Opal · screen time and focus app
Hand out thousands of "Scrolling Kills" stickers that don't mention the app
What they did
- Stage
- scale
In their words
Why Opal Stopped Chasing Revenue – Kenneth Schlenker, Opal
Kenneth Schlenker… app, which sounds completely stupid, but the most of interaction is that unlocking of that stone. When you get granted a new gemstone, because you've passed a new milestone. You've used the app for a certain amount of days, for example. You get to tap to crack the gemstone. That's the most loved interaction. People really remember this, talk about it, and really helps build the brand because this is what the kind of things that people remember.
Kenneth SchlenkerAnother example is, we try to do more things that are unusual or companies might not do normally. We have these stickers. I have one on my phone here. It says, "Scrolling Kills."
Kenneth SchlenkerIt's like a PSA, public service announcement. Actually, it does not mention Opal, which is also a controversial take. But we've distributed thousands of them to our customers, to users. We even bought this massive billboard in New York last year with the message, "Scrolling Kills."
Kenneth SchlenkerBasically, we want this message, we want this conversation to happen. We want to be the company that helps make these changes. That's another example. There's many, many smaller details inside the app in how we do marketing, partner with creators, partner with different artists that help, I think, build that brand, and make it strong.
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More from this episode
- Drop the hard paywall and give the core app away for freePaying share of users fell 20% to 9%, but organic growth, 1M+ DAUs and revenue rose
- Test how many app blocks free users get; settle where free users still love it3 free blocks gave free users a great experience while power users still pay
- Sell the app to schools as a phone policy after students asked for itGrew from one school to many US high schools; front-page LA Times coverage
- License a stranger's viral video about phone overuse and run it as your adSeen by dozens of millions; still running 1-2 years later
- Hire a user who posted about you to run her own educational channel for you0 to ~700K followers and millions of views in a few months
- Add focus streaks with an animated flame and gemstone rewards at milestonesBiggest win of the year for retention and growth; no numbers
- Let users tap to crack open a gemstone when they hit a focus milestoneThe app's most loved moment; users remember it and talk about it
- Buy a New York billboard saying "Scrolling Kills" with no app linkNo effect on downloads or revenue; helped close one school deal
Tags: stickers, brand, unbranded, merch