GoPro’s Niche Segmentation Strategy And Positioning Against Competitors

Questions:

1. GoPro launched into the market with a niche segmentation strategy. How did it position its camera within this market?

Definition of niche segmentation strategy? supported by academic journal

what is gopro niche segment

what is positioning? supported by academic journal

GoPro positioning? 

2. There are various ways in which organisations can segment their target markets. Which market characteristics has GoPro focused upon to establish a strong brand following?

what are the basic way of segmenting a market? how to select a market segment?

support by academic journal

what is GoPro Segmentation

User characteristic 

3. How did GoPro position itself against its key market competitors (i.e. Panasonic, Cannon, Nikon, Olympus)? Is this a sustainable strategy?

1. Niche market is a small market segment and the product within such segment can be defined by the niche market. Niche segment marketing is the concentration of the marketing efforts if the company on the segment of the small population that is well defined and specific. There is no actual existence of the market but if it is created when the poorly addressed wants, requirements and the needs is not recognized by the firms and in order to satisfy the customers the niche marketing develops the goods and services. The aim of the niche marketing is become the big fish in the small marketing. The segmentation in the niche marketing is employed by the firm to avoid the competition. This niche segmentation marketing strategy is mainly developed by the small firms. However, it may be developed by large firms so as to defense against the competition developed by the niche marketing (Auh, Seigyoung, and Omar Merlo 2012, 861).

The Gopro has made use of the marketing approach that is in relation with the market segmentation concerning niche market. The company targets a specific market that is receptive by utilizing the segmentation of then niche marketing. The market segment defined by the company is very narrow and here the target market of GoPro is the professional and amateur sportsmen. The marketing strategy of the company involves the strategic use of user generated content. The niche market segmentation of the company is dominant with the positioning strategy. The strategy of the niche market made the company globally recognized in just a short span of time. The competitors of the company focused on the traditional approach of addressing the mass market but the niche marketing segment of the company provide the competitive advantage and the strategy of the user generated content and the brand was supported by the community which is ever expanding (Brunello 2015).

1. GoPro launched into the market with a niche segmentation strategy. How did it position its camera within this market?

The brand of the company would be able to occupy the distinct position in the market by employing one of the marketing strategies that is positioning. It shows the position of the product of a particular company in relation to the other products of the industry in the mind of the consumers and the market place. A product of the company has the unique selling position if the positioning of the product is done in a good way. When the positioning of the product of the company is good, then the company’s brand would be able to be recognized. The flexibility of the brand in terms of the distribution, advertising and changes and extensions is provided by the good positioning. Positioning provided the outlining of the plan that the business needs to do for the marketing of the products and services. The positioning of the product is done through the 4Ps of the marketing that is product, place, promotion and marketing. The effectiveness of the marketing strategy depends upon the strategy of positioning the products (Coombes et al, 2013 656).

The unique selling position of the company came with the introduction of the camera and the founder of the company was able to recognize the application of the high definition cameras launched by the company in its early stage of business and was able to capture the adventurous footage imaginable of any types. The company launched such high definition cameras at the reasonable price ranging from $ 200 to $ 400 per camera. This uniqueness of the camera of GoPro provides the competitive advantage over its competitors such as Canon, Nikon, Panasonic and Olympus. The company was focusing on the target market which comprises of keen lover of adventures and the shared interest users (Finch et al, 2012).

The other features and the specialty of the camera which positioned it in a distinct way is that the camera is capable of capturing the video from the personal view point. The favorite pursuits of the users get captured by the camera. The brand is promoted using the various social media channels which provide the platform to the camera users to share and shot the footage and this was prompted as a social movement taken by the company. This platform has enhanced the number of audience engaged and the loyalty of the brand get build by the you tube channel of the brand and its authenticity. The placing of the user generated content as one of the marketing strategy has promoted the company and provided the competitive advantage. The company made use of social media for promoting the brand using the footage where it played the video to capture the attention of the audience (Frow et al 2015, 463). The various marketing strategies used by the company such as GoPro Hero 3 plus the series of adventures and the footage of the video had top athletes urged the users to do the same as done by the athletes in the video. The company made use the platform of digital marketing to engage the users of the camera.

2. There are various ways in which organisations can segment their target markets. Which market characteristics has GoPro focused upon to establish a strong brand following?

One of the factors that vary among the group is the basis of segmentation and the market can be segmented using the several bases. The basis of segmentation can be classified into several categories such as demographic, geographic, behavioral, and psychographic.

Demographic segmentation- this basis of segmentation make use of the variables to divide the population such as religion, race, income, gender, size of family, nationality, occupation.

Geographic segmentation- the market of consumers is divided on the basis of geography as the need of the customer varies depending upon their geographical location. This basis of segmentation is very vital when the business intends to expand domestically as well as internationally.

Behavioral segmentation- this basis make use of the usage, behavior and the pattern of decision making for the segmentation basis. The product is marketed bases on the individual behavior.

Psychographic segmentation- In this the market is defined using the lifestyle, activities, opinion and the interest of people. The psychological aspect of the buying behavior of the consumer is taken into account (Griffin et al 2013, 323).

The demographic segmentation of the market in case of the GoPro is the gender and the occupation. It also includes the family and the mothers aged 18-35. Initially the target market of the company was women and the amateur and professional sportsmen. This would include the sky divers, downhill mountain biker, divers and the race car drivers. The company focused on the interest and the psychology of the consumers such as people having the love for adventure were targeted. Therefore, it can be said that the company made use of the demographic and the behavioral basis of segmentation. The Psychographic segmentation include travelling, active and adventurous and this forms the basis of segmentation. The benefit offered by the camera is intended to film various experiences of life such as daily activities, family vacations and the sports (Kim et al, 2016).

The GoPro has committed itself to the demographic and the sports community that are extreme and the target market varies from the outdoorsmen to athletes and the adventurists. The geographic segmentation made use of the rural, suburban, coastal and the mountain and the benefit sought form this basis of segmentation is that the users would be provided with the filming of the activities with the friends and posting the same on the social media and online. The users of the camera buying and using the models launched by the company are the young people and who are involved in the social media platform. The action camera offered by the company is the ideal camera for the teenagers as it is very durable and comes at a relatively low price (Morgan 2012).

3. How did GoPro position itself against its key market competitors (i.e. Panasonic, Cannon, Nikon, Olympus)? Is this a sustainable strategy?

The competitors of the company such as Nikon, Canon, Olympus and Panasonic did not have durable and the rugged camera in their product lines which were offered by the GoPro and the factor such as price parity was not offered by its competitors and was offered by the GoPro and this made the company unique in its positioning strategy. The company wanted to build loyal base of customers rather than focusing on addressing the mass market using the traditional approach. The wearable camera launched by GoPro would help in better serving the public as a safer environment would be created for the police officers. The products offered by the GoPro are of unmatched quality and the value. The high definition camera offered by the company is the most technological and the durable camera in comparison to other brands and this is because it make use of the action footage (Payne, Adrian, and Pennie Frow 2014, 213). The product being versatile and this would provide a sustainable competitive advantage as the price of the product is also reasonable. The competitive positioning of the company gets enhanced having the product offered by the company that is more clear and defined and technology advanced. The company rather than focusing on the whole market, it focused on the individual. In order to stay above all of its competitors, the company intends to improve all its position. The combination of social media saturation, aggressive marketing and the technology advancements offered in the products provides a competitive positioning strategy to products offered by the customers (Zhao et al 2013, 789).

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