When we think of GoPro, images of cliff-diving, bungee jumping, backpacking diaries, and other free-spirited adventures come rushing to our minds.
GoPro was founded in 2002 when Nick Woodman was hoping to capture “in the moment” pictures during his surfing trip. Once the product was perfected, GoPro successfully harnessed the power of visual storytelling to inspire people to live in the moment and was able to use algorithms – specifically YouTube algorithms – in their favor.
They started by launching their Be a Hero campaign which was an open call for the adventurers to dare and not hold back. They then hired professional stuntmen to create impactful content to post on their YouTube page. Finally, they hired 30 professionals to seek out hidden and thrill-seeking content creators and offered them GoPros in exchange for featuring their videos. Their strategy successfully flooded YouTube with videos of people wearing GoPros which pushed traffic to their YouTube page achieving 5 billion views and a 10x increase in sales.
GoPro leveraged and encouraged people to create content that captures their passions and their adventurous lives and then used the most impactful to create their advertising campaigns that trigger deep emotional responses as they illustrate the magic of living in the moment and stirring the viewer to seek adventure. They used these marketing campaigns across their social media handles to form a bond with their audience by creating a sense of inclusivity where any individual – not necessarily a photographer – can beautifully and freely capture their most sentimental moments.
GoPro embraced a user-generated marketing strategy to create customer loyalty, advocacy, and retention. It became magnificently ingrained in our culture where we no longer wish we had our cameras with us when going diving, but wish we had our GoPros.
