀retailers฀through฀an฀
international฀network฀of฀distributors.฀In฀some฀cases,฀
we฀supply฀retailers฀direct฀and฀we฀also฀sell฀to฀consumers฀
via฀the฀Internet.฀Our฀distributors฀play฀an฀active฀role฀in฀
educating฀consumers฀and฀in฀promoting฀and฀
merchandising฀our฀products฀to฀both฀the฀public฀and฀
retailers.
Customer฀support
Our฀Customer฀support฀department฀is฀an฀important฀
contributor฀to฀our฀overall฀goal฀to฀be฀a฀leading฀provider฀of฀
high฀quality฀and฀easy฀to฀use฀personal฀navigation฀products฀
with฀broad฀consumer฀appeal.฀Customer฀support฀deals฀
with฀users’฀questions฀and฀comments฀and฀addresses฀
users฀in฀nine฀different฀languages.฀These฀contacts฀are฀
extremely฀valuable฀because฀they฀provide฀a฀direct฀insight฀
into฀the฀problems฀our฀users฀experience,฀which฀in฀turn฀
form฀input฀for฀software฀and฀hardware฀improvements.฀
The฀department฀grew฀quickly฀in฀2005฀to฀keep฀pace฀with฀
the฀rapid฀growth฀of฀the฀customer฀base.฀To฀underscore฀
the฀reliability฀and฀user฀friendliness฀of฀our฀products฀we฀are฀
proud฀to฀note฀however฀that฀most฀questions฀did฀not฀relate฀
to฀our฀products฀themselves,฀but฀to฀the฀use฀of฀TomTom฀
products฀with฀other฀devices฀such฀as฀smartphones.฀
Manufacturing฀and฀logistics
In฀order฀to฀keep฀costs฀low฀and฀to฀focus฀our฀resources฀on฀
design฀and฀innovation,฀we฀have฀outsourced฀the฀
manufacture฀and฀assembly฀of฀our฀integrated฀products.฀
We฀configure฀our฀product฀shipments฀by฀country฀and฀
language฀as฀late฀as฀possible฀in฀the฀supply฀process฀in฀
order฀to฀ensure฀that฀we฀have฀the฀flexibility฀to฀shift฀
inventory฀as฀needed฀to฀help฀meet฀customer฀demand฀in฀
one฀market฀while฀seeking฀to฀avoid฀excess฀inventory฀in฀
another.
Human฀resources
TomTom’s฀success฀is฀built฀on฀the฀dedication฀of฀its฀staff.฀
In฀its฀15-year฀history,฀and฀especially฀during฀the฀rapid฀
growth฀in฀recent฀years,฀TomTom฀has฀created฀its฀own฀
culture.฀It฀bears฀all฀the฀hallmarks฀of฀a฀young,฀international฀
community฀founded฀on฀innovation฀and฀consumer฀insight,฀
informal฀but฀dedicated฀to฀selling฀solutions.฀Against฀this฀
background,฀we฀are฀investing฀in฀people฀by฀providing฀our฀
employees฀with฀challenging฀roles,฀supported฀by฀
appropriate฀coaching฀and฀training.