Social media is widely accepted as being a rich source of data that can be studied and used by brands to identify trends and consumer needs. We run one such study on an ad-hoc basis for the action camera market in Germany to show how brands within this field can use social media to inform their brand strategy.

The study provides insights into who is talking about action cameras, the authors of the buzz-content, and whether this is media or consumer driven. It also offers insights on what is being discussed on different channels and what are the main sentiments or views expressed are for each of topic.

To do this, we collect the relevant online buzz via the GfK’s proprietary Social Media Intelligence tool for the top-ten bestselling action cameras brands which, according to our point-of-sales data, make up more than 95% of the total market. Out of this data, we manually process more than 3,400 “snippets” of information to identify their source and content to the highest levels of accuracy.

Here’s what we’ve found:

Who’s talking about action cameras?

More than two thirds (69%) of all posts and comments* about action cameras is attributable to male users, reconfirming that they are the major target group for the German action cameras market. More than half (55%) of all relevant online content comes from private users, while 45% comes from professional sources such as the media or corporations. Content attributable to the latter includes action camera manufacturers’ own-branded material as well as content produced by companies in other industries (e.g. lifestyle, sports, etc.) using action cameras.

*based on FB and Twitter buzz

What are they saying?

Social networks are where the highest concentration of content relating to action cameras can be found. 80% of the online buzz about these cameras focuses on five topic areas. “Accessories” tops the list of most talked about themes with 18% of the buzz, highlighting how important these products are. After all, action cameras without accessories are almost impossible to use. “Captured content” is in the number two spot with 17% of the buzz. Perhaps not a surprise given that capturing experiences is the primary reason for consumers to buy an action camera. The “Specification” and “Ease of use” of the devices are, jointly, third most talked about, each with 16% of the buzz. The “Quality” of the devices is the fourth most talked about theme at 13%. Interestingly, “Quality” is the most positively evaluated theme with a net sentiment score of 42%.

It is revealing that “Price” (9%) is the fifth most popular topic of conversation, following a series of “experience related” topics. This finding clearly signals that the purchase price of action cameras – according to our POS Tracking data, average price in Germany for the first half of the year was at 241€– is not as important as anything relating to the camera’s ability to do what it is designed to do: to capture action or, rather, memorable experiences.

Which brands are talked about most?

GoPro is evidently the most talked about brand with a 52% share of the online buzz mentioning a brand, followed by Rollei (19%), Garmin (10%) and Sony (7%).

What experiences are being shared online?

We also wanted to identify the types of experience being captured using action cameras and shared using social media. What we found is that the majority of content shared relates to “Sport” (59%), followed by “Leisure” (39%). A very small amount of content shared (only 2%) relates to “Family time”. The reason for this is not only because less family time content is captured with action cameras, but because it is much harder to get this intimate/personal content shared in social media.

Lastly, we wanted to see what activities create a buzz in Germany. We found that “Land” activities (e.g. biking, skating, gymnastics, etc.) create the most buzz at 43%, followed by “Water” activities (e.g. surfing, kayaking, snorkeling, etc.) at 33%. With 12% each, “Air” (e.g. sky diving, bungee jumping, etc.) and “Snow” (e.g. snowboarding, skiing, etc.) activities are in joint third place.

Want to learn more about how social media intelligence can be used to inform the action cameras market in Germany? Contact our expert Nikos Tsagkaropoulos at nikolaos.tsagkaropoulos@gfk.com.