Source: https://goo.gl/FZDZhU
What started out as a wrist camera developed by a passionate surfer to fulfil his desire to film himself whilst surfing, is now the multi-billion dollar company – GoPro.
Nicholas Woodman, founder and CEO, found a way to solve his own problem, and in turn filled a gap in the market, in which action enthusiasts would have a means to film themselves in high definition doing exciting things. GoPro successfully captured a niche and blew competitors like Sony and Canon out of the water with the introduction of the world’s most versatile camera, and is now the market leader in its product category.
Source: https://goo.gl/E9cFjV
So what’s the first thing you think of when you hear the word GoPro? Do you think about it being the world’s most versatile camera? Does your mind run at 100 mph when thinking of all the exciting things you could capture yourself doing with the GoPro? Do you think about how you could be a hero? In fact, all of these things probably come to mind and that’s because GoPro has successfully communicated its purpose, vision and unique value proposition to its target audience through its integrated marketing communications strategy across its digital and social media platforms. In doing so, GoPro has successfully elicited emotional connections with customers and established brand resonance. Furthermore, the brand has created an inspired community that reaches far beyond the actual product.
So how exactly has GoPro achieved all of this?
Firstly, GoPro demonstrates a high level of consistency in its communications across each of its social media platforms namely Facebook, Twitter and Instagram; as well as its website, all of which effectively communicates the brand’s:
Vision: “We dream. We have passionate ideas about what’s possible in this world. Our passions lead us to create experiences and realities that expand our world and inspire those around us”.
Mission: “Enabling you to share your life through incredible photos and videos by capturing, creating and sharing the world’s most GoPro perspective with versatile cameras”.
Values: “Meaningful experiences”, “sharing” and “more fun”.
Slogan: “Be a Hero”.
Let’s take a look at how this is being realised across GoPro’s social media platforms:
Social Media
GoPro has effectively used its social media platforms in unison to convey the same message to customers – “GoPro is the world brought to you… by you, in which you are the storyteller”. GoPro spreads this message by encouraging customers to share their own unique content captured with a GoPro on its various social media sites. This action has allowed GoPro to create a very powerful brand community, in which people are constantly sharing their own ‘stories‘ and engaging with each others content.
GoPro has also effectively used its social media accounts to communicate the value of its products. It’s about feeling like a hero as you feature in your own photo or video from your own perspective. Allowing customers to capture their own content and share it on GoPro’s various social media platforms and then have it featured as the photo or video of the day, instills inspiration and a sense of community and fun, and allows meaningful experiences to be shared worldwide.
Facebook ‘Photo of the Day’ feature
Source: https://goo.gl/NJ9CYR
Twitter ‘Photo of the Day’ feature
Source: https://goo.gl/Gzl3oI
Furthermore, GoPro uses its social media platforms to demonstrate the functionality and distinctiveness of its products. For instance, GoPro largely creates its marketing material by capturing its own original photos and videos with the GoPro itself and then posting these on its various social media platforms. The images and videos shared clearly demonstrate the high picture quality, versatility of the camera and the unique GoPro perspective the camera offers, all of which are the unique product attributes the brand aims to communicate to its customers.
The GoPro Perspective
Source: https://goo.gl/ClfCSm
Now lets take a look at how GoPro is communicating via its website:
Website
A core component of GoPro’s website is the ‘Watch’ section, which is further broken down into; ‘GoPro Awards’ and‘Videos & Photos’. These two aspects of the website encompass the entirety of the brand and are indicative of the powerful GoPro community.
Source: https://goo.gl/cZe3X8
The ‘GoPro Awards’ section allows customers to submit their own photos and videos captured with a GoPro falling under particular categories such as, ‘stories from the road’ and ‘capture different’. The best content, handpicked by GoPro, will be awarded a cash prize and featured as the video or photo of the day on the website and across its various social media platforms. The‘Videos & Photos’ section features all of the video and photo submissions that were selected as the best content under the ‘GoPro Awards’ section.
The‘GoPro Awards’ initiative allows customers to feel like a part of the brand and establishes an emotional connection with them. It also encourages customers to become brand ambassadors as they share their content and promote the GoPro brand.
GoPro: Kitesurfing Icebergs in Greenland
Source: https://goo.gl/VIbIyN
Secondly, GoPro has successfully established an emotional connection with customers, which has resulted in brand resonance. GoPro’s brand resonance can be examined in terms of the steps in the brand resonance pyramid below:
1. Brand Salience
GoPro has effectively relayed the most prominent product attributes of its products via its social media platforms and website by creatively using footage captured by GoPro cameras as its primary means of marketing the brand.
2. Brand Performance
GoPro efficiently ensures its products are meeting the functional needs of customers by responding to any customer questions, complaints or suggestions on all social media platforms.
3. Brand Imagery
GoPro creates the image of creating meaningful, fun experiences that can be shared. Customers can experience these feelings when using the GoPro camera to capture their own images and videos.
4. Brand Judgments
GoPro users see the quality and superiority of GoPro cameras over competitors because of how the brand markets itself to its customers. The brand communicates the high definition its product captures, as well as how the products can add an element of excitement to your life.
5. Brand Feelings
GoPro customers certainly have a level of attachment for the products, which is evident in the sheer amount of photo and video submissions received from people all over the world. People want to share their life experiences using the GoPro. GoPro has allowed customers to express themselves in a creative, fun way.
6. Brand Resonance
GoPro has achieved the brand resonance level, as it has successfully established bonds with its customers through its high level of customer engagement across its social media accounts and website.
Overall, I therefore believe that GoPro displays an effective brand orientation and integrated marketing strategy because the brand has clearly communicated the distinct attributes of its product, has highlighted the functionality of the product, demonstrated the value the product adds to customers’ lives, and has established a strong relationship with customers which in turn has resulted in brand resonance at the highest level, as a result of constantly engaging with its customer base.
This is Now 