The Storm Behind the Calm
Fast Company|October 2021
The mindfulness app Calm is both edgy and opportunistic in marketing mental well-being.
By Jeff Beer
The Storm Behind the Calm

Tennis isn’t usually a big topic in the Slack channels at Calm, the mindfulness app valued at $2 billion. But when Naomi Osaka suddenly withdrew from the French Open on Memorial Day, citing her mental health, the volleys about her decision started flying. By the next morning, Calm’s global head of marketing and communications, Monica Austin, had convened folks from across the company’s marketing, PR, talent, and content teams to identify the brand’s potential role in the conversation—and evaluate the risk. Calm, which has worked with such celebrities as Matthew McConaughey and LeBron James but had no relationship with Osaka, had to decide whether it could insert itself into the heated debate regarding Osaka’s choice. Would prominent sportswriters and the likes of British pundit Piers Morgan pillory Calm as they had Osaka? Would even Osaka supporters find Calm’s participation crass?

Austin’s impromptu team quickly decided that Calm could jump in without feeling like an interloper—so long as it amplified its “mental health is health” message. The key was figuring out the right way to do it.

Within 48 hours, the company had tweeted that it would be donating $15,000—the sum of Osaka’s fine—to Laureus Sport, a French mental health organization. Calm also committed to paying fines for any players who opted out of 2021 Grand Slam media appearances, and to donate the same value to Laureus Sport. “When we show up in popular culture,” says cofounder and co-CEO Michael Acton Smith, “we do need to be careful we’re not being tone-deaf or too goofy, or too serious.”

Esta historia es de la edición October 2021 de Fast Company.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

Esta historia es de la edición October 2021 de Fast Company.

Comience su prueba gratuita de Magzter GOLD de 7 días para acceder a miles de historias premium seleccionadas y a más de 9,000 revistas y periódicos.

MÁS HISTORIAS DE FAST COMPANYVer todo
THE NEW RULES OF BUSINESS TRAVEL
Fast Company

THE NEW RULES OF BUSINESS TRAVEL

In the era of hybrid teams, everyone is a road warrior-not just sales teams and C-suite execs. It's part of why business travel spending is expected to finally reach, and perhaps surpass, pre-pandemic levels by the end of the year, according to Deloitte. But, as with everything, work trips are not what they were in 2019. From airlines to banks, companies are finding new ways to make business travel easier-and even a little fun.

time-read
5 minutos  |
Fall 2024
INTELLIGENT IMPACT
Fast Company

INTELLIGENT IMPACT

BUSINESS LUMINARIES SHARE HOW AI CAN INTERSECT WITH SOCIAL MISSION.

time-read
1 min  |
Fall 2024
REDDIT'S REVENGE
Fast Company

REDDIT'S REVENGE

IN AN ERA OF AI UPHEAVAL. THE CACOPHONOUS SOCIAL HUB EMERGES AS THE HUMAN-DRIVEN INTERNET'S LAST GREAT HOPE.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Fall 2024
SO MANY WAYS TO LOSE
Fast Company

SO MANY WAYS TO LOSE

In the Ozempic era, Weight-Watchers is remaking itself to be something for everyone meal-plan program and a tele-health prescription service. But have consumers already lost their appetite?

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Fall 2024
10/10 - THE 10 MOST INNOVATIVE PEOPLE OF THE LAST 10 YEARS
Fast Company

10/10 - THE 10 MOST INNOVATIVE PEOPLE OF THE LAST 10 YEARS

In honor of Fast Company's 10th Innovation Festival in September, we identified 10 industrious leaders whose groundbreaking efforts defined the past decade in business. We spoke to them about their extraordinary achievements in tech, medicine, entertainment, and more. And we explored how the impact of their work has withstood passing fads, various presidential administrations, a pandemic, and many, many quarterly reports.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Fall 2024
The Mysterious Reappearance of the Reggie Bar
Fast Company

The Mysterious Reappearance of the Reggie Bar

How a beloved 1970s candy got called back up to the major leagues.

time-read
8 minutos  |
Fall 2024
Gabriella Khalil
Fast Company

Gabriella Khalil

Gabriella Khalil, creative director, answers our career questionnaire.

time-read
2 minutos  |
Fall 2024
The Fast and the Furious
Fast Company

The Fast and the Furious

High prices at McDonald's, Taco Bell, and other chains are sparking consumer revolt.

time-read
6 minutos  |
Fall 2024
Lost in Truncation
Fast Company

Lost in Truncation

Lost in Truncation Generative AI was supposed to unleash our creativity. Instead, it became our cultural trash compactor. Welcome to the age of summarization.

time-read
4 minutos  |
Fall 2024
Campus Radicals
Fast Company

Campus Radicals

Welcome to UATX, Austin's new well-funded and controversial anti-woke university.

time-read
10+ minutos  |
Summer 2024