The new TomTom GPS Runner watches unite style, efficiency and productivity. Planning to bring health and fitness to not only athletes, but also everyone from any age, managing director of TomTom Inc. Jocelyn Vigreux, talks business plans and the device’s easy navigation while celebrity fitness coach and personal trainer, Joel Harper, talks about the watch’s durability and efficiency.

Managing Director of TomTom Inc. Jocelyn Vigreux
Managing Director of TomTom Inc. Jocelyn Vigreux

WITH THE NEW TOMTOM RUNNER GPS WATCHES, WHAT ARE YOU AIMING TO BRING TO CONSUMERS? VIGREUX: It’s always what TomTom does is bring complicated technology to a very easy to consume product. And with the TomTom cardio, we brought to the community the ability to get free from the chest strap and get a very comfortable watch on your wrist that gives you all the information that you are expecting, like distance and pace, but also your heart rate, straight from your wrist.

DO YOU SEE TOMTOM BEING AN ATHLETIC LIFESTYLE IN THE FUTURE? VIGREUX: Well we are definitely spending a lot of our time looking at this business, we think that there’s great opportunity in fitness. We think that certainly more and more people are drawn in. Understanding themselves in the quantified self-movement, for instance, is proof of that. And as technology is evolving, as companies like TomTom are able to bring these very delicate technology and very simple products, certainly people are more and more drawn and encouraged to use that technology.

HOW DO YOU THINK CONSUMERS ARE GOING TO TAKE THE TECHNOLOGY AND STYLE THAT TOMTOM HAS TO OFFER? VIGREUX: I really believe it’s going to be a successful product. First of all, we have the experience of the original TomTom Runner and TomTom Multi-Sport, which have already been successes in their own right. I think that when you bring a new product to market, and you understand its quality and you understand that it actually solves a real problem, you know you have a recipe for success, and that is what this is doing definitely.

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Celebrity trainer Joel Harper discusses the new TomTom GPS Runner.

WITH THE NEW TOMTOM WATCHES IS YOUR JOB AS A TRAINER GOING TO BE A LOT EASIER OR HARDER? HARPER: Much easier, because it gives my clients the access to the information that they need right away. They don’t have to go search for it, question about it, it gives them the confidence that they need. And a lot of my clients want to get a good workout in, but they feel kind of insecure because it’s not their specialty, they don’t know if their heart rate is off to the right level, they don’t know how many calories they’ve burned or how far they’ve run, and that gives them the confidence.

WHAT DO YOU FEEL IS THE ONE THING YOUR CLIENTS ASK ABOUT THAT THE WATCH WILL HELP THEM WITH? HARPER: Burning calories. A lot of my clients want to lose weight, they want to tone up and firm up, and what the watch does is it tells them to put in their body weight, put in their height, you put in all of your personal information and it gives you specific information for you and your goals.

IF THIS WATCH DOES EVERYTHING, WHAT DOES THAT MEAN FOR YOUR JOB AS A TRAINER? HARPER: Luckily I live in New York City and I’m so busy, that I want things to give my clients; my goal is to get my clients not to come to me. I make workout DVDs as well, so I try to give them the confidence and give them the tools so they could get their workouts in, because everyone is so busy, they travel, they go to all these different locations they need all this information and with the watches you put it on your wrist and you’re good to go.

Words By. Aliecia Brissett + Photos By. Candace Nyaomi

Aliecia Brissett is a creative and fun writer from Toronto, who loves dance, fashion and getting to know her city. Having come from a single parent home, she was constantly involved in activities to keep her busy; such as her years of professional dance training in ballet, hip-hop and jazz, and her love for fashion and drawing that transcended into her becoming a stylist and overall visionary. Having always been a storyteller, and overall chatter box, Aliecia, who joined Urbanology Magazine in 2012 as a journalist and stylist, loves to speak with the movers and shakers of the industry to get a gist of her next story.

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