Red Bull and GoPro announce content partnership

Cycling video content giants GoPro and RedBull have announced that they intend to marry, figuratively speaking. The pair are heading into a partnership that will see them share in the spoils of each other's content production and distribution options, while cross-promoting their wares, and sharing in product innovation.

While we don't think GoPro-branded energy drinks will start popping up anytime soon, we do expect to see some slight changes to the video content we all know and love that's produced by these behemoths.

Don't panic, Danny Macaskill will still be producing incredible videos in association with Red Bull and GoPro like the ones below, however, rather than using GoPros in Red Bull videos and keeping reasonably quiet about it, you'll start to see them and their logos splashed about the place.

It works the other way too. Expect to see plenty of Red Bull cans and more logos in videos like his Cascadia video below.

The partnership isn't restricted to something as simple brand visibility, GoPro CEO and founder Nicholas Woodman seems pretty excited about what's in store for the two companies. He told Fast Company's technology, entertainment, and advertising website FastCoCreate that this relationship paves the way for even more great content from both companies.

"The world of Red Bull is often captured with GoPro technology," Woodman told FastCoCreate. "And GoPro marketing storytelling often features some inspiring humans who also happen to be Red Bull athletes.

"What's exciting about the official nature of our partnership is that it allows us to do a better and broader job of what we've been doing for years... leveraging one another to produce a higher volume of more compelling, more inspirational content, and distribute it across our individual networks in ways we've never been able to before."

Danny MacAskill is a prime example of one of the cross-company athletes that Mr Woodman mentioned.

Below is his Cascadia video which we covered, here. If you needed any more evidence of his shared Red Bull-GoPro allegiances, other than his frequent appearances on both video channels, check out his helmet in this GoPro video - expect to see far more visible and more frequent examples of Red Bull branding in GoPro videos in future videos.

So, we can expect to see Red Bull content flying out of GoPro media channels, and a more liberal sharing of sponsored athletes. But how is the content going to change?

Cascadia is a good opportunity to look into what technical differences we can expect from the GoPro/Red Bull partnership.

We wrote about the team's use of a 360-degree GoPro camera on the Cascadia shoot, and the opportunity it gives viewers to experience the tricks and the thrill in a new and exciting way.

GoPro CEO Woodman also mentions that the partnership will give both companies the opportunity to use new technologies in his FastCoCreate interview. He said that he feels that the collaboration will bring GoPro footage to brand new audiences in new and exciting ways, utilising new technology like virtual reality (VR) and 360-degree video capture like we saw in the Cascadia video.

He said that both brands could open the door to wider global audiences and they could do that "by giving Red Bull access to current GoPro technology, advanced access to new technology like VR products, and other next-generation devices like aerial capture solutions, so they can sooner create content different from what the world has seen from them."

While that all sounds very exciting for the future of Danny Mac's daredevil video escapades, the dynamic equal relationship that Woodman's talk of content and athlete sharing indicates, may not be as equal as it seems.

Red Bull are in line to receive an undisclosed equity stake in GoPro as part of the collaboration.

This news comes off the back of a particularly bad year in the stock market for GoPro. The action cam company have seen their share prices decline by about 83 percent year-over year thanks to slowing sales of their action camera products.

As part of the deal GoPros will now be used exclusively to record the action at over 1,800 Red Bull events across more than 100 countries.

Red Bull CEO and founder Dietrich Mateschitz told Bicycle Retailer and Industry News: "First-person perspectives, breathtaking images and cutting-edge cinematography are the hallmarks of every story told within Red Bull's portfolio of productions and live broadcasts.

"As partners, Red Bull and GoPro will amplify our collective international reach, the power of our content and ability to fascinate."