How WHOOP Scaled in a Crowded Wearable Tech Market

Welcome back!

Today’s case study covers a brand in the wearable tech space called WHOOP.

They focused on niching down and carved out a space that helped them win in a saturated market that Nike and Apple dominate.

Whoop made a deliberate decision to avoid being a traditional smartwatch.

Instead, they’ve exclusively focused on health metrics that help you to optimise your holistic lifestyle without adding to your stress.

A good move that simplified the message and helped them resonate with their key market — Athletes.

This led to elite athletes like Lebron James, Cristiano Ronaldo and Michael Phelps becoming unpaid users of WHOOP.

In this newsletter, I’ll zoom in a bit on key tactics that they have executed well to fast-track their growth:

• WHOOP’s impactful switch to a subscription model

• Unpaid and paid podcast strategy to get high-value customers

• Breakdown and framework of their best campaign; ‘The Best Obsess’.

Enjoy 🤙

SUBSCRIPTION MODEL
From Struggling to Sell a $500 Hardware to $3.6B Valuation

Initially, WHOOP came into the DTC market selling $500 devices on a Shopify site that no one was buying.

They had a light bulb moment, got rid of upfront hardware cost and switched over to a membership-based subscription model.

An impactful move that made the product more accessible, helping capture more attention.

They’ve seen increased growth in recurring revenue, steady cash flow and increased customer retention. Over 50% of members were using Whoop daily even after 18+ months after buying.

It’s helped them expand their customer base and attract more people to try the product— something they couldn’t achieve before.

Here’s how WHOOP captured new recurring users:

1. They are clear about their main offer and use that consistently.

2. The tiered pricing options helped sell and convert. They started offering monthly, annual and 24-month options to appeal to different customer budgets.

3. Popular athletes were users. It made it easier for WHOOP to partner with them to get the word out.

4. Started communicating benefits through long-form content channels like podcasts. This is where their high-value customers were.

When someone is ready to take action, they’ve made it easy to get started through these three offers:

• Free trial and get the WHOOP hardware for free

• Discounts for key groups like students and the military/navy

• Refer a friend - Give 1 month and get 1 month free
  

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PODCAST STRATEGY
Gaining High-Value Customers

A study found that about 88% of DTC shoppers were satisfied with their purchases after interacting with podcasts and podcast ads.

WHOOP tapped into this highly engaged, niche audience through long-form content both organically and through paid ads.

Organic Strategy

They have a show called ‘The WHOOP Podcast,’ which offers insights into health, fitness, and human performance. Led by their founder ‘Will Ahmed’ it allows them to position itself as a thought leader in the fitness and performance space.

Each episode aims to show how their product fits into improving users’ lives and has a big emphasis on storytelling. It’s a genius move that helps them improve their SEO through show notes and transcripts.

By leveraging high-profile guests, they gain credibility and access new audience groups that would be expensive through paid. Plus, it pushes their organic reach further. No one really talks about the compounding effect of this channel.

WHOOP has used this to increase their sales, and customer loyalty and receive feedback that informs their future marketing strategies as well.

Paid Strategy

Paid podcast activity helps them get more control over who is coming into their marketing funnel, targeting athletes, fitness enthusiasts and tech-savvy users via:

1. Sponsoring other podcasts that cater to their target audience.

• They use the ‘host-read ad’ format where the host gives their own experience using the product.
  

• Whoop being featured by Joe Rogan is probably the best example of how to do this authentically. He has a massive reach and the easiest way for Whoop to gain access to millions of potential customers just from that small shoutout.

2. They partner with experts and prominent influencers.

• Chief’s quarterback, Patrick Mahomes, recently discussed how he uses Whoop during training on another podcast.

• This adds credibility and listeners of that podcast are likely to check out the product.

3. Investing in in-app ads across platforms like Spotify and Apple Podcasts, targeting users who are interested in health and fitness content.

• This keeps them top-of-mind amongst their key audience.

• Their product is so entrenched and useful in the daily lives of these prominent influencers that it makes it super easy to talk about.
  

CAMPAIGN BREAKDOWN
Tactical Campaign Focusing on One Hero Message

Campaign Breakdown

They know that their customers are interested in performance tracking so they built an acquisition campaign around it.

WHOOP's "The Best Obsess" campaign is a smart, focused tactical campaign that attracts people through one hero message.

It speaks directly to the customers they want.

It’s centered around the idea that top performers are not just talented, but deeply committed to self-improvement and obsessed with optimising their performance.

It encourages WHOOP members to embrace their "healthy obsessions".

Gets them to use real-time data to achieve their goals across various aspects of life. Not just when working out.

Their key message is about unlocking human performance through data to improve the day-to-day lifestyle.

Perfectly set to attract athletes and fitness enthusiasts who are interested in:

• Embracing healthy obsessions leads to achievement

• Accessing scientific data to help reach their potential

• The small details that can lead to significant improvements & day to day self-management

This campaign was executed through organic and paid social channels, leading with video content featuring familiar athlete/ entrepreneur celebrities like Michael Phelps, Virgil Van Dijk, and Steven Bartlett.

Worth noting — their traffic was going to a specific landing page designed uniquely for this campaign to convert new prospects faster.

Practical Learning: 7- Step Framework That You Can Apply

1. Value Proposition → One Clear and Customer-Centric Messaging

Example: "Unlock your best performance. WHOOP helps you sleep better, train smarter, and recover faster."

2. Targeted Segments → Narrow, Relevant Audience Targeting

Example: Targets health-conscious individuals, athletes, and fitness enthusiasts who are focused on optimizing performance.

3. Conversion CTAs → Strong, Compelling Calls-to-Action

Example: "Join WHOOP. Get started with a free 30-day trial and optimize your performance."

4. Creative Testing → Data-Driven Ad Iterations

Example: Continually tested different creatives highlighting various product benefits—better sleep, improved recovery, and data tracking. They used real-time data from real customers to make it more believable.

5. Optimised Landing Pages → Seamless and Mobile-First

Example: Landing pages were optimized for mobile, had a clear call-to-action, and emphasized the benefits with minimal distractions.

6. Incentives → Discounts or Trials to Drive Conversion

Example: Offered a free 30-day trial to reduce barriers to entry and entice users to try the product.

7. Social Proof → Trust-Building Reviews and Endorsements

Example: Showcased testimonials from athletes and high-profile fitness enthusiasts to build trust.

FINAL WORDS
Bringing It Home

WHOOP’s approach offers valuable lessons in clear messaging, targeted audience engagement, and the importance of social proof, making it a compelling example of a bullet proof growth strategy.

If you want to learn more about their business, I found this podcast really interesting:

That’s all for today! Hope you got some learnings out of this.

See you next time - Dev✌️

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