gopro innovation case study

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University blogs, the million dollar challenge: a case study of how gopro creatively leverages user-generated content marketing.

My previous blog post introduces you to the concept of Electronic Word of Mouth (eWOM) and its different strategies. Among those strategies was user-generated content marketing. In this blog, you will learn from an inspiring story of how GoPro promote their new cameras by integrating user-generated content marketing seamlessly with their branded content marketing.

About GoPro

GoPro is a leading American technology manufacturer and seller of action cameras, camera accessories, and its software. Action cameras are wearable and mountable cameras which you might already have seen or used one before.

What was the campaign?

October last year, GoPro launched its new cameras, HERO8 Black and Max. Traditionally, to promote a new product, technology companies would produce product-focused videos internally. GoPro, on the other hand, put the task in the hand of its community through the Million Dollar Challenge.

How did they do it?

Setting objectives.

As technology advances within the consumer electronics industry, a daunting challenge facing technology companies is to communicate various technical features in an engaging manner. The challenge for GoPro was to promote awareness and boost demand for the newest cameras that have so many new features.

Katie Marylander, GroPro’s global social marketing manager, mentioned that the objective was to deploy a social media marketing campaign that will generate conversation while simultaneously educating (technical) and inspiring (the UGC campaign) their consumers.

The three-stage strategy

Stage 1: creating social buzz.

Two-and-a-half weeks prior to the launch day, the company released three teaser videos hint at the new cameras and its key features. Thanks to GoPro’s extensive digital marketing channels, the videos were able to create excitement, anticipation and buzz among GoPro community members and the press which perfectly set the stage for the next strategy. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3CU-YSH1DB/

Stage 2: The Feature Thrillers

The “Feature Thrillers” refers to a series of video GoPro released on the launching event and consequently on their channels. The series includes two videos, one for each product that is educational and product-focused but with energetic and thrilling characteristics. This type of video is traditionally released for every new GoPro flagship product which pleases the longtime GoPro fans.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B3E5E-WHZD1/

Stage 3: The Million Dollar Challenge

Days after letting the community enjoy and engage with the educational thrillers, the finale came. The Million Dollar Challenge is a user-generated content initiative inviting HERO8 users to submit their videos for a chance of splitting $1,000,000 using the new GoPro cameras. Moreover, the winners’ clip will also be featured on the next promoting video which will be seen by people from around the world. 

Result Analysis

Over 4 months, 42,000 clips were submitted and by creators from 170 countries. The 45 winners were awarded last month. For a multi-billion dollar company like GoPro, this UGC was extremely successful as it benefited the company in many folds.

Firstly, it directly boosts the sale as participants were required to buy the new camera to shoot the video. 

Secondly, the winning clips were put together to create a product promotion video that won a Shorty Award for Best User-Generated Content. The video has been translated into more than 10 languages reaching people worldwide and exceeded three million views in over a month. 

Thirdly, the press covered both the launch and the innovative UGC campaign for free. Ironically, the fact that a university student from Thailand writing a blog post about it is another proof of its success.

Lastly, many participants, some are the top influencer in their field, upload youtube vlogs and social media posts about their journey of creating the video with the GoPro camera. As a result, GoPro was able to directly reach filmmakers, photographers and extreme sports athletes and adventure-seekers which are all target customer for the product. “How I won the GoPro Million Dollar Challenge” is one of the videos which itself alone reaches more than 2 million views. (See below)

Looking from the metrics-based result, this was the most successful product launch for GoPro. The social response was positive:

• The whole campaign reaches more than 857 million people evoked 70 million engagements. The engagement rate is 8.1 per cent making it the highest record.
• The UGC video has been shared more than 57,000 times.
• A user journey analysis shows that the social media campaign has made more sales conversions than any previous one. (did not specify how much)
• With a total of 42,000 videos submitted, it shows that the campaign successfully called for GoPro community engagement.

The key takeaways

One thing that appears consistently in every good eWOM marketing case is planning. In this case, the evidence of planning was obvious right from the objective setting. Even if it was not written explicitly, the complex three-stage strategy of this campaign could be an even better proof of a plan. Another key takeaway is the importance of performance tracking. The metric-based results show that the whole marketing campaign was monitored in meaningful ways. Tracking the results also helps diagnose of negative eWOM early, hence a better chance of limiting its effects. (Kirby, Marsden 2006)

Click here to learn how to plan for digital marketing campaigns using SOSTAC. (Chaffey and Smith, 2013)

(Hennig-Thurau et al., 2004) 

Stage 1 and 2, despite being a typical branded content marketing campaign, were included in this UGC blog post because they demonstrate that in real life, eWOM campaigns can be implemented with other marketing strategies. Firstly, stage 1 helped build up anticipation and also allow GoPro to test the waters. Stage 1 gives enough time for the product news to reach people. Without it, this campaign risks not getting enough attention.

Secondly, stage 2 ensures the success of the final UGC campaign. The obvious is that it educates people about the new features which are important for any buyers not only the ones that will participate in the UGC campaign. The less obvious is that the tradition is when GoPro launches new products, it always releases a top-notch promoting video which the long-time fans are expecting. Without the videos from stage 2, the fans might feel neglected which will generate negative social sentiment setting off stage 3 on a bad note. See “ Work From Hawaii ” case where an advertisement helped kick-started a successful UGC campaign. 

Looking at the case from a macro point of view, GoPro certainly understands the risks of eWOM very well. For example, lie behind the exciting surface of a challenge invitation a tight term and conditions mitigating legal risks occurred in the case of Chang v. Virgin Mobile. (2009).

Finally, GoPro seems to recognize the fundamental of eWOM that, at the end of the day, the best strategy to generate positive and limit negative WOM derive from the product, the company practice and the customer experience. If you provide something that exceeds customers’ expectations and share-worthy, you will naturally generate WOM. On the contrary, if your customers feel like they just got ripped off, no marketing campaigns would help. They are only going to make the matter worse.

You can learn more about other risks from the following studies:

• Restricted control over the negative WOM (Lomax, Stokes 2002)
• Fast spreading and highly influential ability of negative WOM (De Pelsmacker et al. 2007; Kirby, Marsden 2006)
• Fake online identities and WOM (Litvin, Goldsmith and Pan, 2008) (Dellarocas 2003) (Cavazza and Guidetti, 2014)

Cavazza, N. and Guidetti, M. (2014). Fake online reviews: A study on eWOM influence when suspicions arise. PSICOLOGIA SOCIAL, 9(1), pp.71-82.

Chaffey, D. and PR Smith (2013). Emarketing Excellence: Planning and Optimizing your Digital Marketing. [ebook] Taylor & Francis Group. Available at: http://ebookcentral.proquest.com/lib/ubrighton/detail.action?docID=114376 [Accessed 5 Feb. 2020].

Chang v. VIRGIN MOBILE USA, LLC, Civil Action No. 3: 07-CV-1767-D (N.D. Tex. Jan. 16, 2009).

Dellarocas, C. (2003). The Digitization of Word-of-Mouth: Promise and Challenges of Online Feedback Mechanisms. SSRN Electronic Journal.

De Pelsmacker, P., Geuens, M. and Van den Bergh, J., 2007. Marketing communications: A European perspective. Pearson education.

Hennig-Thurau, T., Gwinner, K., Walsh, G. and Gremler, D. (2004). Electronic word-of-mouth via consumer-opinion platforms: What motivates consumers to articulate themselves on the Internet?. Journal of Interactive Marketing, 18(1), pp.38-52.

Kirby, J. and Marsden, P. eds., 2006. Connected marketing: the viral, buzz and word of mouth revolution. Elsevier.

Litvin, S.W., Goldsmith, R.E. and Pan, B., 2008. Electronic word-of-mouth in hospitality and tourism management. Tourism management, 29(3), pp.458-468.

Stokes, D. and Lomax, W. (2002). Taking control of word of mouth marketing: the case of an entrepreneurial hotelier. Journal of Small Business and Enterprise Development, 9(4), pp.349-357.

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GoPro: Brand Extension

In early 2017, camera manufacturer GoPro stunned investors by reporting its first recorded annual profit loss and a revenue forecast that sharply missed analyst estimates. What had once been widely heralded as one of the biggest initial public offerings of 2014, tripling in price in just over three months following the June IPO, the stock had tumbled 90.7 percent by the end of 2016. A series of camera pricing mistakes, altered product release schedules, and lower marketing spend, set against a backdrop of relative market saturation, negatively impacted demand for GoPro cameras. In fiscal year 2016 alone, units shipped and revenues both declined by nearly 30 percent, a remarkable reversal from the early days, when revenues more than doubled each year following the company’s 2004 launch.

While sales of GoPro cameras declined, its brand remained one of the most revered in the world. As a result, Tony Bates, director and former president of GoPro, mulled over ideas for leveraging the brand beyond the camera. For Bates, this meant potentially launching a new product using the existing GoPro brand in a different category. While it seemed easy enough, GoPro had to consider where to extend the business in a way that made sense for the company’s core demographic. GoPro also had to determine whether to license the brand to others or partner with another company. Given the consumer-centric roots of the company and the evolution of the brand, there was a lot to consider.

This case examines the challenges facing GoPro in the face of falling sales, and how best to leverage its increasingly popular brand. It provides a brief background of the company, the evolution of the brand, a description of early attempts to grow the brand, models for licensing the brand, how best to implement a licensing model, the need to protect the brand, as well as two case studies using Red Bull and Virgin Group as examples of successful brand extensions.

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Home » Video Gear » The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the Illustrious GoPro

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The Rise, Fall, and Rise Again of the Illustrious GoPro

As GoPro celebrates the launch of their tenth product, it’s time to look back at the rollercoaster ride of their last twenty years.

If you picture a Californian tech entrepreneur, you might think of Steve Jobs of Apple or Jim Jannard of RED cameras , but would you think of Nicholas Woodman, founder of GoPro? He actually started the company in 2002 with a typical California backstory and a loan from Mum and Dad. 

Woodman took the company to their IPO in 2014 when annual revenues topped nearly 1.5 billion dollars. But, a number of unsound investments in drone technology with their Karma product, virtual reality with their purchase of a French VR company, and chasing the 3D market maybe took their eye off selling the basic GoPro camera product.

Woodman was also a big fan of refreshing his entire product line—he did it twice. But, ultimately, sales began to slide even though innovation within the product was constant.

Were the lifestyle or action videographers turning their back on the brand that started it all off? Was the smartphone just too damn smart and ubiquitous?

2020 wasn’t a good year for anybody, but especially a brand that essentially needed you to go outside to use it. Revenue was down 25% from 2019 at $891,925.

However, a complete restructuring of the business has now turned GoPro into a direct-to-consumer retailer and it’s paying dividends.

The Surfer Businessman

In a nutshell, the story of the camera was actually the story of a camera strap to start with. Woodman was a surfer dude complete with his VW bus, but frustrated with the lack of photography tools for his passion. He wanted the “hero” action shots out on the ocean where the drama was. He also harbored ambitions of turning pro and was buoyed by his surfer friends’ encouragement to find a solution.

His first photographic product wasn’t actually a camera, but a wrist strap for a camera. It would attach to the camera, then hinge up when you wanted to take a photograph. You just pushed it back onto your wrist when you were finished.

Woodman’s initial thought was to rely on customers to use their own camera, but was soon in negotiations with Chinese manufacturers to make one for him. It was to be a basic 35mm film model, with a strap in a waterproofed plastic case as a package. (You can still buy the package on eBay today).

Not a Great Camera But a Great Concept

He sold the first GoPros in 2004 and ended the year with revenues of $150,000, the next year was $350,000 after he started selling on the QVC shopping channel.

Through the next few years, after finally launching a digital video camera, the GoPro HERO3 became the standard for capturing action sports.

In fact, according to IDC data, in the first half of 2012, GoPro was responsible for 21.5% of digital camcorders in the U.S., up from 6% the previous year. At the time, GoPro was America’s fastest-growing company.

No wonder by 2013 Woodman had reached billionaire status and became the darling of Silicon Valley, with investors clamoring to buy a piece for themselves—they didn’t have long to wait.

But, the fact was that the first few GoPro cameras weren’t great products. The concept of owning your own action camera, however, was a game-changer. People bought them in multiples and the sports-action genre exploded. Nobody seemed to mind that the quality of the cameras weren’t the best, they were too busy having fun and recording it on the slopes.

The first ones looked like a compact stills camera housed in a waterproof plastic housing. It was claimed to work down to 60m. Once in the housing, you couldn’t use the audio inputs or the HDMI output. Also, there were only two buttons—one a power/mode button and the other a select/record button.

The colorimetry of the HERO2, for example, wasn’t something you’d call cutting edge. But, GoPro had doubled the resolution from the HERO1 with an 11MP sensor from the 5MP of the first model. Of course, image quality wasn’t really why people bought these cameras. Everyone bought in to the lifestyle that Woodman was peddling and sales rocketed.

Going Public

In the third quarter of 2014, GoPro went public. They posted revenue in the third quarter of 2014 of $280 million, up 45.7% compared to the $192.1 million reported in the third quarter of 2013. They’d introduced GoPro 4 earlier in the year with a 4K resolution and a 2.7K option at 50 and 60p. But, going into 2015, sales started to dip.

GoPro’s answer was to refresh the product line with the HERO4 Black as the ultimate model, but below would be cheaper versions down to the HERO at only $129.99. The HERO4 Black retailed for $499.99. 

The headline figures saw a 31% drop in sales for the last quarter of the year—the all important Xmas holiday season. From the company’s point of view, there were reasons for the difference in revenue, like the trimming of the product range and the tooling charges involved with that. They also had excess inventory of the models that they’d dispensed with. 

There were no real worries about the market performance as the next year would see the arrival of their drone—Karma was on the way.

The Value of Karma

2016 saw a continuation of slipping sales, but worse was to come. After a triumphant launch, their much-vaunted new Karma drone was recalled , all 2,500 of them. Apparently, in a small number of cases, Karma units lost power during operation. All units sold were sent back for full refunds. “Shipments of Karma would resume as soon as the issue is resolved,” commented GoPro.

But, come 2017, Karma was canned even though it made a re-appearance in February of that year. The official line was: “The product faces margin challenges in an extremely competitive aerial market.” The unofficial line was— DJI . The company also went through a restructuring, losing over 200 employees.

But, HERO cameras kept coming with two in 2018. An entry-level HERO for $199 and the HERO7 was launched with the first appearance of HyperSmooth stabilization and the TimeWarp stabilized time-lapse function. Revenue was down over the year but was blamed on the costs for killing Karma.

Perhaps the most interesting figure in the investor’s media pack was that the website, gopro .com , now represented more than 10% of revenue in Q4 2018, growing more than 50% year-on-year.

Setting up Shop

In 2019, GoPro enhanced their PLUS subscription model and the service became integrated in the checkout experience. For $4.99 a month, you now received damaged camera replacement, unlimited cloud storage, and 50% off mounts and accessories.

In an investment statement, you could almost hear Woodman licking his lips at the site’s potential. “We continue to see consistent global PLUS subscriber growth, and by giving our customers the ability to subscribe to PLUS when buying a camera at gopro.com, we expect to accelerate that growth,” he said to investors.

In fact, he made the company’s transition to a direct-to-consumer model official in May 2020. It gave the company a substantially reduced operating expense model, improved gross margin, and provided “a significantly lower threshold to profitability.”

By the end of the first quarter of 2020, there were 355,000 paid subscribers. By the end of the second quarter of 2021, GoPro subscribers were up 211% to 1,160,000. Overall revenue was up by 86% with gopro.com earning 35% of that with $88 million.

Pandemic Bounce

You can now tell that all marketing efforts from GoPro are targeted at cultivating even more subscriptions. If you buy the new HERO10 Black camera at gopro.com, it’ll cost $399.98 and include a one-year GoPro Subscription. If you don’t want the subscription, you pay $499.99. Basically a no-brainer purchase as you can cancel the subscription after the free year and still save $100.

So, for all you GoPro owners, the good news is that the company seems to be operating on firmer ground. The new camera has followed the drip-feed of new innovation that’s been the hallmark since the early 2000s.

GoPro certainly pivoted in 2020 and 2021 due to the pandemic, and their recent figures show a certain bounce due to lockdowns and continuing high infection rates. However, GoPro is on the rise again, and we salute them for it.

A few more inspiring articles for you:

• Should You Carry a GoPro (or Two) in Your Filmmaking Kit?
• Stabilizing GoPro Footage with the Unique ReelSteady GO App
• Royalty Free Music and Video Assets for GoPro Videos
• DJI Releases the New Mini SE Drone for Under $300
• DJI Announces New Smaller Air 2S Drone That Shoots 5.4K Video

Cover image via GoPro .

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The GoPro Rollercoaster -The Rise, The Fall, and a Resurgence!

Once a role model of entrepreneurship, GoPro hasn't had a perfect picture over the last few years. The rise and fall and the resurgence being attempted teach us invaluable lessons of resilience.

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The GoPro story started in 2002 when an avid surfer Nick Woodman went on a surfing trip and quickly realized that there was no way to film himself while in the water. While most photographers shooting surfing images usually used DSLRs with long tele lenses from the beaches, buying these lenses and equipment and hiring photographers was an expensive affair.

This led to the birth of the desire to shoot professional images in dire situations and adventure sports. To help people capture and share their lives' most meaningful experiences in immersive and exciting ways.

Nick wanted the “hero” action shots out on the ocean where the drama was. He also harbored ambitions of turning pro and was buoyed by his surfer friends’ encouragement to find a solution. And that led him first to develop and launch a wrist strap in 2003. It was designed to be attached to a regular digital camera, then hinge up when you wanted to take a photograph. You just pushed it back onto your wrist when you were finished.

But while testing his first makeshift models on a surf trip to Australia and Indonesia, Nick realized that he would have to manufacture the camera, its housing, and the strap altogether. Woodman, after saving up money with his wife by selling seashell jewelry and belts out of their old Volkswagen van in California, together with $235,000 that he borrowed from his mom and dad, started the camera company - Woodman Labs (only to be renamed GoPro later on).

In 2004, GoPro started selling its first-ever camera, named HERO. A small, handy 35 mm compact film camera inside a waterproof plastic housing with a hand-sewn wrist strap. There were only two buttons - a power/mode and a select/record button. What set the GoPro 35mm Hero apart from the rest of the point-and-shoot cameras was its ruggedness. Priced at just $20, it was an outstanding deal for photo enthusiasts and families.

GoPro ended the year with revenues of $150,000 and the following year in 2005 with $350,000 after Nick started selling on the QVC shopping channel. From QVC, Nick managed to get the product into Recreational Equipment, Inc. (REI) — one of America’s largest outdoor recreation retail groups. The product then took off as extreme athletes such as racecar drivers, skydivers and skateboarders purchased the cameras for filming themselves. Point-of-view videos shot by GoPro cameras attached to surfboards, ski helmets, bike frames, and pets suddenly became ubiquitous and viral on YouTube. Nobody had ever seen footage like this; it was a new, dizzyingly personal, and mesmerizing art form. At the same time, Go Pro finally made it into the ‘mainstream’ when it landed on the shelves of Best Buy.

The concept of owning your action camera was a game-changer. People bought them in multiples, and the sports-action genre exploded. Everyone bought into the lifestyle that Woodman was peddling and the sales rocketed. Things started ramping up with GoPro in 2006 when the first-ever Digital Go Pro Hero was introduced, and revenues hit over $800,000. The year after, 2007 saw a massive revenue leap, with GoPro hitting the $3.4 million mark.

GoPro continued to launch new variants through incremental refinements in features and functionalities such as digital, video resolution, sensor size, durability, etc. As time passed, the world around changed, and so did GoPro. It kept on improving and innovating its product line . These technological advancements, along with some savvy marketing and social media strategy, enabled GoPro to build an engaged community of users - a recipe for fostering a virtuous growth cycle.

Over the years, GoPro became the standard for capturing action sports. Just as the word Xerox had become synonymous with Photocopier machines after the inventors named and trademarked their process under that name, action cameras were at one point known as GoPros.

It grew phenomenally, riding on the wave of its popularity. Revenues skyrocketed to $234 million in 2011, then grew to $526 million in 2012, $986 million in 2013, and $1.4 billion in 2014. GoPro was the talk of the town, one of the fastest growing companies.

And this growth coincided with Foxconn, one of the world’s largest electronics manufacturers, buying a $200 million stake in GoPro for roughly 9% of the company in 2013. Then, GoPro made its public debut in the third quarter of 2014 to raise $427 million at a $2.96 billion valuation, the biggest consumer electronics IPO in about 20 years. This reflected its strong position as a popular product segment even as smartphones continued to decimate the camera industry at large.

And the stock surged more than four fold to $98 within three months of its debut.

The purpose-driven and customer experience-centric business model and the stellar business performance of GoPro also attracted Salim Ismail and others who were researching several startups, scaleups, and incumbents through the lenses of the Exponential Organization (ExO) success formula. And GoPro got featured in the list of Top100 ExOs released in 2015.

However, the love affair with the market (customers and shareholders) and the success story GoPro experienced in the first decade of its existence between 2004 and 2014 started falling apart. After peaking at $1.62 billion in 2015, revenues dropped to $1.16 billion in 2016 and then plateaued at $1.17 billion in 2017 and $1.14 billion in 2018.

WHAT WENT WRONG?

The Dwindling Core - In its core camera business, the HERO - GoPro started feeling the heat from mobile phones and cheaper alternatives. With a smartphone, everyone had a camera in their pocket, and GoPro’s USP of being handy and powerful was becoming redundant. And then, smartphones also became waterproof and much more rugged. GoPro's unique selling propositions – ruggedness and being small and handy- were not ‘unique’ anymore.

Also, the GoPro product segment, after gaining immense popularity, started seeing competition from Chinese players giving the same functionality as the GoPro albeit at a lower price. GoPro's most significant challenge perhaps came when Google entered the wearable camera market with a $249 wireless smart camera (compared to GoPro's equivalent offerings, which were priced around $400 upwards). Google Clips used artificial intelligence to automatically capture several-second motion clips when its algorithms detect something photo-worthy. Unlike GoPro cameras, which require dedicated mounts to affix to a helmet, bicycle, or body, Google’s camera was designed so one could clip it to the shirt, a stroller handle, or wherever else one might be able to clip something.

Further, GoPro's pricing strategy (indicating that it perhaps misjudged the market and its brand appeal) ended up seeing the company slashing the prices of its new cameras almost by half within a few weeks of launch on a fairly regular basis. This led to confusion and disengagement in the minds of its customers and even cannibalization instead of growth.

Lastly, while GoPro had started as a niche catering to adventurers, surfers, and travelers, over time, its primary customer base had emerged as skaters, skiers, holidaymakers, and just about any average person. So, while GoPro promoted its products using professional athletes and adventure sports enthusiasts, it didn't focus on showcasing how an ordinary family man or woman could use their product, too, creating a disconnect with the mainstream market. While GoPro had a stronghold among adventurers and extreme sports enthusiasts, other cameras targeted the mainstream. They soon gained momentum, challenging the leadership and iconic position of GoPro that it had established over the years.

GoPro had to expand its horizons and create new verticals for financial stability and growth. But, it wasn't meant to be.

The Pivoting that went Sour - In late 2014, GoPro started transforming itself from being only a camera seller into a media entity, from a hardware to a software company. GoPro's strategy made sense in 2014. Videos from GoPro users dangling off helicopters or diving with sharks racked up millions of views on YouTube. Amazon and Netflix had recently begun their original content push. Even Red Bull, a brand closely associated with GoPro, had just introduced an Apple TV channel. For GoPro, it also meant proving to Wall Street that its business had the potential to be more than just selling cameras to a niche audience of sports enthusiasts.

To kickstart those efforts, it launched an Xbox Live channel and made a deal with Virgin America for in-air entertainment. Its website also acted as a media portal, collecting top photos and videos. The entertainment unit, led by former Skype CEO Tony Bates, initially focused on gaining followers on YouTube and other social media platforms. The sporty hardware company made a series of high-profile hires to bolster its entertainment division in 2015, including the former head of Hulu Originals programming Charlotte Koh, and HBO sports executive Bill McCullough. It briefly produced original content and created a licensing and revenue-sharing platform for content creators.

But, the high-profile efforts were undermined by costly productions amid the tough tradeoffs of a company trying to salvage its core business. The newly formed content team at the entertainment division began spending more and more on their video shoots and production. Budgets went from $10,000 a shoot to $100,000 a shoot. It wanted to come across as a series player, not wanting to cut any corners. It perhaps crossed the line and ended up splurging. The entertainment division developed over 30 TV series and had ideas for releasing their streaming platform. But, most of the shows never made it out of production, and the streaming platform was never launched.

With the core business dwindling and no signs of the entertainment division becoming a profit center on its own, the entire unit was eventually shut down in November 2016. It was not the only tech company that had gotten excited about Media but ended up having a painful exit. Yahoo took a $42 million write-down in 2015 for its investment in shows like Community. The difference was that GoPro didn't have the deep pockets to afford the misadventure.

The Drone Disaster - In September 2016, just in time for the festive season, GoPro made a triumphant launch of its drone, Karma with a dedicated slot for the Hero action cameras. Karma was an outcome of a project initially announced in December 2014 after noticing the success of DJI's drone, the Phantom. But, the project Karma got marred with delays amid a shift from a joint venture with the specialist 3D Robotics to an in-house start-from-scratch research & development effort costing almost $96 million.

But, it soon found competition within a week when DJI launched its line of compact Mavic Pro and Spark drones with more robust features, smaller designs, and lower prices. And to add to the challenge, within three weeks after the Karma devices went on sale, some owners complained about losing power mid-flight, causing the GoPro drone to plummet uncontrollably to the ground. GoPro had to announce a complete recall and take the product off the shelves when it was discovered that the device was losing power during operation. And this was the beginning of the end of Karma. While it relaunched the product in February 2017, it had lost the holiday season opportunity and the momentum and could never recover. GoPro announced the shutdown of Karma in January 2018.

The Organization and Culture - Before the IPO, GoPro had been a relatively simple operation, with sales, marketing, engineering, and design teams working on the company's products. But after the IPO, as GoPro tried to build new businesses, the company unconsciously shifted to a more siloed structure, where multiple divisions - software, hardware, media - ran as separate business units. Individual teams began to embrace tools that worked best for them. Because each team used its arsenal of tools, organization-wide cross-team communication, collaboration, and visibility started becoming challenging and bred bureaucracy.

Previously, GoPro had held quarterly all-hands pep rallies, called hangs, but as it grew in size and geographically, the company moved towards what can be considered a more subdued monthly affair, with Nick Woodman and the other senior leaders giving a speech in front of a few hundred employees (while the rest watched online).

The Leadership! - While paradoxical, Nick, who was undoubtedly the central brain and the hustler behind GoPro's stellar growth, also potentially ended up becoming a bottleneck.

In the early years of GoPro, Nick is known to have driven up and down California’s beaches selling his necklaces from his 1971 Volkswagen to make the cash he needed to pursue his passion. And, when not selling necklaces from a VW, he would work on a sewing machine borrowed from his mother. He would design different straps and test what worked best. At night he would stay up late to speak with factories in China regarding camera parts. He was hustling and working up to 18 hours a day, seven days a week, for months.

Fast-forward 10 years. After the successful IPO in 2014, Nick became an instant billionaire. In a matter of months, his wealth had hit the $3 billion mark, and he had become the highest-paid CEO in America. Over the years, while amassing his wealth, Nick bought a 180-foot yacht, a Gulfstream G5 jet, homes in Montana and Hawaii, and a fleet of vintage sports cars over the years. And, somewhere, GoPro as a company had been adopting its founder's flashy lifestyle.

While hindsight is always 20:20, Nick admitted during an interview with Inc magazine in late 2018 that " We went from being thrifty and scrappy and efficient and wildly innovative to being bloated and–what’s the opposite of thrifty? It was deconstructing everything we had built."

A RESURGENCE IN PROGRESS!

GoPro's Founder and CEO Nick Woodman, during an interview with the Inc magazine in 2018 said "When things are going well, you can be lured into thinking that everything’s easier than it is. Just because you’re a World Series-winning pitcher doesn’t mean you can go play quarterback."

After nearly four years of struggling performance after its IPO - GoPro pivoted once again in 2018 and shifted gears to focus on profitable growth and declared that it would go back to what it does best and feels strongly about - action cameras.

In 2018, GoPro announced many upgrades to its Hero camera and also the launch of a new spherical camera called Fusion, which could pull out any still or moving image from the spherical footage - a feature called OverCapture that essentially made it possible to shoot in multiple directions at once and frame one's photo or video after shooting. This was undoubtedly considered by the technology pundits and the market as a true innovation and potentially the beginning of the company coming back on track. GoPro has kept introducing innovations and an improved range of products and accessories over the last four years and has been acknowledged in the form of different awards, including CES Innovation Awards Honoree, CHIP Photo Awards, PCMag Best of the Year, amongst others.

GoPro's innovations have also been targeted toward shifting the product mix to the high-end premium camera segment. Its>$400 average selling price cameras account for nearly 80% of the revenues in Q2 2022 compared to only 40% in 2018. Think iPhone!

Also, GoPro has been expanding its direct-to-consumer (DTC) business and its footprint in emerging markets while scaling up its customer relationship management and engagement efforts with frequent new product launches acting as tailwinds. So, while retail used to account for nearly 90% of its sales in the pre-2018 era, now it accounts for only 60%, with DTC accounting for 40% of its latest reported financial numbers, also helping improve margins from low 30% to nearly 40% now.

The company also re-launched its subscription and service model GoPro PLUS. The service provides subscribers with significant savings on cameras and accessories, an assured replacement for damaged cameras, but more significantly, unlimited cloud storage, the capacity to upload footage to the cloud directly from GoPro cameras, premium editing tools in the Quick App, and a private streaming platform to enable storytelling and immersive sharing - going back to its roots and its purpose.

By the end of the second quarter of 2021, GoPro subscribers were up from a small 355,000 in the first quarter of 2020 to 1.16 million, and in the recently announced results for Q2 2022, these had increased further by 71% to 1.91 million.

On the internal organizational front as well, GoPro has been investing in building a collaborative environment. Earlier, the internal beta testing at GoPro was typically done for small groups of people closest to the product, and the feedback loop was primarily between just the testers and the product team. Now, the company has extended the reach of the feedback loop, increasing engagement for a broad set of employees and even building internal hype around the new product introduction efforts. Further, GoPro has been leveraging technology to empower and capture the collective personal retail experiences of its global workforce to report on the status of more than 27,000 global POP (point of purchase) retail displays, to choose what questions management will address at all-hands meetings, and for myriad other ways that help the GoPro workforce feel connected, empowered and prideful for what they represent to the global community of GoPro users.

These revival efforts have perhaps arrested the decline GoPro had started experiencing between 2015 and 2018, with GoPro delivering revenues of $1.16 billion in 2021 but certainly better profitability with adjusted EBIDTA standing at $168 million compared to only $22 million in 2018. However, the street doesn't seem to be convinced yet. From the peak market capitalization of $11.8 billion in September 2014, GoPro is valued at a paltry $900 million as of the beginning of September 2022.

GoPro aspires to be a force for positivity, celebrating all things awesome while inspiring people to pursue their passions. It has an opportunity to leverage its purpose, values, brand-appeal and social media reach to sustain the momentum it has garnered over the last few years.

Will it be able to regain the glory of the first decade of its existence? Will it be able to bounce back and deliver sustainable and profitable growth? We will be watching closely.

This article on GoPro is part of a SPOTLIGHT series on some of the TOP100 Exponential Organizations to map their journey over the last eight odd years since the list was initially published in 2015.

To get insights from the successes and debacles, read the stories of other ventures which have thrived, but also some which didn't

DUOLINGO https://insight.openexo.com/startup-success-the-duolingo-way/

3D HUBS https://insight.openexo.com/dont-just-be-part-of-the-change-pioneer-the-future-the-3d-hubs-success-story/

TUMBLR https://insight.openexo.com/why-tumblr-tumbled/

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With more than 25 years of experience in driving transformation initiatives, Chander is pronounced with a passion for delivering sustainable 10X impact through inspiring, engaging & enabling people.

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GoPro Innovation Case Study

Californian native and keen surfer, Invented the GOP after a surf trip to Australia in 2002. It is small and non-descriptor looking, deceptive really, however is a wearable camera and camcorder. Its size means it can be mounted almost anywhere with ease, whilst also having the capacity to shoot videos and stills in full HAD.

The GOP was the first camera of its kind; small and virtually indestructible, and able to be mounted practically anywhere due to Its size, portability and versatile mounts, such as the ability to be fixed to helmets, the body, arioso pieces of equipment or a specially designed hand-held pole.

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“ Go Pro makes It possible for people to have professional quality footage of their life, during their life most meaningful moments.

The GOP first took off in the world of extreme sports; appealing to action and adventure lovers around the world, and has prospered due the dawn of Youth and social media. Deep sea dives, daring ski Jumps, or Jumping out of planes are some of the many scenarios the Goop’s devoted fan base have filmed and posted on Youth, “capturing some of the most Jaw dropping action shots ever recorded”, with its consumers commonly being known as an army of “bruised and engaged stuntmen…

Trying to live up to the products name: Hero.Design and Technological Activity/ Entrepreneurial Activity/ Intellectual Property “The original goal for GOP was to produce a camera that the average surfer could use to capture themselves and their friends while they’re surfing”.

Woodman believed that an entrepreneur was more likely to succeed if they followed their passions when starting their own company.

Through taking his own advice, Woodman ended up founding the company GOP, and developing the GOP Hero camera systems. During a 5-month surfing trip through Australia and Indonesia in 2002, Woodman came up with the idea of creating a wearable wrist strap system that could secure a camera to a surfer’s body. All the available straps at the time were made from rubber, and were generally uncomfortable and awkward to wear, and most were easily broken too. Whilst In Indonesia, Woodman met Brad Schmidt, who is now the Creative Director of Medal and Production at GOP, and upon their return to America hey spent the following two years creating, developing, and testing prototypes, until the first GOP camera was released in 2004.

In the initial days of GOP, Woodman would only hire people he was in college with, went to high school with, or was related to; he surrounded himself with people he loved, and people he knew he could trust.

The company has now grown from the Minimal/people to 300 employees, never en NAS always Sal a Tanat tense TLS/people were as productive as 40, and that because they always had so much fun “that it built a halo around the brand GOP, where we are now a really fun, all- inviting, loving brand.

The growth of the company has almost fully been attributed to the dawn of Youth and social media, as so many enthusiasts upload and tag their GOP experiences on Youth, as well as Backbone, with a video being posted every two and a half minutes – Woodman recently referring to GOP as a Virally grown brand’. Even though the GOP started a technological revolution in the area of wearable cameras/camcorders and impossible angles, in the beginning Woodman wasn’t too concerned with the concept of intellectual property; most of the big companies had o idea it was even in development.

In recent times however, none of the Goop’s prototype testing is done in the US, for fears that prototypes will be stolen, so for the GOP HAD Hero 3, a research and development trip was taken to the coast of Nicaragua, where Woodman, Schmidt, and the other executives tested the cameras, by mounting them to their surfboards and catching some waves. Development/ Timing/Marketing/Future Projections In 2002, after a failed business venture, Goop’s Founder and CEO Nick Woodman embarked on a 5-month surfing tour of Australia and Indonesia, deciding to seek inspiration for a new company by spending time on his favorite hobby, surfing.

He took a mm camera on tour with him, to strap to his wrist, with the intent of capturing quality actions shots of himself and his friends surfing.

The camera he had was awkward to work with, and would either hit him in the face, or fall off during the middle of a wave. This proved to be a challenge, and he wanted to be both the camera man and the surfer; he desperately wanted a solution so that he and his friends could capture all the action without having to take turns at being the camera an on shore, and with amateur photographers having no way of getting close enough to get good quality shots in the water.

The name GOP stemmed out of this desire for a camera/camera system that allowed anyone to capture professional angles and good quality shots easily. He envisioned a mm camera that could be strapped to a person’s wrist whilst surfing, as well as thinking about the possibility of an elastic-type band that was both strong and adjustable, and could secure a camera to a surfer’s body. At the time, most wrist straps were far from fashionable; they were nearly rubber, and were normally awkward, painful and easily broken.

Whilst still in Indonesia, Woodman and his wife ended up buying around 600 bead and shell belts for approximately $2 each from a market in Bali, to come up with the funds for the project. When he and his girlfriend Jill returned to America, they drove along Californians coast in Woodman’s, selling these belts out the back of his ’74 Van for $60 each. He also began testing some prototypes he had designed of a wrist- mounted camera, and after 2 years, when he finally felt he had the design right, he Doorway u Trot Nils mother Ana sat tea ten company GOP.

I en TLS Go camera system was sold in 2004; it was a mm film version. Samsung , amongst other corporate giants, have been working on and developing camcorders for years, however the GOP cameras stand out specifically for their ruggedness, as well as being easy to use, and having better image and sound qualities.

When asked about the Goop’s growth, in an interview in June 2012, Woodman said “Our customers going out and capturing interesting footage with it and sharing it online is really what is driving Goop’s growth; it is a virally grown brand in the hands of our customers.

Youth and Backbone have helped make the go pro what it is today. ” The vast majority of GOP videos are user generated, with a new GOP tagged video being posted to Youth every two and a half minutes. In 2012, GOP released a Wi-If Abacas and Wi-If Remote Combo Kit, which means multiple cameras can be controlled at once, as well as being able to stream directly to smartness, tablets and the Internet. In the future, GOP are also looking at expanding beyond hardware and into media, and developing their own television show, featuring mostly extreme sports videos shot by GOP users.

GOP as a company sold more than 800,000 cameras last year, as well as growing by around 300%, and so with its loyal fan base and the recent release of its GOP HAD Hero 3, the cameras seem to Just be growing in popularity, as well as continuously technologically advancing.

Product Development/ Technological Aspects/ How It Works The first GOP camera system was sold in 2004; however the ‘GOP HERO mm’ was made available for sale on April 13, 2005. The mm film version weighed around 0.5 pounds, and came as a package that included the camera, a Lear case with quick release, a camera strap and a ski glove adapter lash. It was fully functional to 15 feet of water, included a roll of film, and was marketed as a ‘reusable wrist camera’. In 2008, the ‘Digital HERO 5’ was released, and was the first of the GOP cameras to use a 1700 ultra-wide lens, as well as having the capacity to take 5 megalith still photos, and capture standard definition videos.

It was also the first of the GOP cameras to take a memory card; functioning with a BIB SD card, as well as having NUMB of internal memory. It ran on batteries, and it was now perfectly functional up to 100 feet of water. Since the first digital GOP camera, there have been another 4 released, including the newest GOP HAD cameras to come on the market; the ‘GOP HAD Hero 3’, which come in three different editions, with the company describing the separate editions as being; consumer level, presumes level, and then professional level.

All of the GOP HAD Hero cameras have no viewfinders, or zoom lenses, and with the only menu being a small 2-bit black and white LCD screen on the front of the camera. GOP HAD Hero 3 Black Etalon Is ten newest, Ana Test quality GOP on ten market today, with many retailers and reviewers calling it “the best action camera we have ever used; the footage it takes is simply unparalleled”.

The GOP Hero 3 is 25% lighter than the previous model, as well as being 30% smaller.

On the front there is a six-element spherical lens, that provides a 1700 field of view like the previous GOP camera’s, however with twice the image sharpness and a reduced amount of barrel distortion. It also has 3 buttons, instead of the usual two; en being the mode/power button, one being start/stop/record, and one to turn Wi-If on and off. There are two lights on the front as well; when recording one blinks red, and when the Wi-If is on the other blinks blue.

There are also smaller red flashing lights on the top, bottom and back that can be seen from practically any angle too, so that it is very clear when it is recording.

When the Wi-If is enabled, it activates a wireless connection with the GOP smartened app, or the wireless remote, meaning you can control your GOP from your phone, or by using the wireless remote, more Han one GOP can be controlled at the same time. Alongside the actual camera itself, stand the near-indestructible case and versatile selection of mounts.

Being waterproof to a depth of about mm/ 180 feet, the polycarbonate casing allows the GOP to accompany users on a variety of ocean adventures, such as surfing, snorkeling, and skin diving. It features a two-stage lock, upgraded from the original single-stage lock, to provide extra security, and is known to be drop-proof from around 3,000 feet.

One of the most appreciated things about the GOP casing is that is it fully user-serviceable, meaning any of the components can be ordered independently if a replacement is needed. GOP also make a variety of mounts, including helmet, wrist, and chest mounts, handlebar and surfboard mounts, as well as various other adhesive mounts, or the option of a hand-held pole.

This has allowed for the camera to go everywhere people can go, as well as the many places they can’t, have been used in some cases to film the inside of the mouths of alligators, sharks and polar bears.

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GOPRO INC 2017: Failing With Initial Strategy or Just Poor Execution? An Illustrative Case Study with Analyses

2019, American Based Research Journal

This paper is an instructional secondary research case study of Go Pro Incorporated. It has been developed for a business policy/strategic management course as well as a course in entrepreneurship and/or technology management in order to illustrate how a student would conduct a strategic analysis of a firm. The case includes a discussion of the firm’s mission/vision, strategic approach to the market, industry and SWOT analyses, value chain analysis, financial analyses and recommendations. The case also includes brief explanations of the theories and techniques in question so that students can review content material they have covered in class. It is recommended that this case is employed toward the end of the semester so that students understand the tools and processes associated with implementing a firm’s strategic vision but before an assignment of a comprehensive case (secondary and/or primary) so that they have a model in which to base their analyses upon. GoPro, Inc. was a pioneer in the action camera market. The company, GoPro Inc. was founded by Nick Woodman in 2003 and went public in December 2012 at $24 per share (https//gopro.com/about-us). The company developed action cameras that were easily mountable and wearable and enable users to capture image and videos of their personal events easily. GoPro first moved into the market by creating distinct key features that differentiated their camera- and, i.e., action camera with mountable and wearables. However, with its innovative characteristics, GoPro not only differentiated their products but also targeted customers segments such as sports enthusiasts, bikers, adventurers, etc. GoPro excelled as a differentiator given its high brand equity and a strong reputation for its quality of the footage. Some competitors started to target the same segment with better quality products or with similar quality products at a lower price. The impact of this competition and loss of momentum was evident in the firm’s eroding financial performance. GoPro’s stock price on October 23, 2018, was $6.82 per share with a P/E ratio of -3.17 (https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/gpro). The question students need to address is how GoPro can recover.Measures discussed include corrective strategies such as turnaround, retrenchment, diversification, conglomerate diversification, and liquidation. Instructors may want to delete the alternatives that are discussed so that their students can develop their own recommendations rather than agree or disagree with the recommendations of the authors.

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GoPro's Journey to $0.63 Billion Valuation: How Strategic Word-Of-Mouth and Brand Visuals Drove Growth

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In the realm of action cameras, one name stands out prominently: GoPro. A brand that has become almost synonymous with adventure and high-octane experiences, GoPro has carved a niche for itself in the hearts of adrenaline junkies and everyday users alike. 

But what is it about GoPro that has made it such a dominant force in the market? This article delves into the brand's journey, its content strategies, and the reasons behind its unparalleled success.

GoPro: The brand and product

GoPro is a wearable camera and accessory company that specializes in high-quality athletic photography. The brand, synonymous with adventure, has seen significant growth over the years. From a humble beginning where Nick Woodman, the founder, envisioned a tool to capture "hero" action shots, GoPro has become a technological giant in the action camera industry. By 2021, it held an 89% market share in this sector.

Reasons Every GoPro marketing strategy works well

GoPro's content strategy is a blend of user-generated content, emotional storytelling , high-quality visuals, and innovative marketing. This combination ensures that their content resonates with a wide audience and effectively promotes their brand and products.

1. User-generated Content 

One of GoPro's most significant strategies is leveraging UGC. Many GoPro users share their adventures, stunts, and experiences captured using GoPro cameras. This not only provides authentic content but also showcases the camera's capabilities in real-world scenarios.

GoPro initiated the "GoPro Awards" where they incentivized users to submit their best photos, raw clips, and video edits for the chance to win cash rewards. This campaign generated a massive amount of UGC and showcased the camera's capabilities through its users.

Also read: 6 Memorable Marketing Campaign Examples to Inspire You - Artwork Flow

2. High-quality visuals

GoPro cameras are known for their ability to capture high-quality, stable, and clear footage, even in challenging conditions. This results in visually stunning content that grabs attention.

If you check out the brand’s Instagram page, you’ll see that it regularly releases reels showcasing the capabilities of its HERO camera line, capturing everything from underwater scenes to aerial shots in stunning clarity.

3. Emotional storytelling

GoPro videos often tell compelling stories, whether it's an adrenaline-pumping adventure, a touching family moment, or a unique perspective on a common activity. This emotional connection resonates with viewers and makes the content memorable.

The “Be a HERO” campaign showcased everyday heroes, from firefighters to teachers, capturing their stories and the impact they make, all filmed on a GoPro.

4. Partnerships

GoPro collaborates with renowned brands to cover a vast spectrum of activities, from extreme sports to everyday moments. Such partnerships amplify GoPro's reach and reinforce the brand's commitment to adventure and high-octane experiences.

For instance, the brand partnered with Red Bull, a brand synonymous with extreme sports. This partnership resulted in content ranging from skydiving to downhill mountain biking, appealing to a wide range of adventure enthusiasts.

5. Contests

Through contests and awards, GoPro has cultivated a robust community of enthusiasts and professionals. These initiatives motivate users to share their content, bolstering community engagement and producing an abundance of authentic content for the brand.

In the recent challenge, GoPro users were challenged to create the best video content using their newest camera. The contest runs for 100 days and winners will stand a chance to win $100,000.

6. Tutorials

GoPro also produces content that educates users on how to get the most out of their cameras, which not only helps users but also promotes the versatility and capabilities of their products.

7. Brand consistency

Despite the diverse range of content, there's a consistent brand message about adventure, capturing moments, and sharing experiences. This consistency reinforces brand identity and trust.

8. Adaptability

GoPro has shown adaptability in its content strategy. As new social media platforms emerge or trends change, GoPro has been quick to adapt and leverage these new avenues. When TikTok launched, GoPro engaged with TikTok influencers and created content tailored to the platform's short-form video format.

Also read: Facebook Ad Sizes and Specs for 2023

Wrapping up

GoPro's meteoric rise in the action camera industry is no accident. It's a result of a well-thought-out content strategy, consistent brand messaging, and an unwavering commitment to its community. From leveraging user-generated content to forming strategic partnerships, GoPro has showcased how a brand can resonate with its audience on multiple levels.

As we've seen, it's not just about the product; it's about the stories, the experiences, and the emotions that the product can evoke. As the world of content and social media continues to evolve, one can only anticipate the innovative ways GoPro will continue to engage and inspire its global community.

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GoPro and Red Bull Form Exclusive Global Partnership

Two of the World’s Strongest Brands Team Up to Cross-Promote and Innovate

 GoPro to become Red Bull’s exclusive Point-of-View Camera and Content Partner

SAN MATEO, Calif., May 24, 2016 -- GoPro (NASDAQ:GPRO) and Red Bull today announced they are joining forces on a multi-year, global partnership that includes content production, distribution, cross-promotion and product innovation. As part of the agreement, Red Bull will receive equity in GoPro and GoPro will become Red Bull’s exclusive provider of point-of-view imaging technology for capturing immersive footage of Red Bull’s media productions and events.

GoPro’s product and brand will have access to more than 1800 Red Bull events across more than 100 countries, the companies will share content rights on co-productions, and related content will be distributed across both Red Bull and GoPro’s digital distribution networks, including The GoPro Channel, Red Bull TV, Red Bull.com and in the Red Bull Content Pool , Red Bull’s media service platform.

“Red Bull’s global scale and execution is something to be admired. This partnership is very strategic for GoPro,” said Nicholas Woodman, founder and CEO of GoPro. “We share the same vision…to inspire the world to live a bigger life.  While we’ve worked closely for many years, as official partners we’ll be able to more effectively help one another execute our shared vision and scale our respective businesses. GoPro and Red Bull, as a match, are as good as it gets."

“First person perspectives, breathtaking images and cutting edge cinematography are the hallmarks of every story told within Red Bull’s portfolio of productions and live broadcasts,” said Dietrich Mateschitz, founder and CEO of Red Bull.  “As partners, Red Bull and GoPro will amplify our collective international reach, the power of our content and ability to fascinate.”

About GoPro, Inc.   (NASDAQ:GPRO)  GoPro, Inc. is transforming the way people visually capture and share their lives.  What began as an idea to help athletes self-document themselves engaged in their sport, GoPro has become a standard for how people capture themselves engaged in their interests, whatever they may be.  From extreme to mainstream, professional to consumer, GoPro enables the world to capture and share its passion in the form of immersive and engaging content.

GoPro, HERO, Omni, Odyssey, Kolor, HEROcast, Autopano, and their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of GoPro, Inc. in the United States and other countries.  All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

For more information, visit  www.gopro.com  or connect with GoPro on  YouTube ,  Twitter ,  Facebook ,  Pinterest ,  Instagram , or  LinkedIn .

About Red Bull (including Red Bull Media House): Red Bull is the leading global energy drink available in more than 169 countries, giving wings to people and their ideas. Since its foundation and the creation of an entire new category in the mid 80’s, story telling is a part of Red Bull’s DNA. The launch of Red Bull Media House in 2007 enabled Red Bull to formalize its content offerings, from production and collection to distribution and turn it into a new business. Red Bull Media House’s portfolio includes today hundreds of social media channels, long and short form videos, still images, documentaries, feature films, music, games and mobile apps, as well as print products  like "The Red Bulletin" and digital platforms like RedBull.tv and RedBull.com.

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GOPRO INC 2017: Failing With Initial Strategy or Just Poor Execution? An Illustrative Case Study With Analyses

American Based Research Journal, Vol. 8 Issue 03, March 2019

15 Pages Posted: 20 May 2020

Nik Adzrieman Bin Abdul Rahman

Long Island University

Herbert Sherman

Affiliation not provided to ssrn.

Date Written: March 1, 2019

This paper is an instructional secondary research case study of Go Pro Incorporated. It has been developed for a business policy/strategic management course as well as a course in entrepreneurship and/or technology management in order to illustrate how a student would conduct a strategic analysis of a firm. The case includes a discussion of the firm’s mission/vision, strategic approach to the market, industry and SWOT analyses, value chain analysis, financial analyses and recommendations. The case also includes brief explanations of the theories and techniques in question so that students can review content material they have covered in class. It is recommended that this case is employed toward the end of the semester so that students understand the tools and processes associated with implementing a firm’s strategic vision but before an assignment of a comprehensive case (secondary and/or primary) so that they have a model in which to base their analyses upon. GoPro, Inc. was a pioneer in the action camera market. The company, GoPro Inc. was founded by Nick Woodman in 2003 and went public in December 2012 at $24 per share. The company developed action cameras that were easily mountable and wearable and enable users to capture image and videos of their personal events easily. GoPro first moved into the market by creating distinct key features that differentiated their camera- and, i.e., action camera with mountable and wearables. However, with its innovative characteristics, GoPro not only differentiated their products but also targeted customers segments such as sports enthusiasts, bikers, adventurers, etc. GoPro excelled as a differentiator given its high brand equity and a strong reputation for its quality of the footage. Some competitors started to target the same segment with better quality products or with similar quality products at a lower price. The impact of this competition and loss of momentum was evident in the firm’s eroding financial performance. GoPro’s stock price on October 23, 2018, was $6.82 per share with a P/E ratio of -3.17 (https://www.marketwatch.com/investing/stock/gpro). The question students need to address is how GoPro can recover.Measures discussed include corrective strategies such as turnaround, retrenchment, diversification, conglomerate diversification, and liquidation. Instructors may want to delete the alternatives that are discussed so that their students can develop their own recommendations rather than agree or disagree with the recommendations of the authors.

Keywords: Initial Strategy

Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation

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• GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges
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Definition of PESTEL / PEST / STEP Analysis

What is PESTEL / PEST / STEP Analysis? How you can use PESTEL Analysis for GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges

At EMBA PRO , we specialize at providing professional PESTEL analysis & other strategic management MBA resources. GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges case study PESTEL analysis includes macro environment factors that impact the overall business environment – Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Environmental, and Legal factors. GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges case study (referred as “Gopro Confidence” for purpose of this article) is a Harvard Business School (HBR) case study covering topics such as Sales & Marketing and strategic management. It is written by Rishi Dwesar, Geeta Singh and shed light on critical areas in field of Sales & Marketing, Financial management, Innovation that the protagonist in the case study is facing. Managers at Gopro Confidence need to examine three inter-related environments in order to come up with an effective strategy. The three inter-related environments are – industry environment in which the company operates in, the geographic market or country in which company operates, and wider socio economic / macro environment. PESTEL analysis is mainly the assessment of macro environment factors.

Case Description of GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges Case Study

GoPro, Inc. was an American action camera and software manufacturer founded in 2002 by a young entrepreneur. The company introduced innovative action cameras and became a successful brand with the help of content marketing. It continued its innovative spree for more than a decade and was the market leader in the industry. However, in March 2017, the company faced challenges due to product failures and increased competition, and the introduction of new products in the market. GoPro's stock price dropped as a result of a loss of confidence by both consumers and investors. What strategies could the company adopt to regain its competitive strength and revive confidence in its brand? What could it do to be more innovative and successful, and in doing so, fend off the low-cost competition? Rishi Dwesar is affiliated with ICFAI Business School-Hyderabad.

Case Authors : Rishi Dwesar, Geeta Singh

Topic : sales & marketing, related areas : financial management, innovation, case study solution & analysis of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, swot analysis of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, urgent - 12hr.

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Importance of PESTEL Analysis in Strategy Management & Planning Process

Strategy planning process often requires five steps – 1. Choosing the vision, mission and the reason of existence for Gopro Confidence. 2. Analyze the Gopro Confidence external competitive environment to identify opportunities and threats. PESTEL analysis is critical to understand the external threats & opportunities arising because of the macro environment developments. Changes in macro environment forces can impact the Porter Five Forces & industry attractiveness. Thus significantly impacting the ability of Gopro Confidence to build sustainable competitive advantage 3. Analyze Strengths and Weaknesses of Gopro Confidence. 4. Developing strategies that can capitalize on Gopro Confidence strengths and help mitigate weaknesses and impact of threats of macro-environment. 5. Execution of the strategy and building a feedback loop, using which managers at Gopro Confidence can fine tune processes and strategies going forward. The Industrial Organization (I/O) approach advocates that for sustainable competitive advantage external factors are as important as internal factors of the Gopro Confidence. According to Michael Porter organizational performance is to large extend determined by various industry forces.

What are Political Factors in PESTEL / PEST Analysis

The political factors play a huge role in not only investment decision by transnational corporations but also by companies such as – Gopro Confidence. Political environment and other factors not only impact the cost of doing business but also long term sustainability. Some of the political factors are – governance system, democracy & institutions, military coup chances, probability of armed conflict, law and order in market etc.

Political Factors that Impact GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges

- International Trade & Other Treaties – The country has a good record of adhering to international treaties it has done with various global partners. The government of each party has adhered to the treaties done by previous governments, so there is a consistency in both rule of law and regulations.

- Judiciary Independence – In the matter of commercial and business decisions, judiciary of the country is independent to a large extent. Business do face problem when the conflict is between public interest and proprietary technology similar to ruling in South Africa where government & judiciary allowed generic AIDS drug irrespective of patents of global companies.

- Regulatory Practices - The regulatory practices are streamlined with global norms which have helped the country to improve its “ease of doing business” ranking.

- Democracy & Other Democratic Institutions – According to Rishi Dwesar, Geeta Singh the democratic institutions are needed to be strengthened further so that business such as Gopro Confidence can thrive in an open, transparent and stable political environment. Strengthening of democratic institution will foster greater transparency and reduce the level of corruption in the country.

- Role of Non-Government Organization, Civil Society & Protest Groups – The country has a vibrant civil society community and Gopro Confidence should build bridges with them and seek out areas of co-operations. Civil society groups are influential not only in policy making but also in building a society wide narrative.

- Transition of Government and Changes in Policy – There is consistency in policy making from one government to another. Secondly governments from all parties adhere to the treaties made by the previous governments.

- Likelihood of Entering into an Armed Conflict – From the information in the GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges case study, I don’t think there is a likelihood of country entering into an armed conflict with a neighboring country.

- Threat of Terrorist Attacks – We believe in the world of post 9/11, corporations such as Gopro Confidence have to live with operating under the shadow of a terrorist attack. The prudent policy should be to take insurance and other types of hedging instruments to mitigate the losses occurring because of the terrorist attacks.

What are Economic Factors in PESTEL / PEST Analysis

Economic factors of a country and region have a direct impact on the potential attractiveness of a given market. Some of the economic factors that Gopro Confidence should evaluate both in the present market and one in which it wants to enter are – inflation rate, GDP growth rate, disposable income level etc.

Economic Factors that Impact GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges

- Financial Market Structure and Availability of Capital at Reasonable Rates – The quantitative easing policy of Federal Reserve has led to liquidity flooding all across the global financial markets. Gopro Confidence can borrow cheaply under such circumstances. But this strategy entails risks when interest rate will go up.

- Government Spending – As mentioned in the political factors, government of the country is running deficit budgets. The implication for Gopro Confidence is that it can boost sales of its product in short run but also expose Gopro Confidence to medium term forex and currency depreciation risks.

- Inequality Index / Ranking on Gini Index – Gini Index and level of inequality are a great barometer for harmony and development of a society. If there is huge income inequality in the society then the likelihood of conflict and crime increases. It can lead to uncertainty and suppression of consumption in both short term and long term.

- GDP Trend & Rate of Economic Growth – The higher GDP growth rate signals growing demand in the economy. Gopro Confidence can leverage this trend by expanding its product range and targeting new customers. One way to start is by closely mapping the changes in – consumer buying behavior and emerging value proposition.

- Demand Shifts from Goods Economy to Service Economy – The share of services in the economy is constantly increasing compare to the share of manufacturing, goods, and agriculture sector.

- Employment Rate – If the employment rate is high then it will impact Gopro Confidence strategies in two ways – it will provide enough customers for Gopro Confidence products, and secondly it will make it expensive for Gopro Confidence to hire talented & skillful employees.

- Price Fluctuations in both Local and International Markets – Compare to the level of quantitative easing in last decade the prices of Gopro Confidence products and prices of overall products have remained sticky in the US market. Gopro Confidence should consider the fact that at deficit levels of United States in an emerging economy can lead to rampant inflation and serious risks of currency depreciation.

What are Social Factors in PESTEL / PEST Analysis

Social factors such as demography trends, power structure in the society, women participation in workforce etc have immense impact over not only the country's economy but also on workforce talent availability and level of consumer demand.

Social Factors that Impact- GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges

- Birth Rate – Birth rate is also a good indicator of future demand. USA has avoided the European Union style stagnant economy on the back of slightly higher birth rate and higher level of immigration.

- Attitude towards Authority – Various cultures in different part of the world have different attitude towards authority. In Asia authority is respected while in west it is something to rebel against. Gopro Confidence should carefully analyze the attitude towards authority before launching a marketing campaign for its products and services.

- Level of Social Concerns & Awareness in Society – Higher level of social concerns in the society often result higher consumer activism and pressure from non-governmental organizations, & pressure groups.

- Education Level in Society – Education level of the society impacts both the quality of jobs and level of income. High level of education often results in better jobs, higher income and higher spending on complex and aspirational products.

- Demographic Trend – The demographic trend is one of the key factors in demand forecasting of an economy. For example as the population of USA and EU is growing old the demand for products mostly catering to this segment will grow. Gopro Confidence should consider demographic trends before new product developments and integrate features that cater to this segment. As population is ageing it will require less tech intensive products.

- Types of Immigration & Attitude towards Immigrants – Given the latest developments such as Brexit and Immigrant detention on Southern border of United States. Attitude towards immigration has come under sharp focus. Gopro Confidence should have capabilities to navigate under this hyper sensitive environment.

- Gender Composition in Labor Market Gopro Confidence can use gender composition of labor market to understand the level of liberal nature of the society, women rights, and women’s say in matter of societal issues and consumption decisions. The gender composition of labor market is a good indicator of disposal income of household, priorities of the households, and related needs.

- Attitude towards Leisure – Gopro Confidence should conduct an ethnographic research to understand both attitude towards leisure activities and choice of leisure activities. Experience economy is one of the fastest growing segments both among millennials and among baby-boomers.

What are Technological Factors in PESTEL / PEST Analysis

Technology is fast disrupting business models across various industries. Some of the technology trends that are impacting the macro environment are – developments in artificial intelligence, use of machine learning and big data analytics to predict consumer behavior, growing importance of platforms over service providers etc.

Technological Factors that Impact GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges

- Cost of Production and Trends – Gopro Confidence should assess - What are the cost of production trends in the economy and level of automatization. We at EMBA Pro believe that in near future the sector most disrupted by technological innovation is manufacturing and production.

- Level of Acceptance of Technology in the Society – Gopro Confidence has to figure out the level of technology acceptance in the society before launching new products. Often companies enter the arena without requisite infrastructure to support the technology oriented model.

- Integration of Technology into Society & Business Processes – Uber failed in China because it tried to enter before smartphone were widespread in China. Gopro Confidence should build a strategy that can integrate societal values, infrastructure, and Gopro Confidence business model.

- Property Rights & Protection of Technology Oriented Assets – Gopro Confidence should analyze the legal status of various property rights and intellectual property rights protections that are common in US.

- Research and Development Investment Levels – If there is high level of investment in technology development sector then there are high chances of building a self sustaining ecosystem that drives innovation. Gopro Confidence can leverage such a situation to hire the best people in business.

- Empowerment of Supply Chain Partners – Gopro Confidence should analyze areas where technology can empower supply chain partners. This can help Gopro Confidence to bring in more transparency and make supply chain more flexible.

- Acceptance of Mobile Payments and Fintech Services – One of the areas where US are lacking behind China is Mobile Payments. Gopro Confidence should assess what are preferred choice of mobile payments in local economy and chose the business model based on it.

- Preparedness for 5G Related Infrastructure – Countries across the world are trying to prepare themselves to install 5G infrastructure. Gopro Confidence should assess to what level the local market is prepared to roll out the 5G connectivity.

What are Environmental Factors in PESTEL / PEST Analysis

Environmental factors are fast gaining traction not only among consumers but also among regulators and policy makers. Climate change and changing ecosystem is leading to the extinction of more than 20% of species on the planet by the turn of this century.

Environmental Factors that Impact GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges

- Focus & Spending on Renewable Technologies – How much of the budget is spend on renewable energy sources and how Gopro Confidence can make this investment as part of its competitive strategy.

- Influence and Effectiveness of Environmental Agencies – The role of environment standards enforcement agencies is critical in safeguarding norms. But often in emerging countries these agencies delay the process as a tactic to extract bribes. Gopro Confidence should be aware of presence of such practices in a country.

- Corporate Social Responsibilities Culture – Are Gopro Confidence present CSR efforts applicable in the new market or does it needs to have new initiative to cater to the prospective market.

- Per Capita and National Carbon Emission – What is the per capita carbon emission of the country and what is the overall level of carbon emissions of the country. This will help in better predicting the environment policy of the country.

- Recycle Policies – What are the recycle policies in prospective market and how Gopro Confidence can adhere to those policies.

- Influence of Climate Change – How climate change will impact Gopro Confidence business model and supply chain. For example if the supply chain is not flexible it can lead to bottlenecks if shipments from one part of the world are delayed because of sudden climate shift.

- Paris Climate Agreement and Commitment of National Government under the Agreement – What are the commitments of the country under the Paris Agreement and what is the general level of consensus regarding Paris Climate Agreement in the country. For example Trump not standing by US commitments created an environment of uncertainty.

What are Legal Factors in PESTEL / PEST Analysis

Legal factors often govern – conditions to enter the market, laws to operate in the market, and procedure to resolve any dispute with other stakeholders. If the legal system is not strong then Gopro Confidence can face numerous challenges – from consumer petitions to shakedowns from authorities.

Legal Factors that Impact GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges

- Consumer Protection Laws – Gopro Confidence needs to know what are the consumer laws, what is the rate of enforcement, what is the attitude of authorities towards consumer protection laws, and what is the role activist groups in enforcement of consumer protection laws.

- Health & Safety Laws – What are the health and safety laws in the country and what Gopro Confidence needs to do to comply with them. Different countries have different attitude towards health and safety so it is better for Gopro Confidence to conduct a thorough research before entering the market.

- Intellectual Property Rights Protection – Gopro Confidence should assess the level of protection that intellectual property rights get under the legal system of the country.

- Time Taken for Court Proceedings – Even if the country has best of the laws, it doesn’t mean much if they can’t be enforced in a timely manner. Gopro Confidence should do a primary research regarding how much time it often takes to conclude a court case in the country given the sort of legal challenges Gopro Confidence can face.

- Business Laws – Before entering into new market – Gopro Confidence has to assess what are the business laws and how they are different from home market.

- Independence of Judiciary and Relative Influence of Government – The judiciary independence often reflect both strength and credibility of the institutions in the country.

- Securities Law – What are the securities law in the country and what are the conditions to list the company on national or regional stock exchange.

5C Marketing Analysis of GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges

4p marketing analysis of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, porter five forces analysis and solution of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, porter value chain analysis and solution of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, case memo & recommendation memo of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, blue ocean analysis and solution of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, marketing strategy and analysis gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, vrio /vrin analysis & solution of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, pestel / step / pest analysis of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, case study solution of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, swot analysis and solution of gopro: the disruptive innovator faces challenges, references & further readings.

Rishi Dwesar, Geeta Singh (2018) , "GoPro: The Disruptive Innovator Faces Challenges Harvard Business Review Case Study. Published by HBR Publications.

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techUK: new AI adoption case study collection - call for case studies!

As part of techUK’s 2024 AI Campaign Week, we are launching a call for techUK member case studies, to demonstrate how organisations are tackling the barriers to AI adoption to maximise AI's potential. These case studies will be showcased to UK organisations that are also embarking on their AI adoption journeys, providing them with practical examples and insights to guide their Putting AI into Action efforts. 

Our AI Adoption collection of case studies will provide a comprehensive look at how organisations are effectively integrating artificial intelligence (AI) into their operations. These case studies highlight a diverse range of examples where AI is being put into action, either through the internal adoption of AI models to enhance organisational capabilities or by developing innovative AI tools and solutions that can be utilised by others. 

Through these real-world examples, our collection aims to shed light on how AI is transforming various industries, from health and social care and cybersecurity to transportation and central government, among others. By presenting these practical use cases, we hope to illustrate best practices for AI implementation, demonstrating how organisations—whether large organisations, or SMEs, are successfully leveraging AI to drive efficiency, innovation, and competitiveness.  

These case studies are valuable for numerous audiences, including businesses looking to optimise their processes and explore new AI-driven opportunities, public sector organisations seeking to enhance service delivery and operational efficiency, and government bodies and policymakers aiming to understand how best to support UK businesses who are playing their part to drive UK innovation and economic growth.  

Each case study not only provides an in-depth analysis of the specific AI strategies employed but also offers insights into the challenges faced, the solutions implemented, and the measurable impacts achieved. The goal is to empower these varied stakeholders with valuable lessons and actionable insights, helping them navigate their own AI journeys with greater confidence and clarity. 

Ultimately, by sharing these examples, we aim to foster a deeper understanding of AI's potential across sectors in the UK and to encourage more organisations, whether in the private or public sectors, to explore and adopt AI-driven solutions tailored to their unique needs and objectives. 

Please fill out this form with the details of your case study .

Once you you have completed the form please submit it to/contact for further queries, techUK’s Programme Manager for Artificial Intelligence, Usman Ikhlaq: [email protected]  

Usman Ikhlaq

Programme Manager - Artificial Intelligence, techUK

Usman joined techUK in January 2024 as Programme Manager for Artificial Intelligence.

His role is to help techUK members of all sizes and across all sectors to adopt AI at scale. This includes identifying the barriers to adoption, considering solutions and how best to maximise AI's potential.

Prior to joining techUK, Usman worked as a policy, government affairs and public affairs professional in the advertising sector. He has also worked in sales and marketing and FinTech.

Usman is a graduate of the London School of Economics and Political Science (MSc), BPP Law School (GDL and LLB) and Queen Mary University of London (BA). 

When he isn’t working, Usman enjoys spending time with his family and friends. He also has a keen interest in running, reading and travelling.

Programme Manager, Artificial Intelligence, techUK

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Circular economy implementation in an organization: a case study of the taiwan sugar corporation.

1. Introduction

2. literature review, 2.1. overview of circular economy principles, 2.2. bs 8001: 2017 principles of the circular economy in organizations, 2.3. implementation of circular economy, 2.4. hypothesis development.

• Economic Aspects (EA)
• Environmental Aspects (ENVA)
• Social Aspects (SA)
• Degree of Concern and Impact
• Relationship between Economic and Environmental Aspects
• Relationship between Environmental and Social Aspects
• Relationship between Economic and Social Aspects

2.5. Research Procedure

3. research background and information, 3.1. tsc’s circular economy concept and planning, 3.2. promote the circular economy process of oyster shells, 3.3. short-, medium-, and long-term goals of the oyster shell circular economy.

• Short-Term Goals (2018–2020)
• Establish an oyster shell processing plant to recycle discarded shells.
• Achieve green building standards, save energy and water, and reduce carbon emissions.
• Collaborate with research institutes for product applications.
• Begin plant operations and obtain production licenses.
• Mid-Term Goals (2021–2023)
• Obtain necessary operational permits and ISO certifications.
• Optimize equipment and processes, and expand product applications to feed, fertilizers, and 3D printing.
• Enhance research and development in collaboration with academic and industrial partners.
• Long-Term Goals (2024–2026)
• Expand production capacity to 50,000 tons per year.
• Source oyster shells from across Taiwan and outlying islands.
• Achieve carbon neutrality certifications and develop new applications for functional materials.

3.4. Complementary Corrective Measures in Response to Risks and Opportunities

3.5. business objectives and business strategies.

• Efficient utilization and processing of oyster shell raw materials.
• Achieving zero pollution, zero waste, and zero accidents through advanced environmental management.
• Expanding the applications of calcium carbonate to various industries.
• Establishing a model for industrial innovation and circular economy practices.

4. Research Methodology

4.1. data collection, 4.1.1. stakeholder survey.

• Biotechnology Division.
• General Management Office.
• Planning Office.
• Oyster Shell Suppliers: Ji Jin Fishery Marketing Cooperative, located in Chiayi County, Taiwan, and Jiesheng Environmental Co., Ltd., based in Tainan, Taiwan.
• Packaging Material Suppliers: Chengxin Industrial Co., Ltd., situated in Taipei, Taiwan, and Zhangming Enterprise Co., Ltd., located in Taichung, Taiwan.
• Third Party Logistics: Youheng Transportation Co., Ltd., which operates out of Kaohsiung, Taiwan
• YingHe Company located in Tainan, Taiwan.
• Internal Customers: Taiwan Sugar Corporation’s Animal Husbandry Division, Recreation Division, and various district offices.
• External Customers: Nong Sheng Enterprise Co., Ltd. is located in Taichung, Taiwan. Fu Shou Industrial Co., Ltd. is based in Taipei, Taiwan. Mao Sheng Agricultural Economics Co., Ltd. operates out of Taipei, Taiwan. Fumao Oils & Fats Co., Ltd. is situated in Tainan, Taiwan. Taiwan Charoen Pokphand Enterprise Co., Ltd. is headquartered in Taipei, Taiwan. Formosa Plastics Corporation is located in Kaohsiung, Taiwan. Nan Pao Resins Chemical Co., Ltd. is based in Tainan, Taiwan. Uni-President Enterprises Corporation operates from Tainan, Taiwan. Great Wall Enterprise Co., Ltd. is situated in Taipei, Taiwan. Finally, Xie Xin Machinery Co., Ltd. is located in Taichung, Taiwan.
• Internal employees of the biotechnology material factory.
• Degree of Concern: measured the stakeholders’ level of concern regarding the economic, environmental, and social aspects of the Taiwan Sugar Company’s circular economy transition. A five-point Likert scale (1 = Not at all concerned to 5 = Extremely concerned) was used for each aspect.
• Degree of Impact: evaluated the stakeholders’ beliefs about the positive and negative impacts of the Taiwan Sugar Company’s circular economy initiatives on the same three aspects (economic, environmental, and social). A similar five-point Likert scale (1 = Very low impact to 5 = Very high impact) was employed.

4.1.2. Internal Company Documents

• Sustainability reports: providing insights into the Taiwan Sugar Company’s existing sustainability practices and circular economy goals.
• Strategic plans: outlining the company’s vision and objectives related to circularity.
• Operational data: on waste generation, resource consumption, and production processes, used to assess the feasibility of implementing specific circular economy strategies.

4.1.3. Stakeholder Communication

5. assessment and result, 5.1. stakeholder investigation and analysis, 5.1.1. structural model assessment.

• H1(a): EA → ENVA: The positive relationship between the Economic Aspects and Environmental Aspects is confirmed, with a Beta coefficient of 0.855 and an R² value of 0.730. This indicates that the Economic Aspects significantly influence the Environmental Aspects.
• H2(a): ENVA → SA: The positive relationship between the Environmental Aspects and Social Aspects is also supported, with a Beta coefficient of 0.839 and an R² value of 0.814. This suggests that the Environmental Aspects have a substantial impact on the Social Aspects.
• H3(a): EA → SA: The positive relationship between the Economic Aspects and Social Aspects is further validated, with a Beta coefficient of 0.902 and an R² value of 0.703. This implies that the Economic Aspects significantly influence the Social Aspects.
• (b) For Degree of Impact
• H1(b): EA → ENVA: The positive relationship between the Economic Aspects and Environmental Aspects is confirmed, with a Beta coefficient of 0.734 and an R² value of 0.538. This indicates that the Economic Aspects significantly influence the Environmental Aspects.
• H2(b): ENVA → SA: The positive relationship between the Environmental Aspects and Social Aspects is also supported, with a Beta coefficient of 0.814 and an R² value of 0.663. This suggests that the Environmental Aspects have a substantial impact on the Social Aspects.
• H3(b): EA → SA: The positive relationship between Economic Aspects and Social Aspects is further validated, with a Beta coefficient of 0.942 and an R² value of 0.971. This implies that the Economic Aspects significantly influence the Social Aspects.

5.1.2. Identify the Degree of Attention and Impact

5.2. feasibility assessment, 5.2.1. swot analysis of tsc biotech material factory, 5.2.2. strategy evaluation and selection, 5.3. tsc circular economy systematic thinking framework output, 5.4. implementation, assessment, and results of tsc’s circular economy transition, 5.4.1. the carbon reduction benefits are as follows.

• TSC’s Oyster Shell Calcium Carbonate: uses natural gas, resulting in a carbon footprint of 0.02255 metric tons of CO₂e per ton.
• Traditional processing: uses heavy oil, resulting in 0.043 metric tons of CO₂e per ton.
• Mining of Ore: results in 0.18 metric tons of CO 2 e per ton.

5.4.2. The Reduction of Oyster Shell Waste Is as Follows

• Total recycled waste: by the end of 2021, TSC recycled and treated 3012 tons of oyster shells.
• Applications: Oyster shells are used for handmade artworks, raw materials for feed and fertilizers, artificial fishing reefs, and replacing traditional cement breakwaters.

5.4.3. The Solar Panel Installation Results Are as Follows

• Current capacity: TSC has installed rooftop solar power equipment in 39 locations with a total capacity of 14.02 MW.
• Past achievements include the following: ○ 2019: 4.56 MW generating 519.07 MWh (24.84% increase). ○ 2020: 12.30 MW generating 1166 MWh (124.63% increase). ○ 2021: 322.79 MW generating 23,153 MWh (1885.67% increase).

5.4.4. Financial Performance

• Revenue growth: TSC’s total revenue increased from NTD 29,913 million in 2020 to NTD 32,461 million in 2022, marking a 6.27% growth in operating income and a 289.33% increase in other income during this period [ 34 ].
• Profit improvement: despite some fluctuations, TSC managed to maintain profitability with net incomes of NTD 4567 million in 2020, NTD 3908 million in 2021, and NTD 2428 million in 2022. The net profit margin, while experiencing a decrease, remained at a respectable 8.42% in 2022 [ 34 ].
• Cost savings: through various circular economy initiatives, including energy efficiency improvements and waste reduction strategies, TSC has effectively managed its operating costs. For instance, the operating costs were NTD 19,825 million in 2020 and increased to NTD 22,855 million in 2022, a controlled growth relative to the revenue increases.

6. Conclusions

Supplementary materials, author contributions, institutional review board statement, informed consent statement, data availability statement, acknowledgments, conflicts of interest.

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Sah, A.K.; Hong, Y.-M. Circular Economy Implementation in an Organization: A Case Study of the Taiwan Sugar Corporation. Sustainability 2024 , 16 , 7865. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177865

Sah AK, Hong Y-M. Circular Economy Implementation in an Organization: A Case Study of the Taiwan Sugar Corporation. Sustainability . 2024; 16(17):7865. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177865

Sah, Amit Kumar, and Yao-Ming Hong. 2024. "Circular Economy Implementation in an Organization: A Case Study of the Taiwan Sugar Corporation" Sustainability 16, no. 17: 7865. https://doi.org/10.3390/su16177865

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