Opal · screen time and focus app
License a stranger's viral video about phone overuse and run it as your ad
Seen by dozens of millions; still running 1-2 years later
Workedpaid-socialugc-creators
What they did
A friend sent the founder an organic video (by a filmmaker, which had gone slightly viral) that looked like an Opal ad but wasn't. A team member (Marjorie) DM'd the creator asking to license it; he turned out to be an Opal user inspired by the app and agreed. The ad is literally the organic video with the Opal logo attached. Since then Opal repurposes more organic creator videos and commissions new ones, helped by many filmmakers/designers already being users.
What happened
Seen by dozens of millions of people and has run for a year or more; became part of the brand, with viewers changing habits even without downloading.
- Stage
- scale
“Actually, it was someone in my team, Marjorie, who DM'd this person, and said, "We'd love to maybe license this video."”
“Basically, literally it is, the organic video with the Opal logo attached. That's it.”
“It turned out to be pretty successful because I think it's seen today by dozens of millions of people.”
“But since that, we've also partnered a lot with various creators that have made videos that are just organic videos that we've either repurposed or we commissioned new creative videos.”
Related topics
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More from Opal
All 10 Opal tacticsMore from this episode
- Opal: 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
- Opal: 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
- Opal: 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
- Opal: 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
- Opal: Add focus streaks with an animated flame and gemstone rewards at milestonesBiggest win of the year for retention and growth; no numbers
- Opal: 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
- Opal: Buy a New York billboard saying "Scrolling Kills" with no app linkNo effect on downloads or revenue; helped close one school deal
- Opal: Hand out thousands of "Scrolling Kills" stickers that don't mention the app