Daniëlle de Jong

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Imagine one of your favorite memories! What if you could go back and see that memory the way you experienced? That’s why Spectacles was build. For the past few years Snapchat has been working on a totally new type of camera!

Spectacles are sunglasses with an integrated video camera that makes it easy to create Memories. It is one of the smallest wireless video cameras in the world, capable of taking a day’s worth of Snaps on a single charge, integrated into a fun pair of sunglasses. Spectacles connect directly to Snapchat via Bluetooth or Wi-Fi and transfer your Memories directly into the app in our brand new circular video format. Circular video plays full screen on any device, in any orientation, and captures the human perspective with a 115 degree field of view (Team Snap, 2016).

Five days ago Snapchat changed their brand name into Snap Inc. The company decided they needed a name that goes beyond just one product, without losing the familiarity and fun of the brand. So they decided to drop the “chat” and go with Snap Inc (Evan, 2016). Remarkably, Snap Inc announced the development of the Spectacles the exact same day. Smart move, don’t you think?

When a company makes a major change to its brand or image, any number of things can happen. Loyal users may reject the change — as happened when Coca-Cola tried to introduce “New Coke” in one of the worst marketing disasters in history (Demers, 2016).

As you may know, Google introduced the Google Glass. These are glasses that offer an reality experience by using visual, audio and location-based inputs to provide users with relevant information.

Although Spectacles is “just” a simple hands-free camera rather than some advanced reality system, Snap Inc isn’t repeating the same mistakes of the Google Glass (Wilson, 2016). The Google Glass was hideous and cyborgian. I think we can all agree on that? While it tried so hard not to be.

Regarding to the wearable videotaping glasses of Snap Inc, would this commend itself to all or at least most human beings? Will the Spectacles be an instant hit? Do you see yourself wearing the Spectacles?

With the introduction of the Spectacles and the brand new company name, I believe that Snap Inc is definitely on the right track and will continue to grow even further in the future!

References

Demers, J. (2016), The Marketing Genius Behind Snapchat’s Name Change, https://www.entrepreneur.com/article/283020

Newsdesk (2016), You Can Now Wear N’ Snap Videos With SnapChat Glasses “Spectacles” http://pageone.ph/you-can-now-wear-n-snap-videos-with-snapchats-glasses-spectacles/

Team snap. (2016), Introducing Spectacles! https://www.snap.com/news/

Wilson, M. (2016), Snapchat’s New Glasses Are As Silly As Snapchat (And That’s Why They’ll Be A Hit), https://www.fastcodesign.com/3064078/snapchats-new-glasses-are-as-silly-as-snapchat-and-thats-why-theyll-be-a-hit

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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

Spectacles: Would you buy them?!

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GoPro: Did their user-generated content create a platform mediated network?

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