“Building
buyer personas is the first step and probably the single most important thing
that you will do in creating your marketing and PR campaign” (Scott, 2013). I
think GoPro is a perfect example of strategic marketing and PR for a brand
based on a buyer persona. GoPro is a company that produces small, high-quality video
cameras known for their ease of use, durability, and sharing functionality.
GoPro helps people capture and share their
lives’ most meaningful experiences with others—to celebrate them together. Like
how a day on the mountain with friends is more meaningful than one spent alone,
the sharing of our collective experiences makes our lives more fun.
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).
The
first buyer persona (which admittedly I fall into) is the adventure seeking demographic.
I am a certified scuba diver. I love the experience of exploring a new environment
that most people will never have the opportunity to see. It is one thing
watching fish in an aquarium; it is a completely different experience when you
are swimming among them. On recent family vacation to Aruba, I was unfortunately
the only one of the group that truly appreciated the scuba/snorkeling experience.
After one day of snorkeling I decided I needed to go out and purchase a GoPro
camera so I could share what I was seeing with my land-dwelling counterparts.
Because of the advertisements I saw, conversations I had, and articles I had
read, I did not even consider another camera option. Now reading the company
description, I can see they had my buyer persona targeted perfectly. Outdoor/adventure
people typically experience things that most people can or will not have the
opportunity to. This persona has a desire to be able to share those experiences
with others, and GoPro positioned their product as the perfect solution.
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| Photo Credit: GoPro.com |
- Profile: Younger, 25-44. Outdoor, adventure, thrill seeker. Hobbies include hiking, biking, scuba, skydiving, surfing, skateboarding, etc. Very social, utilize Facebook, YouTube, Vine, and other channels to interact and share content with like-minded people. Websites would include information or products that relate to previous mentioned hobbies. Would utilize the web, as well as marketing or press releases in print material targeting the adventure-seeking type. Would also try to get publicity at X-games, olympics, or other outdoor athletic events or competitions.
The
second persona I wanted to focus on was the media enthusiast that does not have
much technical experience. GoPro has been able to position their product as the
photo and video brand for users that want high quality but may not have a
strong multimedia background. The GoPro is easy to use (there are only 3
buttons on the entire camera) and also comes with free video editing software
that is very user friendly. Scott (2013) explains the importance of
understanding your buyer persona’s goals. For GoPro, this persona wants to
record, edit, and share high quality video quickly and easily.
- Profile: Young, 25-44. Married, young family or household with pets. Wants to take high quality videos of his/her life, kids, pets, etc. Limited video capture and editing experience. Likes to travel and document experiences. Very social, utilize Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Pinterest, and other channels to interact and share content. Websites would include information or products that relate to previous mentioned hobbies. Would create a PR strategy focusing on social media, and print/web related to travel. Would avoid highly-technical video or photography blogs, magazines, or other publications.
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| Photo Credit: m22.com |
*
Per a conversation with Professor Stevens, due to conflict of interest working
at Marist I have selected GoPro as my company case study for this assignment.
PS: I could not write this post about the amazing snorkel experience in Aruba and then not share my first GoPro video. I hope you like it :)
References:
Scott, D.M. (2013). The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, blogs, news releases, online video, & viral marketing to reach buyers directly. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons
GoPro. (2015). GoPro About Us. Retrieved Feb
11, 2015, from GoPro.com: http://gopro.com/about-us/
Hey Brian,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your contribution to this week’s discussion, and for the awesome video that you shared. It looks like you had a great time, and that the GoPro was everything that it was marketed to be from the perspective of your buyer persona.
I can see why GoPro would focus on the adventure seeking demographic, as it is definitely a product that is basically designed for those wishing to share their active lifestyle. A lot of the content on GoPro’s website and social media is adventure seeking in nature, and I think this demonstrates GoPro’s ability to understand their customer and to “truly empathize with target buyers, to step out of [their] role as someone who wants to promote a product and see, through [their] buyer’s eyes, the circumstances that drive their decision process” (Scott, 2013, p. 167). This certainly speaks into the points in the adventure seeking buyer persona profile that you describe, in particular, the desire to share their experiences with others. The social media channels that GoPro is active on, also lend themselves to sharing these adventures.
At the same time, the second persona that you describe is also targeted, with content featuring children and pets being prevalent, though less so than the more active, adventure focused content. Still, this demonstrates GoPro’s recognition of the versatility of their product, and an understanding of who their various audiences are. GoPro is successfully using this understanding to “create specific marketing and PR programs to reach each buyer persona” (Scott, 2013, p. 168).
Great company, and great examples! Do you think that there are any potential untapped buyer personas that GoPro could be targeting?
References:
Scott, D.M. (2013). The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, blogs, news releases, online video, & viral marketing to reach buyers directly. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons
Good question Mike, I think there are other buyer personas that GoPro targets, but they are all still very similar to the "young, adventurous" type. The challenge with targeting too many different untapped personas is you begin diluting your existing brand reputation. For example, one potential untapped persona I considered for GoPro was the elderly. I am sure for many elderly, the user-friendly, durable cameras would come in handy for filming grandchildren or other family events. However, if GoPro began targeting that demographic, they would begin looking their "cool, young, and edgy" brand personality they worked hard to achieve.
DeleteThanks Brian, you make a great point about diluting brand reputation. GoPro has certainly established a reputation for itself among the adventure seeking and sporty/active lifestylers, and suddenly seeing a lot of content geared towards older folks would be a bit confusing. That said however, dropping some occasional content geared towards other personas, like the pet and baby videos that pop up sporadically through GoPro’s social media channels, might not necessarily be a bad thing. I think it demonstrates the versatility of GoPro’s product, and it gives the message that no matter your interests, activity, age, or stage in life, GoPro can help you share what matters to you.
DeleteI now want to go on vacation with a GoPro thanks to you Brian! What an awesome way to capture the deep blue sea!
ReplyDeleteGreat job targeting your buyer personas, I think you hit that spot on. I actually know a couple people who own a GroPro and they do fall into those categories. They love adventure and thrilling experiences. One of my friends is younger and uses his snowboarding footage on YouTube and Facebook. My other friend is older and uses footage of her kids sledding and jumping off the diving board on her Facebook to share with her friends.
I used a GroPro for the first time when I went whitewater rafting and could not believe the camera only had 3 buttons! I thought I was missing something, but it was just really easy to use. I think as this technology gets more popular, more and more buyer personas will be built. Though the two personas you mention stick out, I could see businesses utilizing this when on company retreats or to show inside employee relations. I see a lot of young kids (ages 8-13) using GoPros now too, they use them when they are skateboarding or cliff jumping etc. Soon everyone might have one of these!
Nice post!
Thanks Kara!
DeleteI agree, I could not get over how easy the interface is to navigate with only 3 buttons. Even under water it was really easy to change settings, I was very impressed.
Hi Brian,
ReplyDeleteThis is a fantastic post! Loved the video, I'm really impressed by the quality of footage underwater. I've heard of the brand but have not really used it myself. I used to be in an airborne unit and we'd jump at lower altitudes so our canopy time was minimal but I wish I had a GoPro to document that experience. Especially to show my kids one day! I also love the Caribbean, my family is from St. Vincent and Trinidad and I just happened to notice you drinking what looks to be a rum punch if I'm not mistaken...good times!
I think you did an excellent job describing the buyer personas and I think both examples you used were definitely fitting for the brand. The content to reach each of these buyer personas could also be very different. As you mentioned, your adrenaline junkie buyer persona may be an amateur or a professional in a particular sport that is interested in more technical media about that sport. Your family man/woman persona is active but more interested in media that appeals to ways to use the GoPro for family and travel use. One point Scott mentions that I though was interesting, "when you stop talking about you and your products and services and instead use the web to educate and inform important types of buyers, you will be more successful" (2013).
An example of a company that I think does a good job of content that focuses off of the product is Red Bull. You see the Red Bull logo on everything, but Red Bull creates a lot of content that compliments the brand but focuses away from the product. For instance, the Red Bull Stratos comes to mind. You can view the page using this link: http://www.redbullstratos.com/
Have you noticed GoPro taking a different stance on their website or social media sites that centers off their product?
Scott, D.M. (2013). The new rules of marketing and PR: How to use social media, blogs, news releases, online video, & viral marketing to reach buyers directly. Hoboken, N.J: John Wiley & Sons
I agree, it seems like GoPro and Red Bull have targeted very similar buyer personas. I guess Red Bull gives you the energy to do crazy things, and GoPro gives you the resource to record it! I have noticed them both take similar stances on websites and social media.
DeleteI went skydiving once in Australia and LOVED it. That is definitely on the bucketlist to do again now that I have the GoPro. Maybe I will be able to incorporate that video into a future blog post. :)
Brian,
ReplyDeleteI hope you have the opportunity to skydive again with the GoPro! Looking forward to seeing it posted here too! :-)