What could you do if you know that the market for digital cameras has matured? Develop the world’s most versatile camera for extreme action photography. At first sight, this may seem odd, but that’s what Nicholas Woodman did with GoPro.

There’s no doubt that developing a small high-performance camera is an innovative idea. Yet, to turn such an idea into reality and influence customer decisions is the real challenge. My research suggests two important lessons businesses can learn from GoPro’s marketing approach.

A BLUE OCEAN STRATEGY: When I evaluate what I want in a camera, the criteria I have will always include image quality and performance. So I’m not surprised to find that GoPro has everything I would find in any other camera – built in Wi-Fi, 12MP sensor and high frame rate per second.  Why? Because those features are simply points of parity that gets GoPro in the game. During his travels to Indonesia for a surf trip, Woodman identified a need: a camera durable enough to capture his surf experience.  That idea gave him the opportunity to sell his first pilot product at an action-sports trade show.

I think it’s important for entrepreneurs to think like Woodman. He didn’t simply look at the ‘big picture’ of traditional marketing – he capitalized on the opportunity to target a niche market, particularly ‘active-lifestyle’ customers. In my eyes, what makes Woodman stand out is his establishing a point of difference in a blue ocean where the market is not crowded.

MAKING CUSTOMERS WORK: I’m sure it’s not enough to be the company selling the “world’s most versatile” camera for GoPro to be where it is today. In 2013, GoPro ventured into consumer-driven marketing by involving customers in content creation through its YouTube channel. It’s not as expensive as paying for online targeting engines and TV commercials and most importantly, it’s more accurate and cost-effective. I’m impressed with who GoPro redefined customer’s post-purchase experience. This is what makes GoPro users active loyalists who not only purchase the product, but also generate content. What’s better – as users attach GoPro’s brand name in titles and descriptions, user-driven content creates a loyalty loop to GoPro’s advantage.

Today, the 14-year-old company is worth almost $4 billion. It’s been a good decade for GoPro – revolutionizing sports photography, recording four consecutive years of profit and gaining more than 30% following its IPO last July. Will its success with lightweight mountable cameras hold true in ten years time? And is Woodman’s vision to “become the de facto standard for image capture of unique perspectives” enough?

I vote for yes, but that’s if GoPro maintains its competitive advantage and continue innovating.