GoPro Case Analysis: Marketing Tactics, Situational Analysis and Recommendations

This paper provides a comprehensive analysis of GoPro's marketing tactics, situational analysis including Porter’s 5 Forces analysis, SWOT analysis and PESTEL analysis, and recommendations to mitigate the detected issues. It also discusses the positive and negative aspects of entrepreneurship and the role of adaptability in survival. The target segment, value, and social media tactics of GoPro are also discussed.

Running head: GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
GoPro Case Analysis
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Notes:

2GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
Executive Summary
GoPro has been recognised as the biggest supplier of portable and durable cameras that has
taken the world by storm ever since Nick Woodman came up with the idea. The answers are
presented in response to the questions related to the GoPro case. The case was written on
2014 and much has changed. The aim of the Part B of the paper is to evaluate the marketing
tactics taken by the company to sustain itself in the current business environment along with
a situational analysis including Porter’s 5 Forces analysis, SWOT analysis and PESTEL:
analysis that has been carried out to identify the potential threats the sustainability of GoPro.
Finally, recommendations have been provided to mitigate the detected issues.

3GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Part A.........................................................................................................................................3
Answer 1................................................................................................................................3
Answer 2................................................................................................................................4
Part B..........................................................................................................................................5
Answer 1................................................................................................................................5
Value..................................................................................................................................5
Target segment...................................................................................................................6
Social Media.......................................................................................................................6
Answer 2................................................................................................................................7
Porter’s 5 forces analysis...................................................................................................7
SWOT analysis...................................................................................................................8
PESTEL analysis..............................................................................................................10
Recommendations............................................................................................................10
REFERENCES.........................................................................................................................11

4GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
Introduction
Nick Woodman at the age of 37 has been recognised as one pf the youngest
billionaires today. The latter is the mastermind behind the creation of the brand known as
GoPro. GoPro is a product that allows its user to record high quality video while in action
(Gopro.com 2019). The innovative idea behind the creation of the products was doubtful at
first. However, the product was faced with success soon after the company were able to pitch
the product with the help of social media. Today, the brand is recognised as the best action
camera that exists in the global market.
Part A
Answer 1
Everything that exists in the world has a good and a bad side. It can be said that the good side
is positive and bad side is negative. Same applies for the case of entrepreneurship. There are
various positive aspects, however, the negative aspects are considered dire. There are three
major traits of the dark side of entrepreneurship (Verduijn et al. 2014).
The three major traits of Entrepreneurship are:
1. Need for Control: It is an aspect of the nature of behaviour of the individuals that is
characterised by a behaviour which involves forcing the entrepreneur’s opinion,
experience of difficulty in changing the role from that of a superior to a subordinate
(Antoncic et al. 2015). It is also characterised by difference in opinion with managers.
2. Sense of Distrust: It is a negative aspect of entrepreneurship that is characterised by
the fear of being victimised. Every small threat is seen as big threat to the
sustainability of the business and the entrepreneurs are always alert to changes
(Raman, Anantharaman and Ramanathan 2013). It can be said due top this factor the

5GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
latter might look into one problem so minutely that they will completely tend to
overlook the others.
3. Desire for Applause: This behaviour is characterised by a behaviour when the
entrepreneur always looks to gain appreciation for the activities that are carried out by
the latter (Akhtar, Ahmetoglu and Premuzic 2013). It can be opined that the latter are
always striving for excellence and is the reason why the expects their business to be
performing well under any possible circumstance.
Answer 2
The fact that entrepreneurship depends of sheer luck can be controversial statement to
make. It has been found that people have perceptions that entrepreneurship depends on the
capital one already has or has inherited. On a note contradictory to the latter it can be said
that entrepreneurship is far from luck or having healthy financial competence. There have
been many businesses that have risen and fallen over the years, even the ones with high
financial capabilities have failed miserably. Thus, the latter opinion should be eradicated.
From the case it was found out that Nick Woodman was successful in becoming an
entrepreneur who was deemed to be both successful and profitable. The reason behind
Woodman’s success was not his financial capability, rather it was a handicap for him. He had
to face a considerable amount of struggle and even had to invest his personal savings and that
of his parents to invest in the business which was risky. One can say that it was a big gamble
from his part. However, regardless of the fact that whether it was a gamble or not, it was due
to the risks taken along with pairing the same up with the innovative idea that set the latter
apart from the rest. Networking is one of the most important criteria that entrepreneurs must
abide by in order to make connections in the business environment that is considered to be
challenging to operate in (Wakhlu 2014). The same was followed by Nick Woodman who

6GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
made frequent visits to business expos and trade shows to make connections and the same
was recognised as one of the most significant aspects that determined success.
Part B
Answer 1
Adaptability is the key to survival in the industry that is considered dynamic (Usman
et al. 2013). Hence, to survive, companies must carry out their activities according to the
current conditions of the market. The tastes and preferences of the customers are going
through constant changes (Hillersdal, Christensen and Holm 2017). Thus, adjusting to the
tastes and preferences of the consumer community should be one top of the priority of every
company regardless of their nature of operations. GoPro has been able to adjust over time.
The modern generation is blessed with resources and technology that help them in bringing
the extra ‘it’ factor in their daily lives. Availability of smartphones with high resolution
cameras, with high quality video recording capacity and other features have been recognised
as some of the reasons behind the success of the smartphone companies (Cecere, Corrocher
and Battaglia 2015). The success of the latter and emergence of competitors in the similar
division can be deemed to be threats for the sustainability of GoPro and that is why they have
incorporated the following into the strategic operation tactics to gain competitive advantage;
Value
The services that are offered by the company are deemed to be perfectly aligned to
portray and deliver value to the people of all age groups. Just as cameras are supposed to help
people in capturing moments, the GoPro does the same, now with 4k capabilities (Gopro.com
2019). However, it has been found that the GoPro has taken catching memorable moments to
an all new level by giving the users an ability to capture enthralling activities that could never
be done so cheaply and with such high degree of confidence and comfort. The GoPro can be

7GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
strapped onto one’s wrist, cap, chest, or any part of any sort of vehicle, even drones. One can
carry out and record activities such as cycling, deep sea diving, sky diving, cliff jumping,
surfing and many other activities. The aim behind creation of the GoPro is to give people an
ability to stay mobile and adventurous and relive the moments later.
Target segment
Segmentation and targeting are activities that are carried out by organisations to
identify the most suitable target group to whom the organisation will pitch the product
(Kwac, Flora and Rajagopal 2014). The aim of the company is to target the individuals who
show an affinity to involvement in outdoor activities. The target group for the marketing
tactics of the athletes and people who love to invent time and money in activities that are
filled with leisure. Furthermore, it has been opined that the GoPro is a content creation
machine. Thus, the device and its peripherals are targeted towards the content creators such
as Vloggers and YouTubers. Identification of the most suitable target groups of customers
helps companies in catering to the specific requirements of the target group (Zikmund et al.
2013). As a result of this, the companies are able to direct all their efforts towards the
achievement of the strategic goals. Furthermore, being able to identify the target groups of
potential customers helps the companies in minimising the amount of waste that is generated
by the company in terms of marketing and promotional activities. As a result of the
successful segmentation and targeting carried out by GoPro, they have been able to position
themselves in the market as company who offer value to the consumers by offering them
products that the value and that brings value to their life. Furthermore, the innovative idea
behind the creation of the brand is one of the main plus points that have been responsible for
the success and market awareness that has been experienced by the company.

8GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
Social Media
Social media is a marketing tool that is considered to be cheap yet effective (Hays,
Page and Buhalis 2013). The popularity of smartphones is the reason behind the mass market
affinity of Social Media. It is one of the most important tools that is used by GoPro. One of
the main aspects of the GoPro devices is creation of content that can be used to create and
share content regarding the experiences that the user aims to share with their connections.
Thus, it is medium that the company is reliant on. The company urges the creation of
Hashtags for speeding awareness regarding the product and how it influences the life of
people. The hashtags are applicable on social media sites such as Instagram, Twitter,
Facebook, Pinterest and YouTube. Furthermore, the company has their dedicated social
media pages one each of the mentioned social media platforms which are used for keeping
the consumer community updated with the latest information and in order to engage them.
Answer 2
From the case study it was found that GoPro were operating favourably in the
Australian and the global market as a whole. The company were offering products that were
not even closely connected. Thus, the company were subject to competitive advantage.
However, change in operations and existence of a company is applicable to even the biggest
of multinational companies. Moreover, there has been changes in the macro environment that
can affect the operations of the company. Hence in order to adjudge the efficacy of the
operations of the company in the current market conditional a situational analysis consisting
of Porter’s 5 forces analysis, SWOT analysis of GoPro and PESTEL analysis has been
carried out.
Porter’s 5 forces analysis
Porter’s 5 forces analysis is an assimilation of factors such as rivalry among the
industry, the bargaining power of the buyers, the bargaining power of the suppliers, threats of

9GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
new entrants and threat of substitution (Dobbs 2014). Following is the Porter’s 5 forces
analysis of GoPro:
Internal rivalry (LOW): The companies challenging the sustainability of GoPro are very few.
Companies such as Sony are the closest competitors of the company with a product known as
the Action Cam that does not offer services close enough to what is offered by the GoPro
(Fainmesser and Galeotti 2019).
Power of Buyers (LOW)
There are no products that are even close to the GoPro. Thus, the customers do not have
alternative companies to buy from. Furthermore, similar products are not offered at similar
price points.
Power of the Suppliers (MODERATE)
The number of suppliers available are more compared to the number of buyers. Furthermore,
the huge number of suppliers make switching between suppliers easy. However, some
materials needed by GoPro can only be provided by select suppliers.
Threats of New Entrants (LOW)
The capital requirement for establishment of a new firm is considered challenging along with
the fact that economies of scale is hard to achieve. Entry in the market is assumed to be
characterised by loss from the part of the entrants.
Threat of Substitution (LOW)
There are no companies providing similar or even closely related products apart from Sony.
However, the Action Cam and GoPro are far apart. A rational consumer would choose to
stick to high quality at a considerably low price.

10GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
SWOT analysis
Strengths:
 Innovation
 Versatility in production
 Loyal customers
 Value for money products
Weaknesses:
 Price is high for mass consumption
 High rates of attrition
 Lack of cultural integration
 Lack of investment in R&D.
Opportunities:
 Growth of the Per capita income
 Low shipping costs
 Advancement in technology
 Network marketing
Threats:
 Threat from competitors such as
Sony and Kodak.
 Increasing strength of local suppliers
 Environmental safety regulation.

11GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
PESTEL analysis
Political factors: There has been increase in acceptance of innovative businesses and
increased amount of support in R&D.
Economic Factors: The economic conditions of the society are getting favourable with
increase in per capita income and GDP (Dreher and Gassebner 2013).
Social factors: Different demographic groups are showcasing affinity towards technology.
Technological factors: Rise in innovative forms of technological development.
Environmental factors: Presence of environmental regulations and sustainable practices.
Legal Factors: Protection of intellectual property laws and protection of copyrights and
patents.
From the situational analysis it is has been found out that the biggest threat to the company is
from SONY and minor regulations and cultural factors.
Recommendations
The following activities are recommended:
 To carry out market research to understand the preferences of the consumers.
 Paying attention of the competitor’s moves.
 Abiding by the legal and environmental regulations.
 Carry out the practice of Multiculturalism within the organisation.
 Pay attention of employees by implementing favourable HR policies to cope with
attrition.

12GOPRO CASE ANALYSIS
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