User-submitted videos create continuous buzz

When your target market is people in motion, you better figure out a way to connect with them on the move. GoPro’s PR firm decided to let their customers sell to each other. An interesting technology PR approach that worked like a charm. User-submitted videos create continuous buzz.

Typically, PR for companies selling camera equipment includes lists of specs, types and codes. Much of this jargon is indecipherable to people outside the industry. Aperture, f-stop and frame speed are words without meaning to most novices. And most pros already know what they are looking for. Enter GoPro, an HD camcorder specifically designed for extreme sports. Built to take a beating, the camera has promised excellent-quality recordings in just about any environment in the air, on the land or under the sea. The cameras look like nothing else on the shelf. Otherwise, there was really nothing about them that screamed, “BUY ME!”

So, GoPro’s PR firm elected to erase the line between entertainment and technology PR. GoPro announced that for a limited time it would award its entire product line to someone every day. The entry form was a user-submitted video – someone doing something cool with GoPro. Almost immediately entries came blasting in from around the world. GoPro’s PR was up and running, out of the blocks at a sprint.

And it has not stopped. The endless supply of videos has provided GoPro with a limitless amount of free publicity. Fans constantly watch, share and praise the exploits of fellow GoPro customers. Prospective customers are bombarded with opportunities to dream about what they would do with their GoPro camera and accessories. They are responding in incredible numbers. And why not? All they have to do is get their own camera, and they could be the next stars of the GoPro revolution.

Ronn Torossian stated, “This super simple approach totally bypasses the need to translate camera specs to novices.”  GoPro lets salespeople and product reviewers do that too. They sell the wow because they know that’s what their customers are willing to pay for. See their brilliant marketing in action.

Read more from Ronn Torossian:

Ronn Torossian on Forbes
Ronn Torossian on SoundCloud
Ronn Torossian on LinkedIn
Ronn Torossian’s Professional Profile on Muck Rack
Ronn Torossian on Business Insider