As a leader in online meditation and mindfulness, Headspace is on a mission to improve the health and happiness of the world. To make decisions around innovations and communications, it needed a more nuanced understanding of the challenges and aspirations that people face as they strive for their individual definitions of happiness.
Canvas8 partnered with Headspace on a comprehensive, mixed-methodology research project designed to help the company unlock new audiences. This approach involved:
A Segmentation Blueprint offering a compilation of the research data and resulting segmentation mindset, attitude, and behavior profiles.
A Segmentation Playbook offering recommendations on how Headspace could turn the research insight from the Blueprint into strategic action.
Four ethnographic documentaries highlighting the goals, motivations, and barriers to achieving health and happiness for each segment.
We delivered an attitudinal segmentation that worked globally and could be applied locally with insights into the communications and messaging needed to connect to the differing personas. The key insight was that the current positioning, 'Meditation made simple', only resonated with people open to meditation – alienating people not seeking meditation as a solution. The broader and more widely accepted truth was that people wanted to take care of their mind. The new segmentation underpinned Headspace’s new brand position – moving from 'meditation made simple' and 'guided meditation for all' to 'being kind to your mind', with meditation as a solution. This broader, more resonant message was seen in Headspace’s first US TV spot, here. The segmentation enabled Headspace’s international growth strategy and product innovation.