When looking around at all the brands in the market today, there seems to be a very unfortunate problem with a lot of their marketing. They tend to fall into the usual routine of making fun of their competition, touting their benefits as if they are the best thing since sliced bread, or just in general talking at and not to their customers.

One company that definitely has it right these days though is GoPro, makers of portable video cameras and accessories. Across all channels they are doing a fantastic job of fostering a community of customers and in general getting people excited about what you, the consumer, can do with their product. Their main audience is the action sports crowd and their approach is spot on. (Disclaimer: I consider myself a part of this crowd, or used to be before I became an old man). These are people who are extremely passionate about snowboarding, surfing, skydiving, whatever, and they don’t want to be hit with the facts or a clever slogan; they want to be shown visuals of the crazy stunt they wish they were doing instead of reading a magazine or surfing the Internet.

For their online advertising they have a Daily “Everything We Make” Giveaway program. In their “You’re on TV” campaign they focus on showing 30-second spots that feature their customers, and for their social media presence, they post photos and videos from their sponsored pro athletes, but also have a bunch from their community. Most importantly, in their videos on YouTube and their website  they show beautiful films made with their products. The quality of the video speaks for itself, and nowhere do they scream loudly about resolution, battery life or other features. For the most part the only messages used are “You in HD” or “Be a Hero”. For example, take a look at the amazing video below; it was posted this week announcing their new GoPro Hero3.

If you watch this and have looked at some of my other examples, and aren’t the least bit impressed by their strategy, I would love to hear why not.