That's the thing, they are never going to out-do GoPro when it comes to marketing. They should just focus on making a technically superior product at a similar or lower price point. There are enough discerning customers out there to make it viable.
Too bad advertising is so important. I thought go-pro was
a narcissistic waste of time, but once I saw the how useful
they were on the production end of the Gold mining show on the Discovery channel; I realized their value. I hope they
continue to improve quality, and lower price points. And
not spend more money on advertising.
GoPro's most effective marketing isn't traditional paid advertising, it's the cool video your friend shot & put on YouTube.
Or if you don't have any cool friends, it's Jeb Corliss' "Grinding the Crack"[1]. Given that many credit the massive success[2] of AWOLNATION's "Sail" (the soundtrack to that clip) to the 26M views that clip has had, I wonder how many GoPro's it sold, too?
Most of their marketing budget must be in the form of event and athlete sponsorships since that's how they get the incredible footage that sells itself. They need to keep maintaining the brand value as similar products come to market to hold market share. This in turn drives sales, profits, and funds innovation and product improvements.
Instead, Contour is focusing on a new marketing strategy: http://www.photographybay.com/2014/01/09/contour-is-back-in-...