WeWard · B2C · walking rewards app
Give a famous athlete shares to be the app's face and press voice
Helped press, hiring, CAC and retention; founder says hard to quantify
Workedpartnershipspr-launchinfluencer
What they did
Entering the US, Yves wanted a well-known American sports figure with a healthy-lifestyle image (ideally known worldwide) so the app felt American. He asked VCs and founders for intros to celebrity investors, then happened to sit next to Venus Williams at lunch and pitched her during a lull ('big fan of your career... I'd love to tell you my story'). He sought an ambassador endorsement; she asked for shares, so they did a dual ambassador-plus-investor deal. WeWard can use her image, produces content with her, she appeared on Good Morning America, and pitches to journalists offer a conversation with her.
What happened
Journalists now answer; easier hiring; lower CAC; content with her lifts retention and LTV; her own posts drive organic installs. Not quantified.
- Stage
- Growth (US expansion)
In their words
Sub Club by RevenueCat · How WeWard Hit 20M Users Without Paid Ads — Yves Benchimol, WeWard“at the beginning I was looking for kind of an ambassador endorsement and then she said, "Okay, I want shares, so I want to be also investor." And we did this dual deal of ambassador and an investor, which means that we can use her image, we produce content together.”
“if you send an email to a journalist, we can organize a conversation with Venice Williams. The journalist will say, "Okay, why not? It's better than talking with eaves."”
“For the HR, it's easier to hire talents when you have a celebrity because it give credibility to the company.”
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More from this episode
- WeWard: Pay a PR agency $3-5K a month instead of buying ads300K downloads in 5 minutes from one TV spot; four years with zero ad spend
- WeWard: Take the PR playbook that worked in France to Italy, Spain and the USWorked in Italy and Spain; flopped in the US despite a top agency
- WeWard: Add in-app ads once you see retention hold after a big traffic spikeAds work well thanks to the large audience; says they pay at ~100K daily users
- WeWard: Promote brands like Nike and Expedia in the app for a cut of salesWorks well; Nike, Adidas, Expedia, Booking.com and Amazon signed on
- WeWard: Add a paid plan that removes ads, after ads and affiliate already workStill a small share of revenue but growing fast
- WeWard: A/B test every feature on steps walked, and don't track time in app
- WeWard: Lock TikTok and Instagram until users hit their walking goalUsers of the feature walk 10% more
- WeWard: Put the celebrity's face in ads and onboarding so the app feels localFounder says better ad conversion, lower CAC and higher retention; no numbers
- WeWard: Rebuild onboarding to get users to commit and feel somethingBiggest win of the year: retention and LTV up a lot; unlocked more paid UA
- WeWard: Sell companies step challenges for staff, with charity donationsBiggest fail of the year; couldn't make it work
- WeWard: Keep one app everywhere; swap only the rewards and partner brands per countryLive in 29 countries without local teams
- WeWard: Ask users if blockchain matters; switch to plain points when they shrugUsers happier, engineers relieved; scaling and lag problems gone
- WeWard: Add card collecting with your own characters to keep walkers coming backFounder says retention is the highest it has ever been; no numbers
- WeWard: Move the founder to New York to crack the USSlow first two years; now 'becoming a significant app' in the US