Case Study: How In The Lab+ 2Xed Their Viewers With Apps

Meet In the Lab+

In the Lab+ is the streaming membership branch of In the Lab, a global basketball brand co-founded 6 years ago by Navin Ramharak.

Navin was inspired by basketball brands and culture of the early 2000s, and wanted to build a business with the same vibe – an all-inclusive one-stop-shop destination for athletes that offered everything basketball, including lessons, coaching, merch, and more.

So he started In the Lab as a social media-based brand, offering free content online as well as in-person training camps. 2 years later, he and his cofounders saw the opportunity to create an online membership. At the time, memberships were an emerging business model for creators – but it turned out to be a huge success.

We weren’t sure what to expect, so we had a lower price point and people started signing up like crazy. That, and knowing how to make content, really allowed us to get where we are today with you guys on Uscreen, actually building a consistent base of customers. They want to watch.

Now, In the Lab has grown into an online empire that includes everything from educational and entertaining content to an extensive branded apparel line, with the In the Lab+ membership platform at the center of it all. It’s more than a brand, it’s a culture that brings in steady recurring revenue – and Navin’s journey can inspire business owners in any niche.

Building a culture around In the Lab+ with a platform that understands the heart of the business

Migrating to Uscreen

In the Lab+ started their membership platform with Vimeo. Navin did all the research and looked at lots of options, and ultimately decided on a well-known name with a good reputation.

In theory, it should have worked.

But he soon realized Uscreen offered more of the functionality and core features he needed to run a successful membership business.

“That’s what intrigued me the most about Uscreen – you just want to be the best at this. That’s all you do. And I was like ‘Well, that’s where we need our support from,” he said.

Navin was impressed by Uscreen’s value for the price, and the affordable starter plans caught his eye first. He knew starting on a basic tier would help In the Lab+ ease into the membership model as they worked their way up.

He also appreciated all the functionality that just seemed obvious to him, like the clean and simple back end, content organization capabilities, and built-in community page where they can provide membership updates and build culture from within.

We’ve never had that before. Uscreen is always listening and implementing ideas – that was huge for us.

Plus, Uscreen offered a highly functional app, which is now a huge selling point for In the Lab+.

From a value standpoint, the apps make sense because people can take the basketball training programs with them to practice,  or download any of the platform’s educational and entertainment content to watch on the go.

It helps drive home the fact that In the Lab+ provides exactly what athletes need to help them achieve their goals.

To get better, you should be able to do it right – that’s the whole point of this.

And from a growth standpoint, having an app means they can reach more members.

As they branch out into the global market, they’ve found places where the basketball community is much smaller, with fewer educational resources available for athletes, and computer access is unreliable. Apps, however, are more universal and downloadable – so the apps are In the Lab’s way of opening up their premium basketball community and training for anyone, anywhere, at any time.

Trustworthy collaborations and partnerships give In the Lab+ a unique edge

Featuring well-known basketball stars gives In the Lab+ serious street cred – but more importantly, it becomes a valuable selling point and creates uniquely personal connections with their audience.

Dev, my partner is a big differentiator. He’s a unique individual – everybody likes him and everybody wants to work with him, so we have that shining star at the top that people relate to. He motivates people, and he’s that real face of the brand that a lot of other brands don’t actually have.

And they don’t stop there: they also regularly promote new coaches and collaborations with teasers and free content giveaways. Navin describes how introducing coach Ryan Razooky reeled in a ton of new business:

“He made almost an entire shooting program for free and gave a seven day free trial, and people wanted to get to know him better,” Navin said.

And not only did Ryan’s giveaway help the initial launch, it also shows how collaborations help In the Lab+ reach a wider audience by expanding their visibility.

Ryan has his own massive fan base, so we got a lot of new people that maybe don’t know In the Lab or don’t know who we are, but they’re fans of Ryan and they want to learn more.

By recognizing the power of personal brand connections, In the Lab+ was able to offer a truly exclusive experience.

The Results

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In the Lab+ has seen incredible success, because they prioritize quality, culture and community as much as the training itself.

Their focus on creating the best content, choosing a platform that can grow with them, and providing features with the user experience in mind is exactly the stuff that membership wins are made of – and their approach paid off.

In the Lab+ apps make up nearly 79% of the platform’s viewing hours and watch time, and they’ve nearly 2Xed their viewer count in the past year alone.

The 5 star testimonials speak for themselves:

So what’s the secret to Navin’s membership success? How has In the Lab+ gained – and retained – this dedicated audience of superfans who are more than willing to help build up the brand?

We asked Navin, and the answer is simple.

A lot of our jobs as creators and what we do is to make people feel seen. And I think that’s something that gets swept under the rug. So if you can make them feel seen and appreciated, they’re going to want to do it naturally.

Looks to us like In the Lab+ is winning the membership game.