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In-Depth

The Gatekeepers: Todd Ballard

Vice president of global sports entertainment marketing, GoPro

With its roots in surfing, GoPro has been a mainstay in action sports, helping athletes provide a unique perspective to fans. Now, as the company seeks to continue its growth, it’s looking toward team sports as that next wave of content producers and consumers.

“Action sports will always be important to us, but as our brand is looking to broaden our audience beyond that core, more mainstream sports are a great place to reach a whole new group of loyal customers,” GoPro’s Todd Ballard said.

GoPro signed a partnership with the NHL and NHL Players’ Association in January 2015, its first with a major

Photo by: GoPro
sports league. It renewed that deal this year and signed a similar partnership with the PGA Tour.

“As we’ve looked at leagues to work with, our goal is to help show the perspectives the world and their fans have never seen before, and that’s something both the NHL and the PGA Tour wanted to do too,” Ballard said.

Ballard acknowledges that the company is far from a traditional sponsor and that spreads of GoPro stadium advertisements are unlikely any time soon. In its deal with the NHL and NHLPA, GoPro has received brand exposure across the league’s broadcast, digital and social media platforms, and through a self-produced series of videos featuring NHL players during after-hours training sessions.

Ballard believes such content excites both hardcore fans and those on the periphery.

“When we look at how we measure the success of things like this, if we can get kids across the world on frozen lakes, ponds or in rinks creating videos too, then that’s a win,” Ballard said. “It’s almost like creating an aspirational image through the best of the best, and I think that’s something especially on the athlete side that [makes] partners see a real value in aligning with us.”



A TREND HE’S WATCHING: “Branded content. We’ve been in that area for a long time, but it’s something that we’re watching even more closely now because you need to be in front of the curve. Everyone wants it, and they want it to look authentic, but how do you have branded content without it looking like branded content? That’s a question we’re working towards answering.”

A RECENT PROGRAM/CAMPAIGN THAT WORKED: “The Tour de France has been extremely successful for us because of the global interest it has, but also because we had the opportunity to put cameras on 22 of the world’s top teams. We’re able to not only tell [their] stories, but also allow broadcasters ... to tap into that content and show their viewers a whole new perspective.”

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