What do Meditation and Strategy have in common?

Meditation and Strategy

In my last blog, I talked about the process I went through to find equilibrium and define my purpose that led me to join Chameleon Collective. The insights I uncovered through this journey have helped me create guardrails, filter out the noise and focus on what I am meant to be doing: my purpose. Many have asked me how I discovered my inner truths; I must say the process I went through was extremely cathartic yet incredibly valuable.

Loosely following the advice from Simon Sinek’s “Find Your Why,” I sought people who could help me discover my stories. I wanted to know my strengths and weaknesses; when I seem most happy, frustrated, impactful; my unique superpowers. I found people who knew me well, who invested in my success, and most importantly, told me the truth, even if it hurt. Through my work at Chameleon Collective, I have realized how this same process for discovering inner truths, a critical first step in our brand strategy work, can be transformational for our clients in redefining their brand’s purpose.

For one of my clients, Evenflow, discovering their inner truths was the key to refining their product & go-to-market strategy. Evenflow is a relative newcomer to the mindfulness space. This is a growing industry that is becoming increasingly competitive with various services and solutions. I recently sat down with co-founders Mark Meyuhas and Dave Williams to reflect on their insights journey and how it helped them transform their business strategy.

The mindfulness industry is growing and becoming increasingly cluttered at the same time. When you launched Evenflow, what was your differentiator?

Evenflow’s initial product differentiator was its teachers. A network of experienced mental health professionals who viewed meditation as a part of a holistic mindfulness solution. We believe that building a mindfulness practice is not a “one size fits all” proposition. It’s very personal both in terms of who and how you connect to the topic. It also helps with your personal motivations for wanting to learn meditation and generally live more mindfully. At Evenflow we adopted a strategy of bringing in a wide variety of teachers with different areas of expertise such as sleep health, body image, and nutrition, sports performance, anxiety management, etc.

Partnering with the Collective

After launching a meditation app last year, you partnered with Chameleon Collective to discover inner truths from your early adopters. What was this process like?

Partnering with Chameleon Collective, we spoke to the beginning and experienced meditators. We spoke with those who used Evenflow frequently or not at all, those who used other apps to meditate and those who had their own customized routines. Chameleon conducted both qualitative and quantitative consumer research. The greatest value came from their ability to connect the dots and uncover meaningful connections between various data points. These insights helped us evolve our positioning in the market and reinforce our most important beliefs and brand differentiators.  

What did you learn?

We learned a lot of things that helped us know that we were onto something with our brand positioning. We discovered that most people who have successfully developed a long-lasting mindfulness practice usually started with a very specific issue they were facing. This is often with the help of a teacher or therapist. It could have been stress or sleep problems, diet or illness. In general, there was a “trigger” that led them to the practice (versus simply deciding to learn how to meditate). Our solution-driven approach to meditation could be a great fit.

We also learned that many people first experience mindfulness and meditation through Yoga. This is a key insight as we think about how to reach users.

What was the most surprising inner truth you discovered?

The inner truth that was hardest to swallow but most important was actually quite subtle. We noticed that our Net Promoter Score varied significantly between the cohort of consumers that had previously used other mindfulness apps and those that hadn’t. For those who had experienced other apps, our NPS was considerably lower. What that told us is that we were delivering same/similar value as other meditation apps (which is obviously good) but it wasn’t sufficiently differentiated or that much better than other existing options. Our focus on the psychological underpinning of mindfulness and the range of experts didn’t seem to be enough, on their own, for us to break through in an already crowded market. This is what led us to push much harder on redefining our purpose through meditation and strategy.

The Results

How did Evenflow’s brand strategy evolve?

Our insights discovery validated that the mindfulness industry was shifting too much towards quick fixes and daily doses of enlightenment. What was missing was an ecosystem where people could find lasting anwers. A place where meditation was one part of a long-term healing process. For some, the app and content are enough to guide them. Others may want to connect with a teacher for some personal guidance or join a workshop or online class with a group of people who have similar interests.

Evenflow leveraged these insights to emphasize our most valuable asset: the human element of connecting directly with teachers. We now offer a wider variety of service that offers personal guidance. This includes 1:1 mentoring service (just launched) and our upcoming live workshops that we’re developing with corporate partners and universities.

Have you found your purpose?

Evenflow exists to make mindfulness practice more accessible to the aspiring meditator – those who would like to live a little more mindfully and be more present in their day to day lives.

Uncovering inner truths through consumer research about why people meditate and how they approach it has helped us define a clear and ownable brand purpose. Its clarified what’s working already and where we needed to push harder to create a differentiated strategy that meets our consumers exactly where and when they most need us.

At Chameleon Collective, our process for discovering inner truths is as much an art as a science. Our experts leverage a variety of methodologies, combining left-brain analytics with right-brain creativity, to mine for and articulate insights that will help companies define their purpose and unleash growth. It was a transformational journey for Evenflow with meditation strategies, and we know it can be for your company too.