TomTom’s Kearney knows his way in New Zealand

Growth in New Zealand much stronger than in Australia, says the VP

By Vera Alves, Auckland | Friday, 09 September 2011
Sydneysider Chris Kearney knows the New Zealand market well. In his role as TomTom’s vice president for the APAC region, he flies here about 10 times a year to meet with local partners.

There are two Auckland-based staff, but Kearney and others from Australia make a point of visiting on a regular basis. “We’ve got a really good local team, but you still need to meet with the market.”

Working across different markets might be a challenge, but Kearney says Australia and New Zealand share a lot of similarities including similar brands.

The company is betting strongly on the market here. This was the first country in the Asia Pacific region where TomTom launched its HD traffic service and the company has been experiencing steady growth, according to Kearney. “Growth in New Zealand has been between 30 and 40 percent, while growth in Australia is in single digits,” he says.

The company entered the local market in 2007 and Kearney says there was “a lag” at first. “It is a very competitive market,” he says. Competition aside, Kearney also believes it is a “psychological thing”. “People think they know their country and they know their way around all the roads.”

The recently-launched HD traffic service is free for the first year with new GPS units, but will then require a yearly subscription. TomTom is still working on the details of exactly how the renewal process will work but, according to Kearney, there will be both a direct component and some level of reseller involvement.

TomTom’s iPhone app has been successful, though Kearney says the company is not concerned it will steer people away from buying GPS units. “Only 2 percent of the people that have the app don’t have a GPS device. They use it mainly for portability, so we are not seeing any impact on GPS sales,” he says.

He does not have any information on a potential Android version. “We are looking at all mobile platforms.”

His role involves monitoring business health from sales through to customer service and “ensuring that the team is focussed on delivering on our regional goals and our wider aim to help people get where they want to go”.

Working for a European company (TomTom is based in the Netherlands) means that schedules are not quite as fixed as Kearney, father of twin girls with another baby on the way, would like them to be. “I typically manage to get home reasonably early to spend time with my family. Working for a European company means late night calls are unavoidable, but we find the balance,” he says.

Having earned a commerce degree with a marketing major, IT was not his initial choice for a career. However, a management account role at Compaq after returning from an OE in the UK was his first step into the industry.

He worked closely with the marketing team and “shifted across to product management at the first opportunity. I saw the start of the notebook boom with HP”. He then went to work for Canon’s camera business, before taking up the role at TomTom four years ago leading the ANZ marketing team. Earlier this year, he was offered the opportunity to lead the company’s business in the APAC region. “It is an incredible role and I am really enjoying it.”

Despite working across the APAC region, Kearney pays close attention to each market and claims he has seen “far stronger market growth in New Zealand than anywhere else in the world”.