case studies

Armed with a tailored mix of brand advocates powered by BDS Connected Solutions, Garmin has been able to change perceptions of their brand and achieve sales success in the highly competitive fitness wearables category.

TRACKING TOWARDS SUCCESS WITH BRAND ADVOCATES

The partnership with Garmin is one built on a foundation of integrity and a commitment to excellence. They are supportive of the field team and continue to provide the team the tools and resources to be successful in their daily activities. As such, they are an outstanding partner to BDS Connected Solutions and we continue to look forward to new ways to deepen our relationship.

Merrideth Shea, Sr. Director of Client Services

MEETING THE CHALLENGE

For over two decades, Garmin had been a household name, mainly known for their innovative navigation systems. However, as consumers began to turn away from separate GPS devices and instead relied on their smartphones, Garmin needed a new plan of attack to keep their brand top of mind. They realized that there was a large opportunity in fitness wearables due to a growing emphasis on healthy living among millennial consumers. However, changing ingrained consumer perceptions of the Garmin brand and driving sales for their new fitness products required a major boost on the ground at retail.

IT ALL STARTED WITH THE HOLIDAY SEASON

Garmin first partnered with BDS Connected Solutions during the holiday season to increase brand and product awareness, influence perceptions, and drive sales in the fitness wearable and automotive categories. The BDS team worked with Garmin to develop a custom Assisted Sales Program with a heavy emphasis on recruiting on-brand talent and optimizing the coverage to achieve the biggest sales and mind share lift. While in-store, representatives engaged with consumers, demoed new products, and trained store associates on updated brand and product messaging, in addition to monitoring inventory levels.

WHERE WE ARE NOW

Because their first holiday program with BDS was so successful, Garmin continued to work with BDS for subsequent holiday seasons, deploying additional teams of sales experts to stores. The partnership has since grown to a full-fledged annual dedicated program.

BIG WINS FOR GARMIN

Despite covering less than a third of all stores, locations that were covered by our team accounted for 44% of all Garmin sales.
Covered locations saw an average of 50% increase in sales ranking compared to uncovered stores.
The largest percentage increase by a covered store was 11,967%, jumping from rank 724 to rank 6.
30,861 consumers came in looking for a competitor brand and our team influenced 39% of these consumers to considering Garmin instead.

“I can’t believe the level of service we receive from BDS. They deliver on their commitments, and never shy away from the truth. BDS’ ability to recruit, train and engage on-brand reps that deliver tangible ROI is impressive.”

Sales Manager, National Accounts – Garmin

50%

increase in sales for covered
stores vs non-covered

39%

of customers influenced to choose
Garmin over a competitor

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SERVICES PERFORMED

Market Development Training & Brand Advocacy Assisted Sales Break Fix Merchandising

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