Snap and Headspace launch a win-win partnership for Mini meditation
Not just disappearing pics... Snap wants users doing more in its app (besides sending double-chin shots). In 2015 it launched the Discover tab for news. Last year, it launched in-app games. Yesterday, Snap launched "Minis," tiny apps you can use within its chat feature (without having to download anything):
- For its 1st Mini, Snap is partnering with Headspace, the popular mindfulness/meditation app where a soothing British voice tells you to breathe.
- Headspace Mini offers six different 3-4 minute meditation sessions with titles like "Just Breathe," "Get Out Of A Funk," and "Me Time" (#sassy). Meditate with friends — or at least, with their Bitmojis.
Win-win brilliance... With Minis, Snap could theoretically let you do 100X more things in-app, which could lead to 100X more engagement — and a lot more ad revenue. By adding a popular partner like Headspace early, Snap can draw users to Minis. By offering itself for free, Headspace gets free marketing and exposure to Snap's 200M+ users. For Headspace, it's all about...
- "Gateway" Partnerships: Headspace charges ~ $10/month for its app subscription. But it offers free sessions to partners like Nike Run Club and airlines — aka "gateways" for people to get hooked, download its app, and eventually become paying subscribers.
This could be the next (mini) App Store... Call it the Snapp Store. Apple takes a 30% cut of paid downloads, in-app purchases, and subs in the App Store. Developers have long complained, but don't really have another choice. Now Snap is offering a platform to ship mini apps, which could later be monetized.
- Consumers would rather do multiple things in 1 app than download dozens of apps. China's WeChat thrives with mini apps, and Apple's trying to do the same with "App Clips."
- Snap reaches 90% of 13 to 24-year-olds in the US. If Minis succeed, developers could turn their attention there to capture the next gen of users.