Contributed by: ElyseRomano on Monday, July 13 2015 @ 08:10 am
Last modified on
Is there an online dating downer worse than finding out your new flame looks nothing like their profile picture? Total letdown, right? As online dating offenses go, it's high on the list.
Zoosk devised a solution to this all-too-common problem back in 2014. The feature, dubbed Photo Verification, confirms the authenticity of members' profile photos. If your photos pass the test, you receive a green Photo Verified badge.
Photos are verified under the Verification section (surprise) of your profile. Select Verify Photos and you’ll be prompted to record a short video of yourself. Zoosk’s moderators review the video and, if they feel your photo is an accurate representation, you'll receive an email letting you know that your photos are verified. The badge will automatically be added to your profile and your video selfie remains private.
The Photo Verification feature made Zoosk the first company to address this prominent online dating concern. With its launch came newfound levels of transparency, increased trust between online daters, and better first-date satisfaction.
“One of the most important concerns of online daters is going out with someone who doesn’t really resemble their profile picture,” said[*1] Shayan Zadeh, co-founder and CEO of Zoosk. “By innovating a system for our members to validate the accuracy of existing profile photos, we believe we can create better first-date experiences that will lead to lasting relationships.”
Photo Verification will now take a starring role in Zoosk's “First Comes Like” advertising campaign. “The message from our last campaign was successful in differentiating us from other sites,” Katherine Knight, brand manager for Zoosk, told Marketing Daily. “For our new campaign, we wanted to build on that and take it to the next level.”
The “First Comes Like” initiative highlights the fact that building a lasting relationship requires time, and that “love at first sight” is rare. In one ad, a woman uses Zoosk's mobile site while a voiceover explains the message of the campaign. Another 15-second spot hones in on the photo verification feature, showing a man trying to identify his date in a crowded coffee shop using the Zoosk app.
“Everybody wants love to be a big, huge fairy tale. But the reality is, before all that can happen, you have to fall in like first,” said[*2] Tony Zimney, creative director at Muh-tay-zik Hof-fer, the agency that created the campaign. “Each one of our spots highlights this moment of like.”
The commercials will begin airing nationally in the beginning of July.