Thursday, May 22, 2025

How Headspace Uses Localisation and Creative Best Practice to Drive Global Organic Growth Through App Store Optimisation

How Headspace Uses Localisation and Creative Best Practice to Drive Global Organic Growth Through App Store Optimisation
Katie Desmond and Lauren Park

 

 

 

Quick Read Summary

At MAU Vegas 2025, Headspace and M and C Saatchi Performance shared an inside look at how smart localisation strategy, creative testing, and custom store listings have pushed Headspace to the front of the wellness app category.

The session explored how the team built a global App Store Optimisation framework that moves far beyond translation, focusing instead on cultural nuance, emotional triggers, and market specific testing. The speakers revealed how they pair creative best practice with user intent, ensuring every search or paid click leads to a store experience that feels relevant and accurate to the moment.

They also shared how custom product pages and custom store listings have transformed both paid and organic performance, boosting conversion, reducing acquisition costs, and strengthening long term keyword rankings.

The session’s message was simple and consistent. Successful app store optimisation is not about one storefront. It is about many localised experiences shaped by user need, creative experimentation, and continuous learning.

 

 

Building a Global Wellness Brand for a Localised World

Headspace has become one of the most widely recognised names in mental wellbeing. While many users first discovered it through meditation content, the product has expanded into a complete support system with guided movement, CBT based programmes, focus tools, and sleep content.

With nearly sixty percent of Headspace users now coming from outside the United States, localisation strategy has become a core driver of growth. Katie Desmond explained that this shift required a mindset change.

“We knew we did not want just translations of our US storefront because search habits and even how the app is used really differs by market.”

Headspace needed storefronts that reflected cultural expectations, market specific use cases, and nuances in language that influence how users search for help with sleep, stress, focus, or anxiety. This opened the door to a deeper partnership with M and C Saatchi Performance and a broader use of app store optimisation across iOS and Google Play.

Lauren Park described their remit as helping brands find the right balance between visibility and conversion, two pillars that sit at the centre of effective app store optimisation. Discoverability ensures users can find the app through relevant search terms. Conversion ensures the storefront communicates value clearly and persuasively enough to drive an install.

“We are able to influence conversion rate through testing, and we can tailor these elements for each market.”

That philosophy shaped the framework that now supports Headspace’s global growth.

 

Why Localisation Strategy Matters More Than Ever

A central theme of the session was that localisation strategy must respect more than language. True localisation adapts product value, creative choices, and messaging to the expectations of each country. It also requires a willingness to question assumptions about what will work.

Katie made it clear that assumptions rarely survive testing. Market behaviour varies too strongly to rely on general intuition.

Headspace now maintains bespoke store listings across its priority regions, including the United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, and France. Canada is a particularly strong example, where English and French speaking audiences have distinct preferences and search patterns.

This diversity shaped Headspace’s decision to invest in iterative testing in every market, using controlled experiments to uncover what design elements, keyword choices, and narrative styles resonate most. The goal is to treat the storefront as a living product, not a static page. Each change is measured, and each lesson informs the next.

 

Creative Testing That Challenges Assumptions

One of the clearest examples of the value of testing came from Headspace’s app icon experiment. Icons may seem like small assets, but they play an important role in user perception and conversion.

Working with Headspace’s design team, M and C Saatchi Performance tested two new icons based on the familiar Headspace smiling dot. One was circular and the other square, both using the brand’s recognisable orange.

The results proved that even tiny creative variations can behave differently by market. The round smiling dot outperformed the control in both the US and the United Kingdom. Canada preferred the square version. These findings challenged the assumption that cultural neighbours will behave identically.

“Despite the similarities between markets, we saw different outcomes. That is why it is crucial to test and not assume.”

The team has continued to build on this insight, running additional icon tests that reveal more nuance in user expectations and the subtle impact of visual language on conversion.

This work also supports wider creative best practice. Headspace uses similar principles when refining screenshots, messaging, and layout. The aim is to remove friction, make the experience familiar and supportive, and communicate the depth of content within the app.

 

Understanding User Intent at the Moment of Need

A recurring theme was the importance of meeting users in the moment. Many people arrive at the store not through curiosity but through an emotional or stressful prompt. They may be struggling with sleep, feeling anxious, or looking for a short mental reset during the day.

Katie explained that Headspace wanted to surface these need states more effectively in the storefront.

“We wanted a way to show all the different facets of our sleep offering in that moment for the user.”

This required a shift in strategy. Instead of showing a broad overview of everything Headspace offers, the team needed targeted versions of the store page that reflected a user’s specific intention.

This is where custom product pages and custom store listings became essential.

 

Custom Product Pages and Custom Store Listings as Performance Levers

On iOS, custom product pages allow brands to create alternative versions of their store page that match specific paid campaigns. This is particularly useful when targeting Apple Search Ads, where search terms can be tightly linked to the content of a custom page.

On Google Play, custom store listings offer even greater flexibility. They allow variations in messaging, screenshots, and even the icon itself. These listings can also be tied to geography, audience segments, and now, organic keyword searches.

Lauren outlined why this matters.

“This is where we can tailor the messaging and content based on where the user is coming from.”

For Headspace, these capabilities became a breakthrough. Their paid campaigns often focus on core need states such as sleep, stress, anxiety, and focus. Custom listings allow them to extend that narrative into the store experience. A user who clicks a sleep ad sees a full set of creative assets that explore Headspace’s sleep content in detail. The journey becomes more consistent, relevant, and emotionally aligned.

Katie emphasised that each custom listing is designed with its own creative personality, shaped by Headspace’s broader brand guidelines and creative best practice.

“Each of these listings has a look and feel of their own, and we have seen that tailoring this experience really drives measurable success.”

The data supports this. Custom pages have delivered a twenty five percent reduction in cost per install and a twenty six percent improvement in conversion compared with ads that lead to the default store listing. These are meaningful gains in a mature category.

 

A Breakthrough for Organic Performance on Google Play

The session also highlighted one of the most significant updates to Google Play in recent years. Custom store listings can now be triggered by organic keyword searches. This means brands can tailor the store experience based on how users search, not only how they respond to paid campaigns.

This allowed Headspace to create a dedicated sleep listing during Sleep Week. The listing used a new icon, refreshed screenshots, and a description focused on sleep related content. M and C Saatchi Performance then carried out extensive keyword research to understand which terms mattered most for this theme.

The results were striking. Across a seven week before and after analysis, installs from sleep related keywords increased by almost fifty percent. The conversion rate rose by twenty six percent.

“By improving the conversion rate this way, it signals to the algorithm that you are relevant.”

This relevance matters because organic rankings are influenced by both demand and successful conversion. By demonstrating high relevance and strong performance on core terms, Headspace can create sustained momentum across its keyword portfolio.

This is where app store optimisation becomes a long term growth engine rather than a tactical enhancement.

 

Shaping a World Class Localisation Strategy Through Iteration

Taken together, these strategies form a localisation system that adapts to user expectations, emotional need states, and regional behaviours. The speakers returned repeatedly to the importance of testing and data driven insight.

“A lot of the testing we run defies our assumptions. That is why we test in each localised market and build our learnings that way.”

Localisation is not a one time project. It demands ongoing iteration, new hypotheses, and a willingness to rebuild creative assets as markets evolve. For global brands, this can be the difference between steady growth and stagnation.

The session positioned localisation as a strategic necessity rather than an optional enhancement. For Headspace, it has become one of the main levers for organic and paid growth across app store ecosystems.

 

Creative Best Practice That Supports Global Scale

Beyond testing, a recurring element of the session was the value of creative best practice. Headspace and M and C Saatchi Performance have built a design system that encourages clarity and reduces friction. This includes storytelling formats for screenshots, encouraged reuse of recognisable brand elements, and market specific narrative choices.

The creative work goes deeper than colour or layout. Each set of screenshots is shaped around how users experience the app in their daily lives. This includes:

  • clear demonstration of content depth
  • emotional reassurance
  • easy signposting of practical tools
  • visual consistency between ads and the store

The team emphasised that creative best practice is essential when building multiple localised listings. It ensures the brand scales without losing recognisability or quality.

 

Looking Ahead: A Future Built on Relevance

The session closed with a reflection on how app store optimisation continues to evolve. With more levers available on iOS and Google Play, and with the growing importance of emotional user journeys, the work ahead will focus even more on relevance. The combination of localisation strategy, creative experimentation, and custom listings allows brands like Headspace to stay connected to users at the exact moment they need help.

Katie summarised the opportunity clearly.

“Using custom listings to speak directly to user behaviour can really drive resonance and increase the likelihood of a conversion.”

As the app ecosystem becomes more competitive, this relevance will define the next generation of growth leaders. Headspace’s approach shows what is possible when data and creativity work together.

 

 

About the Speakers

Lauren Park, Global Head of ASO, M and C Saatchi Performance

Lauren Park has spent twelve years in the digital industry, with more than nine focused on App Store Optimization. At M and C Saatchi Performance, she has partnered with leading brands across entertainment, gaming, and ecommerce, helping them strengthen discoverability and improve conversion across global markets. Lauren leads bespoke ASO strategies for clients including Headspace, Amazon, TikTok, and Grab, drawing on deep experience in shaping solutions that meet the needs of different growth challenges.

Katie Desmond, Senior Media Manager, Headspace

Katie Desmond is a data driven growth marketer with a strong record of scaling performance channels into sustainable acquisition engines. At Headspace, she leads ASO, Influencer, Affiliate, Audio, and CTV marketing, transforming each from early testing programs into mature, always on initiatives. Her focus is on identifying new channels, audiences, and international markets that unlock continued growth and deliver meaningful return on investment.

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