• by Aaron Baar , December 16, 2010

Sometimes, the best product testimonials are those that demonstrate the ways your core consumer uses the product.

GoPro, which makes a wearable HD camera used by sports enthusiasts to document their escapades, is launching a national television campaign shot entirely by users of its HD Hero cameras. The spots -- there are 16 in all -- show people using the cameras for a wide variety of sports ranging from skiing and snowboarding to surfing and race car driving.

"We wanted to show people what others were creating and the quality of content that was possible," company representative Rick Loughery tells Marketing Daily. "It's better than using a camera phone to catch a buddy going by."

The spots range from first-person views of people skiing down powdery snow-covered mountains to racing in an open-wheel car to surfing with two-time world champion Daize Shayne. One spot even depicts a high-speed boat crash. The tagline for the campaign is "You in HD."

"[The videos] are a combination of stuff that was submitted to us, as well as stuff we'd see on Facebook," Loughery says. "And we'd reach out to the creators and connect with them that way."

The campaign will run across a variety of sports-related cable channels such as ESPN, Speed, Fuel and the Discovery Networks, as well as during affiliate programming in select markets (such as Honolulu, where surfing is at its annual peak). The wide variety of sports appeal is one of the reasons that GoPro created so many commercials, Loughery says.

"We reach across so many verticals and had a number of use-case scenarios," he ways. "We wanted to create a decent sample for all of them."