What contributed to the success of Fitbit?
Internet of
Things (IoT)- the interconnection
via the Internet of computing devices embedded in everyday objects, enabling
them to send and receive data.
Personally, when I first heard of IoT’s
definition, the brand that first pops up in my mind is Fitbit. Fitbit is definitely
no stranger to the market. Founded in 2007 and based in San Francisco California, their product offerings
mainly focuses on measuring personal metrics involved in fitness such as activity trackers which includes the number of steps walked, heart rate,
quality of sleep, steps climbed. Their business soon
grew to be so successful that in the third quarter of 2018, they
became the third largest wearable company in shipments, trailing right behind Xiaomi and Apple.
Other renowned sport brands such as Nike
and Adidas saw the potential in such fitness trackers that they also created a
product-line extension based on that especially since it aligns with their
company’s fitness image.
Nike released FuelBand in 2012 which was considered as
one of the pioneers of the fitness tracking products back then along with
Fitbit. At that period, FuelBand was considered to be revolutionary for tech
enthusiasts however it was not close to being perfect as there were a lot of
drawbacks in the product as Nike showed unwillingness in investing their
resources into innovating the FuelBand which resulted in its discontinuation in
2018.
Adidas
also released their own wearable fitness tracking devices marketed as miCoach
however failed to sustain in the market as well with its discontinuation in 2018, similar
to Nike’s FuelBand scenario.
Well then, how did Fitbit remained
competitive and able to sustain in the market? One of the reasons for Fitbit's
ongoing success is due to their investments and dedication towards constant innovation
of their new models in consideration of the evolving market needs. Also, since this is their area of specialization, they are
able to produce quality activity trackers, resulting in successful customer satisfaction and retention. Also, Adidas went for the “Can’t beat them? Join them” approach
where they collaborated with Fitbit for Adidas edition of the Ionic smartwatch
in March 2018.
With even their competitors acknowledging their expertise in
this specific field, Fitbit’s market competence is further illustrated. Of course, Apple is still deterring Fitbit’s
way on becoming the market leader for the activity tracker market with
their Apple watch.
However, with collaborations with other reputable companies
such as Adidas and Google, Fitbit is able to continuously capture a larger
market share. Hence with all this discussion on activity trackers, do you have
one yourself? Do share with me your recommendations and why you prefer it over
to others.
Interesting read! I personally do not own a wearable tracker myself but would definitely give Fitbit a go. Not a big fan to applewatch as i think that they have many more things to improve on but knowing that brands like Google and Adidas are behind Fitbit and supporting them, it would definitely be a choice to consumers to give Fitbit a try.
ReplyDeleteHey! Interesting to find out personally from consumers like yourself to be keen on trying out the product itself due to collaborations from reputable brands. It actually shows the change in perceptions and effectiveness of collaborations. Hope more brands work together in providing exceptional value to consumers instead of competing with each other.
ReplyDeleteI do own a wearable tracker from Xiaomi but am not willing to spend much on a fitness tracker. However, Fitbit did well in their marketing as they continue to be the market leaders when it comes to fitness tracker. Would be interesting to see the progression of them in the following years as right now, it feels like they have reached a stagnant point of their business.
ReplyDeleteHi Zac! Thanks for your comment! Agree with your point on Fitbit reaching a stagnant point of their business- experiencing maturity stage in the product life cycle. Believe that in order to combat decline in sales at this stage, business will have to implement non-incremental Creative marketing strategies to highlight their pod and remain competitive in the market.
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ReplyDeleteHi Lukita. Interesting read! Do you think such technologies will have any impact on digital marketing?
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