Marketing

Image: Adweek

Dating app Bumble repurposed a coffee shop to act as a gathering space for attendees of the famous SXSW festival in Austin, Texas. The company wanted to create a more intimate and inviting space to allow its customers to better connect, as well as to show off the capabilities of its platform.

Bumble’s headquarters are also located in Austin, and while there is traditional booth space available for companies looking to market themselves to SXSW attendees, Bumble chose a more engaging way to reach out to potential customers, according to AdWeek. They rebranded a local coffee shop in their signature yellow, providing comfy couches and tables along with a tagged wall saying: “Make the First Move.”

The 2018 Winter Olympics brought a flurry of Tinder activity to South Korea. Competitors in the Olympic Villages received free Tinder Gold upgrades, while premium users around the world used the Passport feature to change their location to PyeongChang in hopes of matching with an athlete. Tinder reported a 1,850 percent increase in “passporting” swipers and a 348 percent increase in overall Tinder usage in the Olympic Villages.

Outside of the Olympic Games, it’s a different story for Tinder. The dating platform has struggled to outdo local services in South Korea, where meeting a romantic partner via a mobile app is not yet as socially acceptable as it has become in many western nations. Despite these difficulties, Tinder CEO Elie Seidman believes South Korea is a crucial testing ground for the service, and in a press conference in Seoul, Seidman indicated the company would take a different tack as it looks to expand in Asia.

Match Group announced that it has fully acquired dating app Hinge, owning 100 percent of the company along with other high-profile brands like Tinder and OkCupid. This news comes on the heels of Match Group’s announcement that it exceeded revenue expectations in the last quarter of 2018, causing its stock to rise.

Previously, Match Group stock had been downgraded from hold to buy by Deutsch Bank analysts. But with the earnings report, its stock climbed more than 5 percent.

Part of the appeal of Match Group to investors is that it has acquired a host of popular dating apps, including Hinge. The app has been through a rebrand over the last year, focusing on attracting more serious daters.

With Valentine’s Day around the corner, love is in the air for couples around the world and dating platforms are seeing dollar signs. Tinder and Hinge have both announced collaborations to release branded product lines that celebrate love and singlehood as Cupid’s season kicks off.

Tinder teamed up with Barcelona-based fashion company Stradivarius to release a range of t-shirts in European markets. Each tee features a simple design of the dating app’s logo and a slogan on a black or white base. The three options include “You Looked Taller On Tinder,” “I’m Your Right Swipe,” and the punny “Love Me Tinder.” The shirts are available now on the Stradivarius website and in-store for £15.99 in the UK or €12.99 in mainland Europe.

Along with announcing its first-ever fashion collaboration, Tinder is also entering the world of homewares. The dating platform joined forces with Homesick Candles to take a humorous jab at Valentine's Day culture. The candle, named “Single, Not Sorry,” honors Singles’ Awareness Day, the anti-commercialism antidote to Valentine’s Day that falls on February 15.

Online dating company eHarmony, who built its reputation for more serious daters, was recently acquired by German media company ProSeibenSat.1. The media company are the producers behind “Married at First Sight,” and have already expanded beyond television with the acquisition of Parship Elite Group, an online dating platform for long-term relationships similar to eHarmony.

It left many wondering what future plans were for eHarmony, which has seen competition lately from apps like Tinder and OkCupid, and how Parship fits into the mix.

Online Personals Watch recently interviewed Tim Schiffers, the CEO of Parship Elite Group about the acquisitions and Parship’s future plans. Schiffers said Parship plans to bring eHarmony to its platform instead of offering competing services. “We have invested a lot into our technical setup over the past few years and are happy to harness synergies in that area.”

Bumble confirmed that a new ad featuring its latest celebrity partner Serena Williams will debut during the first half of the SuperBowl.

According to AdWeek, Bumble teased a new campaign with the tennis star, admitting that it would coordinate with the SuperBowl, though it wasn’t clear if they were planning to air an ad during the game, one of the most-watched annual events in the U.S. (and one of the most expensive ad buys). Bumble has now confirmed their first SuperBowl ad will feature Serena Williams and their new campaign “The Ball is in Her Court.”

Bumble, a female-friendly dating app, is serious about its female-empowerment mission. Over the past few years, the brand has debuted offerings that appeal specifically to women, such as partnering with Moxy Hotels to offer BumbleSpot – verified locations where Bumble users can meet for dates, career networking, or potential new friendships - in an effort to create safe spaces for women.