Setting pulses racing: Marco Suvilaakso
Forty years ago, Polar Electro Oy patented the world’s first wireless heart-rate monitor. But this was just the tip of the iceberg for Finland’s innovative wearable-tech firm.
When it comes to consumer technology, what happens in Vegas doesn’t stay in Vegas. In fact, punchy 140-word-or-less descriptions are sent instantaneously from the Nevada desert to the global Twittersphere as each new innovation is unveiled at the annual CES (Consumer Electronics Show) conference.
Held every January, it’s a highly anticipated event that sees tech experts from around the world descend on ‘Sin City’ to feast on the latest in the consumer technology space. Marco Suvilaakso, the Chief Strategy Officer of Polar Electro Oy (known more commonly as Polar) is still battling the jetlag from the long trip back to Finland when The CEO Magazine catches up with him.
Polar has had a busy start to 2017, which also happens to be the year the Finnish heart-rate monitor and wearable fitness technology company celebrates its fortieth birthday. At CES, Polar unveiled more products in partnership with GoPro, says Marco — and you can sense he’s still buzzing from it.
3 of Polar’s products now have GoPro connectivity: the V800 GPS sports watch and M600 smart sports watch act as a remote control for a GoPro camera, while readings from Polar’s new H10 heart-rate sensor are transmitted via Bluetooth to GoPro’s HERO4 and HERO5 cameras and overlaid on the recording.
"Adding heart-rate data over action videos not only enhances the Polar experience for adventurers but also enables them to truly showcase and relive their athletic accomplishments," Marco said in an announcement at the time. Another exciting innovation introduced at CES was the Polar Team Pro Shirt. A first for the company, this tech-savvy garment is an undertaking deeper into wearable sports technology, and features built-in sensors to monitor heart rate as well as having GPS capabilities.
One step ahead
Polar has come a long way since 1975 when a chance encounter on the Finnish slopes between an electronics lecturer at the University of Oulu and a ski instructor led to the invention of the world’s first heart-rate monitor — and the birth of the company.
"The ski coach asked the professor, Seppo Säynäjäkangas, if there was any kind of technology that would allow for coaches and athletes to track their heart rate in real time without having to rely on the classic finger-to-neck pulse measurement," Marco explains. There wasn’t.
"From that conversation, Seppo was inspired to establish Polar and work on a solution to develop a heart-rate monitoring system." In 1977, the company filed its first patent for fingertip heart-rate monitoring, and, in 1982, the Polar Sport Tester PE2000 wireless wearable heart-rate monitor was released.
Polar has an uncanny ability to stay one step ahead of the trends… anticipation is crucial
Today, the brand is a pioneer in wearable technology, and its innovative product range is available through over 35,000 retailers in more than 80 countries. "Polar is synonymous with leading an active sports and fitness lifestyle," Marco says. He is particularly excited about the recently released M600 sports watch, run on the Android Wear operating system.
"We have been able to bring our unique Smart Coaching experience to the Google platform and introduce a sports-optimised smartwatch to the market." Along with the Smart Coaching feature — offering virtual, round-the-clock guidance — the watch is also waterproof, has 4GB of memory, and comes with a integrated GPS. Its release may have set fitness tongues wagging, but Polar has an uncanny ability to stay one step ahead of the trends.
Marco agrees, saying that anticipation is crucial. "One example is the advent of fitness apps powered by smartphones. We anticipated that development, and had a plan and a strategy on how we were going to work with it rather than be undermined by it."
Mixing business with leisure
The market may be a crowded one, but Polar’s loyal band of customers — from elite athletes to recreational exercisers — recognise that the company’s deep history and knowledge offers "real substance to the solutions that we deliver to them", as Marco phrases it. "We maintain a customer-centricity; we listen to what their needs are and we work towards responding to these needs. I really believe this is a key point of difference," he continues.
With a company for fitness enthusiasts, run by fitness enthusiasts, Marco acknowledges: "It is really powerful, as a business, to have that profile where people who are active in sports and fitness have the ability to combine their professional life with their personal passion."