How NuCalm unleashed their brand and created momentum on a start-up budget

NuCalm is a revolutionary new product that allows people to safely, predictably, and easily put themselves into a deep meditative state within minutes. It instantly relieves stress and anxiety, creating a feeling of deep relaxation without the use of drugs, and without side effects.

By reducing stress and increasing resilience to it, NuCalm helps people with anxiety, sleeplessness, adrenal fatigue, morbid obesity, PTSD. It's also effective in helping patients recover from injuries or surgical procedures.

NuCalm needed to develop a base of paying customers and prove the concept in the marketplace.

The executive management team at NuCalm asked us to help them create a credible, professional presence, and to brainstorm ways to promote this amazing invention within their budget.  In their words, “make us look world-class, even though we’re a virtual company just getting started.”  

We decided to prove the product concept within a channel the CEO, Jim Poole, was already familiar with: dental practices. They made the perfect test group, because dentists routinely struggle with anxious patient behaviors that slow down their work, disrupt their scheduling, and compromise their profitability.

How we’re helping NuCalm succeed

We first developed a dual-purpose web site to educate patients and doctors and promote awareness. In the early stages of testing the product in the field, we were able to get great coverage from local media outlets, featuring leading dentists transforming patients from stressed and anxious, to relaxed and cooperative. The home page of the site features great things other people have said about NuCalm.

Additionally, we developed a number of other marketing tools to help NuCalm create brand equity and develop a bigger customer base:

• High definition videos of patients, before and after NuCalm appointments
• A photo library of product images and evocative brand imagery
• A direct mail program to reach more of the dental community, and drive qualified leads to the web site
• Educational materials that explained the neuroscience behind NuCalm
• A  slide deck to support 4 – 8 hour Continuing Education (CE) seminars for dentists, along with mailings to promote the CE events to various targeted cities throughout the country
• Posters and promotional materials for dental offices to promote the use of the product for patients
• Trade show materials used to promote NuCalm throughout the world, from Australia to the UK to Europe and Russia

In addition, we supported the management team in their efforts to enlist researchers and experts in dentistry, cardiology, oncology, substancel abuse clinics, and neuroscience. This helped create social proof the company needed to gain credibility.

Results so far

1. In three years we have gone from 3 customers in Chicago to dentists in 49 states, Canada, Europe, the UK, Australia, and Russia using NuCalm.  
2. Over 200,000 dental patients have experienced a relaxing, enjoyable dental experience with exceptional satisfaction rates; 95% state they would use NuCalm again and 98% state they would recommend it to friends and family.
3. NuCalm has been featured on television – FOX News, ABC News, CBS News, NBC News, and WGN News, in print – Wall Street Journal, Boston Globe, Houston Chronicle, Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, and 47 other newspapers and trade journals.  
4. There have been over 40,000 unique visitors to www.nucalm.com with 198,726 total page views and 3:24 average time per visit.
5. The company has booked over $4.3M in revenue and is growing year over year; thanks in part to the brand we’ve helped develop.
6. Using the continuing education presentation we helped create, NuCalm has conducted 126 continuing education courses all over the world to educate doctors on the neuroscience of NuCalm.
7. The company has established strategic partnerships with Harvard Medical School and mathematicians from NASA, the world’s leading neuromuscular institute in Las Vegas, The University of Washington, and the  world’s leading sports marketing agency.

New markets

The NuCalm system is currently being used in cardiology, chemotherapy, medical weight loss, psychotherapy, drug and alcohol treatment centers, and notably, professional sports. The Chicago Blackhawks used NuCalm for the entire 2013 NHL season, winning the Stanley Cup. They used it daily for circadian rhythm regulation, improved muscle recovery and healing, and increased restorative sleep. NuCalm allows athletes to get in the zone on demand.

The success of the Blackhawks led to the launch of NuCalm Performance, focused on personalized evidence-based wellness and optimized performance. Olympic athletes from the U.S., Canada, Sweden, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic used NuCalm at the XXII Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.

Brand X is currently supporting NuCalm with their continued efforts in the medical community as well as with the development of new marketing materials and a web site specifically aimed at a sports performance audience.

“Our collaborative work with Brand X has been pivotal to our success and business survival.  Any entrepreneur can tell you that pioneering a new product into a new market with limited funds is the most difficult business development challenge. Without the help of the experienced and inspired professionals at Brand X, our company would not have succeeded.”

—Jim Poole, President and CEO of Solace Lifesciences, Inc. – the makers of NuCalm