GoPro video cameras are best known as the staple gear for anyone that likes to jump off stuff or practices another extreme sport. This propensity for hyper-engaging user-generated content that puts you in the driving seat should have every marketer thinking outside the box (Cooke, 2014).
“We’re not just a camera anymore. We’re an enjoyment platform for people around the world to watch” says Paul Crandell (senior vice president of marketing at GoPro). Imagine if your audience enthusiastically took over your brand’s promotion. Engagement and customer loyalty would be through the roof. GoPro, maker of the high-quality, easy-to-use handheld video camera, is one the best brands at user-generated content (Albee, 2015), which is all the information that users of the GoPro cameras spread online.
Content created by the user is not just an affordable marketing strategy; it’s also pretty powerful. In place of an art director, acting cast, and team of videographers, GoPro simply hands a wearable camera to an amazing athlete. Regular customers have become advertisers on a smaller scale, shooting high-quality video, loading it onto YouTube and social networks, and advertising the capabilities of the cameras to friends, family, and complete strangers (Bobowksi, 2014).
Technological advancements have made user-generated content both compelling and high-quality, and GoPro proves that a tiny camera, in the hands of the right people, can create captivating content that will gain an audience no matter what purpose it is used for: social media marketing, advertising, or television programming (Bobowksi, 2014).
How does the user-generated content succeed?
Customers respond better to marketing messages that aim to connect with the audience. As with visuals, the human brain is actually affected by storytelling. Stories stimulate the brain and have the potential to change how people act in life. Consumers want stories (Cooke, 2014).
Finally, to answer the question if the user-generated content of GoPro did create a platform mediated network? Yes, it definitely did. GoPro is not only competing by selling different products, but is also competing by running a community around the platform of the user-generated content.
The promising user-generated content of GoPro may not seem enough for the company. GoPro is suffering from severe competition of smartphones, as the smartphones have increasingly better cameras (ANP, 2016). On the contrary, could you imagine a smartphone camera ever being able to capture these kind of high-quality photographs and videos? I believe that anything is possible in this technological innovative era..
References
Albee, A (2015), Get Your Fans to Share Their Love: What Every Brand Can Learn From GoPro, http://contentmarketinginstitute.com/2015/09/brand-learn-from-gopro/
ANP (2016), Verlieslijdend GoPro ziet solide vraag naar camera’s, http://www.nu.nl/beurs/4257526/verlieslijdend-gopro-ziet-solide-vraag-cameras.html
Bobowski, K (2014), How GoPro Is Transforming Advertising As We Know It, https://www.fastcompany.com/3032509/the-future-of-work/how-gopro-is-transforming-advertising-as-we-know-it
Cook, R. (2014), Go Big Or GoPro: How The GoPro Marketing Strategy Defines Content Marketing, http://www.business2community.com/content-marketing/go-big-gopro-gopro-marketing-strategy-defines-content-marketing-01055894#0R1jhLxVq1X9pdHR.97
Thank you for this very interesting blog! I think the GoPro camera’s are defenitly not just camera’s but really create a platform for all kind of people around the world. Not only the hyperactive but also people who travel around the world. They really provide a different kind of marketing for GoPro as a company. I really hope that GoPro succeeds in daling with the competition with smartphones, because they don’t only sell the product but also run a great community around the platform of user-generated content.