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
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