When Doug Sweeny joined Ōura as chief marketing officer about one year ago, he noticed the brand did not have a clear, long-term identity. Since 2015, Ōura has built a committed following around its smart rings that track health data such as heart rate and sleep activity. But in order to achieve scale in a space that has become saturated with fitness trackers, Ōura needed to answer a fundamental question: Who are we?
How Doug Sweeny is forging a new identity for smart ring brand Ōura
An identity soon emerged, which Sweeny recognized as revolving around the brand’s ability to give the human body a voice. Now, the CMO has plans to take that discovery and communicate it to consumers, beginning with an upcoming holiday campaign.
Sweeny has pushed Ōura toward more retail exposure through partnerships with Best Buy and Equinox. He also led a marketing campaign around World Sleep Week, which the brand leveraged to promote new sleep features in its product.

An Ōura’s display in Best Buy.
Sweeny is a veteran in the ad industry, having served in leadership positions at One Medical, Nest Labs and Levi’s, but his role at Ōura has felt more personal, he told Ad Age.
“Ōura is a culmination of passions in my own life,” he said—namely, shipping a high-quality product and bringing a positive impact to people’s lives.
Which entrepreneur do you admire the most and why?
Tony Fadell—iPod creator, iPhone co-creator and Nest founder. I had the opportunity to work alongside Tony at Nest and watch how his mind worked, how he brought new products to market, how he led the organization in a crisis and how he created products loved by billions of people. While a computer engineer by training, he was maniacally focused on the consumer experience across every touchpoint. From a patented drill-less screw to install a thermostat, to recycled eco-friendly packaging for a smoke alarm, Tony was constantly and consistently pushing us to simplify and edit these “unloved products” to solve real consumer problems.
What’s currently on your bedside reading list?
Maggie Bullock’s “Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J. Crew” is a business thriller I could not put down—a riveting story of the beloved American lifestyle brand that is a roller coaster spanning five decades. Maggie spent years doing investigative journalism across hundreds of employees, and in return, you feel like a fly on the wall during product-line reviews with Jenna Lyons and Mickey Drexler, from the Obama-era heyday to financial fallout. A business classic.
What is the best career advice you’ve gotten?
One of my earliest mentors at Levi’s told me not to stay in one place or one industry too long. The idea was that by moving every four to five years, you could experience an entirely new category, test your market value and in turn challenge yourself. It also meant you could diversify your résumé, build equity in your personal brand and not get pigeonholed into a single industry. I think it was sage advice and allowed me to experience industries as diverse as apparel and health care to automotive and wearables.
Name one brand, other than the one you work for, that you admire.
The “Categories” campaign that Airbnb is doing right now I think is some of the best work out there. It gets you thinking about all these extreme, romantic, one-of-kind Airbnb homes you may never have tried. From Caves and Castles to Barns and Boats. The work is witty, insightful, confident and downright fun. At the same time, Airbnb also launched AirCover, which is peace-of-mind travel protection for your rental and includes a 24-hour safety service hotline. Brilliant.
What is your secret weapon for business success?
The role of CMO requires you to wear many different hats and navigate a lot of change. You have to balance things like brand expression—which can be intangible and hard to nail—with business revenue drivers like CAC and LTV at the same time. Knowing which lever to pull—either the emotional or the more rational—can be challenging. So for me, having a sense of humor is really critical in the CMO role, given the wide range of demands. The marketing team needs it, the leadership team and even the board needs it.