“It’s a life capture device.”
Most people are familiar with the GoPro ads, which garners millions of views on YouTube, and may own one themselves. What most people may not realize is just how new of company GoPro is, having sold their first camera in 2004. The growth in the company has been explosive and its founder and CEO, Nick Woodman, has now been welcomed to the Forbes list of billionaires.
In this video, Nick Woodman talks about the growth of his company and what has brought it such success.
From watching this, I noticed many points that our marketing class had touched on. Woodman explains that one of the reasons behind the success of the GoPro is the fact that there was nothing else like it when it first entered the market. They had found an untouched market and had tapped into it with a highly differentiated product. Like Woodman states, the GoPro is not designed for quick reactive moments because customers already have their smartphones for that. Rather, GoPro is designed for consumers who want to capture special lifetime memories. This concept is what appeals to the product’s fans, and the company positions themselves towards this concept by creating ads showcasing special moments and with their slogan of “GoPro. Be A Hero.”.
In addition, Woodman talks about some of the distribution channels of the GoPro. At the startup of the company, there were very few channels, with what was essentially one employee, Woodman himself, and the manufacturer. He says that GoPro was profitable from the very start due to this and it has grown into the billion dollar company that it is today from just $265,000 of working capital. When considering the 4 P’s, product, price, place, promotion, of the GoPro, it is clear that the company’s success has been due in large to such great marketing.