Crafting a voice for one of the world’s most
visual brands.
Welcome to GoPro, where pencils are scarce, but parachutes abound.
Benjamin Roy
If a picture is worth a thousand words, the GoPro angle must be worth
a billion flat—and so began the delightful task of crafting the voice for a company where image really is everything. Captivating. Inspiring. Alive.
This is what it felt like to fight at the front.
In January of 2013, I joined GoPro. There were vans and Harleys in
the parking lot, wetsuits on driver’s side mirrors, race cars in the lobby, skateboards in the cafe and smiles everywhere you looked. Fringe benefits included heli-skiing, big-wave surfing and sky diving (though one might argue the heath coverage and risk of needing it created a zero-sum game).
At GoPro, and in part because of GoPro, the entire field of journalism was changing. People were now able to broadcast (even livestream) their actual point of view. From a baby’s first steps to 20’ Tahitian barrels—anyone could come along for the ride. Couple this capacity with a multi-million dollar global team (150 pro athletes and 850 brand ambassadors) and well,
let’s just say there was plenty to write home about.
Our goal from the beginning was to enable the expression and celebration
of human passion. All ages. All lifestyles. All seven continents. My role was to communicate this intention while keeping stoke levels high—so I met with key department heads weekly to launch new initiatives, release new products
and articulate the trajectory of the brand.
According to YouTube, who named GoPro to their #1 property in 2014,
“The authenticity of the channel’s content helps viewers feel connected
to the brand.” That’s true for the GoPro voice as well. Authenticity can’t
be fabricated, it must be lived.
Notable Projects:
Created the GoPro Brand Voice for the Official Brand Guidelines.
Created all top-level copy for gopro.com during the global redesign.
Authored We Are GoPro. A Guide to the DNA of the GoPro Brand, with Nick Woodman
Created original editorial for the GoPro Team (100+ athletes across fourteen verticals) including a site launched in conjunction with the Sochi Olympics Games.
Created copy for all GoPro social channels, Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Pinterest and Twitter.
Created original GoPro product names and taglines, including HERO3+ Black Edition. (Smaller, lighter, mightier still.) HERO4 Session. (So small. So stoked.) Jello Slayer, 3-Way Mount and Fetch, the dog harness.
Created copy for the GoPro Events Toolkit; the bible of all things GoPro used everywhere from the GoPro Games to the U.S. Open of Surfing, with James Clifford.
Created copy for all GoPro Tutorials, the official YouTube channel, including cameras, mounts and accessories, pro tips, and more.
Created copy for the HERO3+ Adventure Series, including editorial for this eight-part series in conjunction with the HERO3+ camera launch.
Created copy for the GoPro Video of the Week; a user-generated fan favorite selected by GoPro each week.
Created copy for the launch of GoPro Awards (20+ categories).
Created copy for the launch of GoPro For a Cause, with Cynthia Pena.
Created copy for the GoPro Athlete Shooter’s Guide, with Bradford Schmidt.
Created copy for the Hero 3+ Reviewer’s Guide, with Jennifer Flanagan.
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