What a Meditation App Taught Me About Brand Marketing

Devin Reed

4 years later and this is still seared into my brain.

In 2021, Naomi Osaka won the first round of the French Open.

If you're like me and don't follow tennis, stick with me. Here's all you need to know:

Naomi was (and is) one of the best and most famous tennis players in the world.

She was only 23 years old.

The French Open is a big deal.

Great, you're all caught up.

Now.

Everything was great until she announced that she wouldn't participate in a mandatory press conference because she wanted to prioritize her mental health.

I'm guessing she felt like skipping another "stupid meeting". Been there.

In response, the tournament fined her $15,000.

They also warned her that any additional violations would result in more fines and potentially suspend her from future tournaments.

This divided the sports world and caused a HUGE controversy.

Some said she should "suck it up" and do her job. She's rich and should be grateful she has the opportunity to be a pro player.

Others supported her and thanked her for her courage, including many pro athletes.

She became a symbol for mental health. And for better or worse, she dominated the news wires for days as sports analysts, news anchors, and anyone with a microphone shared their opinions.

But that wasn't all.

Calm — a meditation and wellness app — took it further.

They publicly supported Osaka’s stance on mental health.

Then they donated $15,000 to the French youth sports charity Laureus and pledged to pay any fines for Grand Slam players who opted out of media appearances for mental health reasons during 2021.

That's real brand marketing.

Instead of breaking down the 15 reasons it was a brilliant play — and to be clear, it was brilliant — allow me to share the one lesson that matters most.

Your brand isn't your logo, colors, or the font in your brand guidelines book.

(I've gotten into many arguments with creative directors over this.)

Your brand is your behavior.

It's what you say and what you do. It's what you do and do NOT tolerate.

Because really, your brand is your reputation.

When I read what Calm did, I loved it. I remember thinking, they don't just say they support mental health — which was very in vogue at the time — they showed they were about it.

Most brands say they stand for something.

Great brands find moments to prove it.

This week, look at your brand values. Now ask: when’s the last time we acted on one — publicly?

Find a moment (internal or external) to turn belief into behavior.

That’s how you build a reputation, not just awareness.

👉 I shared this story on LinkedIn too — see what others are saying and weigh in.​

Holler at you later,
Devin

PS: This post took me ~2 hours to write. If you enjoyed it, you can help me grow this newsletter by forwarding it to one person who wants to get better at content marketing.

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