Who are GoPro?

GoPro is a global electronics brand and the market leader in high-definition, wearable cameras. GoPro is currently worth more than $2.5 billion, with sales doubling year on year since its release in 2004.

Who uses the product?

They’re used by an incredibly diverse consumer, from global corporations to individual athletes, musicians, general GoPro advocates – even Pelicans…

To give you a flavour of the size of this growing community; there are more than 16,000,000 GoPro-related videos on YouTube alone.

How have GoPro gained such a vast following?

Firstly, and quite simply, their videos are epic. The small size of the camera and its impressive collection of mounts/attachments allow videos to be made of almost anything; from a fireman saving a cat to a skier jumping off a 1000ft cliff. By demonstrating the product’s versatility in such an epic way, the brand is not only getting across a key selling point, but also fostering advocacy among a diverse audience by tapping into their interests and connecting with them on a more personal level.

Doesn’t this effort to appeal to everyone dilute the brand’s image?

Negative. There is always one theme that consistently stands out in the content the brand delivers – passion. GoPro founder and CEO Nick Woodman was told countless times that his idea would fail and going up against the likes of Sony was suicide – however, it was his passion that has led to GoPro’s successes, maintaining it to this day as the core theme that its content adheres to.

Why is consistency so important?

Well it is this consistency through tone of voice, design, video production and all their other content that allows GoPro to effectively communicate (and preserve) their story across all channels – this strong, recognisable brand presence not only helps retain and gain brand advocacy but also maximises brand awareness.

Ok, so you’ve ordered a GoPro – now what?

Well, now you have the camera, you’re free to use the extensive free software and apps the brand provides, including its ‘GoPro Studio’, which has all the tools and guidance you’ll need to make your own epic video.

Why so generous?

By making these tools freely accessible, the brand encourages customers to upload their content online. Once online, GoPro’s social media teams are free to harvest user-generated content that conforms to their brand theme/tone and repost it on its own channels. This often manifests itself in the form of one of GoPro’s ‘photo/video of the day’ regulars – regulars that audiences revisit time and time again.

Why is user-generated content so important to GoPro?

User-generated content not only contributes towards growing brand awareness, but also allows GoPro to empower its audiences by engaging with and sharing their content on all of GoPro’s highly followed accounts.

These opportunities, whether for social media fame or a chance to win one of the brand’s daily prizes, work with GoPro’s ‘Be a HERO’ strapline to encourage audiences to upload their content online.

This opportunity for consumer content to rise to global prominence is the ‘golden ticket’ into the GoPro brand storyline – a chance to be part of the brands successes, and be associated with a passionate ethos that we all strive to live by.

What other reasons are there for GoPro’s rise to prominence?

GoPro creates an ethos that we all strive to live by, and this doesn’t stop with consumers – it also attracts a high-calibre of athlete. The brand has handpicked the finest athletes in the world, from snowboarding superstar Shaun White and 12-time world champion surfer Kelly Slater (below), to Olympic Gold medallist skier Lindsey Vonn.

By endorsing athletes with product, they become creators of brand content themselves. This in turn contributes towards maintaining GoPro’s passionate, aspirational brand image and maximises brand awareness – either by sharing GoPro content on their social channels (most with close to or over 1.2M followers), or through GoPro’s own.

GoPro chooses to be most active on social channels because it is where their audiences are most accessible, and where aspirational, unique, epic content can be easily shared – increasing the chance of it going viral.

So – conclude it for me, why are GoPro so good at what they do?

GoPro is an affordable, incredibly versatile tool that allows you to be as creative as you want to be. Using epic content to demonstrate this and inspire consumers, in turn encourages them to become curators themselves, with an opportunity to become part of GoPro’s consistently passionate brand storyline – it is this access to the GoPro community that leads to strong brand advocacy.

By curating valuable, shareable, consistent brand content, either through its consumers or athletes, GoPro captures the hearts and minds of a hugely diverse audience. It is this consistency and relevance on influential and accessible channels that makes GoPro so visible and synonymous with passion and adventure – leaving the established consumer electronic big guns in its wake.