Soul & Science : #99: Oura CMO Doug Sweeny | Turning Wellness Into a Movement
SHOW NOTES
How do you scale a wellness brand without losing the mission?
Doug Sweeny, CMO of Oura, joins Jason Harris to unpack the playbook behind Oura’s evolution—from a sleep device born in Finland to a holistic health platform used by pro teams, biohackers, and everyday members. Doug shares why the internal reset comes first (“align the company, then tell the world”), how revenue ownership changes the CMO seat, and what it takes to balance brand campaigns with hard-nosed performance.
Key Takeaways:
✅ Revenue responsibility sharpens marketing judgment and earns a bigger seat at the table
✅ Use brand at the top, precision stories in the mid/lower funnel; measure each tier with distinct KPIs
✅ Prioritize ruthlessly: global expansion and product velocity require explicit tradeoffs
✅ When CAC is upside-down, pause and reset—efficiency first, then scale
Memorable Moments:
💡 “I was getting much different answers… we had to reset it and embed it in the company—then you can tell the story externally.”
💡 “Fifty percent of new members hear about Oura from a family member, friend, or coworker.”
💡 “Give Us the Finger was about longevity and empowerment—and it became some of our highest-engagement social.”
💡 “We’re here to do the best work of our lives.”
Brought to you by Mekanism.
Doug Sweeny, CMO of Oura, joins Jason Harris to unpack the playbook behind Oura’s evolution—from a sleep device born in Finland to a holistic health platform used by pro teams, biohackers, and everyday members. Doug shares why the internal reset comes first (“align the company, then tell the world”), how revenue ownership changes the CMO seat, and what it takes to balance brand campaigns with hard-nosed performance.
Key Takeaways:
✅ Revenue responsibility sharpens marketing judgment and earns a bigger seat at the table
✅ Use brand at the top, precision stories in the mid/lower funnel; measure each tier with distinct KPIs
✅ Prioritize ruthlessly: global expansion and product velocity require explicit tradeoffs
✅ When CAC is upside-down, pause and reset—efficiency first, then scale
Memorable Moments:
💡 “I was getting much different answers… we had to reset it and embed it in the company—then you can tell the story externally.”
💡 “Fifty percent of new members hear about Oura from a family member, friend, or coworker.”
💡 “Give Us the Finger was about longevity and empowerment—and it became some of our highest-engagement social.”
💡 “We’re here to do the best work of our lives.”
Brought to you by Mekanism.
Soul & Science
Does marketing live in the heart, or in the head? Should you trust your instinct, or your integers? If the answer is both, should you lead with one more than the other? As a creative agency, Mekanism has been asking these questions of ourselves and our clients for over 10 years. Join co-founder and CEO of award-winning creative agency Mekanism, Jason Harris, on his quest to answer these questions with the world’s leading marketers from the brands we’ve all come to love. Named CEO of the Year by The Drum Magazine, Jason will draw from his experience during these easily digestible 20-minute episodes to explore the Soul of these famous brands and the Science of staying relevant, exploring how they’ve become culture defining emblems in our modern world.
Brought to you by Mekanism
Brought to you by Mekanism
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