GoPro Marketing Plan - Week Two

The Company

 a. Company Overview

GoPro is a company that produces wearable cameras and accessories for any consumer wishing to film and capture exciting moments in their lives in a unique way. Nick Woodman founded Woodman labs in 2001 and later changed the company name to GoPro in 2004. What began, as an idea to help athletes document themselves engaged in their sport has become a way for people to document themselves engaged in their interests, whatever they may be. GoPro has enabled consumers from all over the world to capture and share their passions.

b. Business Description

“The world’s most versatile cameras are what we make. Enabling you to share your life through incredible photos and videos is what we do” (GoPro, 2015). GoPro is a camera business that creates high definition cameras that are virtually weather proof so that a consumer may take photos or video in any condition without damaging the camera.

c. Company History

2001- Nick Woodman develops first GoPro “prototypes”.

2002- Nick Woodman founds Woodman Labs, the parent company for what we know today as GoPro.

2004- GoPro develops and sells its first camera, the 35-mm HERO

2005- Woodman hits his sales goals by selling to surf shops and specialty sports boutiques as well as appearing on QVC.

2006- GoPro goes digital Woodman introduces the Digital Hero in 2006. The camera shoots VGA video in 10-second bursts and has no audio recording ability.

2007- The first GoPro with sound, the Digital Hero 3, captures activities with unlimited video and audio.

2008- GoPro company installs wide-angle lenses on its newest cameras and also begins marketing GoPro as mountable devices.

2010: The Hero HD (1080 P video at 127° wide-angle) opens up new markets for GoPro.

2011: Hero 2 is introduced.  This is improved version with an 11-megapixel camera, improved low-light capability and 1080P video at 30 frames per second. 

2012: Company introduces HD Hero3. Foxconn invests $200 million, making Woodman a billionaire. Chinese electronics manufacturer Foxconn makes a $200 million investment for 8.88% of the San Mateo, Calif. camera firm.  (Mac, 2013)

2014- GoPro goes public on Wall Street listed as GPRO.

d. Key People

GoPro is for anyone who wants to capture their lives with a wearable camera. However, the key consumers purchasing GoPro are typically the more adventurous type. Consumers take videos of themselves skydiving, surfing, mountain climbing, etc. with their GoPro attached. GoPro is not limited to one group of consumers, but most consumers buying GoPro are typically athletic or live an adventurous lifestyle. “Our customers include some of the world’s most active and passionate people” (GoPro, 2015). 

e. Location and Subsidiaries

GoPro headquarters are located in San Mateo, California. GoPro currently has nine subsidiaries located in The Cayman Islands, Hong Kong, China, Germany, Brazil, The Netherlands and The United States. (SEC, 2015)  GoPro’s products are sold through more than 25,000 stores in over 100 countries worldwide and direct via GoPro.com

f. Brands, Major Products and Services

GoPro is a brand of cameras/video recording devices. GoPro produces a line of wearable and gear-mountable cameras and accessories, making it easy for consumers to capture and share their most exciting moments in high definition.

g. Corporate Vision

Our goal is to enable people across the world to share their lives through incredible photo and video footage. We aim to create the world’s most versatile cameras and to continue to inspire technological innovation and meaningful experiences.  

h. Corporate Mission

Our passion at GoPro is to create experiences and realities that expand our world and inspire those around us. GoPro helps people capture and share their lives’ most meaningful experiences with others and to celebrate them together (GoPro, 2015)

i. Company’s Current Promotional Strategy

GoPro has created a new culture of self-promoting products. As GoPro has grown, users have continued to share amazing photos and videos shot using GoPro across all social media platforms. This has created a strong social media culture surrounding the GoPro company and its products. In fact, GoPro recently won a Shorty Award for the “Best Company on Instagram” with 3.8 million followers and 162% growth from 2013 to 2014 (Shorty Awards, 2015)

j. Product Sales History

Gross Revenues
2010	$64,464
2011	$234,238
2012	$526,016
2013	$985,737
2014	$1,394,205

(GoPro, 2015)

k. Current Marketing Objective

Our marketing objective is a multi-faceted strategy of scaling as a media brand, expanding into new vertical markets, growing internationally, expanding our in-store brand, extending strategic marketing relationships, and expanding brand awareness through increased advertising (GoPro, 2015)

l. Media Expenditure

We intend to continue to invest significant resources in our marketing, advertising and brand management efforts. Sales and marketing investments will often occur in advance of any sales benefits from these activities, and it may be difficult for us to determine if we are efficiently allocating our resources in this area (GoPro, 2015)

SWOT Analysis

Strengths

•Experience selling: In 2013 alone, GoPro customers uploaded 2.8-years’ worth of video featuring GoPro in the title, according to the company’s S-1 filing. Each video serves as a customer testimonial, giving potential customers millions of reasons why they should buy GoPro’s cameras

•Product: Strong, durable cameras that can withstand extreme climate and ruggedness

•Brand power: It became better known as an adventure sports brand than as a camera manufacture.

Weaknesses

•Product-oriented sales: In its S-1, the company admitted that it depends on camera sales for substantially all of their revenue, and any decrease in the sales of these products would harm the business.

•Lack of market: GoPro's biggest weakness is its lack of competitive barriers. Research firm IDC estimates that GoPro has a 47.5% market share in the action camera market, but the market is still young and fragmented. This means that smaller players will constantly try to launch cheaper devices to chip away at GoPro's market.

•Service: GoPro is starting to turn itself into a media company. GoPro hopes to begin making money not just on cameras, but on the brand, too. To avoid saturating the market, GoPro launched the GoPro network but it is relying heavily on social networks and has to split its revenue with those partners.

Opportunities

•User friendly software: While free editing software is the type of benefit that you get with GoPro, it’s also kind of complicated. Although the app does a decent job of walking you through basic steps, it’s not as easy as alternative editing software

•Needs to cut cost to remain competitive: To preserve its margins, it needs huge manufacturing operations to produce more cameras quickly and cheaply. The company's bottom line can't hold up unless it cuts costs through major alliances with giants like Foxconn.

Threats

•Growing competition: Garmin, Sony, Polaroid, HTCs

•Substitute products: smartphones, tablets, hand held camcorders

•Price: slightly higher than the competition and substitute products

References

GoPro. (2015). About Us In GoPro. Retrieved April 12, 2015, from http://gopro.com/about-us/

GoPro. (2015). Annual Reports and Proxies. Retrieved on April 14, 2015, from http://investor.gopro.com/annuals-proxies.cfm

Mac, R. (2013, March 4). GoPro Evolution. In Forbes. Retrieved April 13, 2015, from http://www.forbes.com/sites/ryanmac/2013/03/04/gopro-evolution-from-35mm-film-to-americas-fastest-growing-camera-company/

SEC. (2015). LIST OF SUBSIDIARIES. In U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Retrieved April 13, 2015, from http://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1500435/000150043515000007/ex-21listofsubsidiaries.htm

Shorty Awards. (2015). Best On Instagram. Retrieved on April 14, 2015, from http://industry.shortyawards.com/nominee/7th_annual/os6/best-on-instagram-gopro

KELLIE MCVAY, KRISTIN REEVES, ETHAN WILLIAMS and NICOLE WYNN

Product Overview

Introduction

GoPro is a company, which offers a series of unique video capturing cameras and accessories. GoPro has established a brand which differentiates its line of cameras from those of competitors’. The GoPro camera series offers a multitude of features from incredibly high resolution and frame rates to waterproof durability. The GoPro company is the first of its kind in many ways, including having won an Emmy award for high quality performance video footage. The GoPro series is a favorite among athletes, adventurers, and anyone hoping to capture exciting footage in a unique way.

Problem Statement and Issues

In developing a marketing strategy for GoPro, our goal is to establish a target market, reach new targets, and further differentiate GoPro from its competitors. Because GoPro can be considered a luxury product, it is important to establish a need within the target market. Additionally, we must achieve competitive advantage by ensuring our customer base and target audience is knowledgeable regarding the capabilities and functionality of GoPro, unmatched by its competitors. In order to reach our goals and overcome these issues, we must develop a comprehensive marketing strategy which will directly combat each of the aforementioned issues.

Advertising/Marketing Objectives

Many companies are in the introductory stage if not already launching their version of mountable cameras at a fraction of the cost for what a GoPro costs. The marketing objectives below will help GoPro maintain the advantage that they currently have in the market.

1.  Reminder advertising:  Objectives will encourage the target audience to switch brands, make the purchase and create a preference in the market for the product as opposed to its competition.

•  Television ads, radio and billboards using athletes and consumers that use GoPro to highlight their exciting lifestyles.
• Social networking ads, Search engine ads, and Behavioral ads
• Mobile apps, SMS, and emails

2.  Informative advertising, seeks to tell the market about the product, explain how the product works, provide information on pricing, and build awareness of both the product and the company. Such objectives are normally pursued at the launch of a new product, or an up-date of an existing product. GoPro is set to release its newest version, GoPro Hero 5 in October 2015. Comparison ads that display why GoPro products are of higher quality than its competitors are. Technical/Benefits- Ads that explain why the improved features of Hero 5, make it a superior product. Such as the A10 chip which allows the user to capture 4K videos at 60 frames per second. Demonstration ads that show how to get the most out of what GoPro has to offer. Highlight ordinary people using the Hero 5 and their reactions to its features such as battery life, waterproof, WiFi and Bluetooth features. 3. Persuasive advertising is required when there are similar products in the market place and the winning product will need to differentiate itself from the competition.      Video storytelling- Creating advertisements on YouTube with pro-athletes providing testimonials on the benefits of using GoPro.  (ethos)          TV and social media advertising that use buzzwords such as better, stronger, faster, and higher. (Logos)           Print ads that show a desired lifestyle such as risk-taking, or a new sense of adventure. (Logos)  Aims 1. To increase product awareness and build brand loyalty among targeted customers. 2. Inform the market about our new product; explaining the many ways it can be used, and the advantages of using GoPro instead of competing devices. 3. Reduce consumer resistance to buying the product. Show consumers why the product is worth the price and how it makes a solid investment that allows the consumer to capture their lives in a new and exciting way. GoPro Product Profile Product Name – GoPro Product Classification – Video recording device/Photo capture device Product Characteristics – Compact HD recording, professional video quality, photo capture, audio  capture, long battery life, and Wi-Fi connectivity. Distribution – GoPro action cameras are distributed in 90 countries around the world, mostly using a distribution network outside of the United States.  GoPro works with three general classes of retail trade, specialty retailers, such as surf, bike and dive shops that do not traditionally sell electronics, sporting-goods retailers, including Sports Authority, Dick’s and Academy, and traditional CE retailers, such as Best Buy, Target, and Amazon. (Tarr, 2013) Product Life Cycle – The GoPro is currently in its growth stage of the product life cycle.  Growth is the stage where a company starts to see improved sales and revenues due to consumer acceptance of a product. During this stage, it is essential for GoPro to educate distributors to gain outlets to sell its products to a larger consumer base.      The Brand -   GoPro is a brand of mountable and wearable cameras and accessories. Nick Woodman created this brand of wearable cameras.  References GoPro. (2015). About Us. Retrieved on April 7, 2015, from http://gopro.com/about-us/ Tarr, G. (2013, May 19). GoPro Takes Camcorder Market By Storm.In TWICE. Retrieved April 8,2015, from http://www.twice.com/news/news/gopro-takes-camcorder-market-storm/42506