Marketing

We will soon be seeing some new ads from Match.com 2008 ad campaign called Rewind. Rewind will feature couples who have met online using the Match.com dating service. Expect to see both internet and TV spots. The TV commercials will mainly be airing on the NBC and ABC TV networks during shows like Grey's Anatomy and Desperate Housewives. These ads will also include information on new features at Match including Match My Friends (see this story).

Match owes a large part of their success to smart and tasteful ad campaigns. Last year (2006) Match spent $92 million in several different advertising mediums.

Read more regarding this new ad campaign an about Match.com's previous campaigns at Brandweek. Go here for our review on Match.com.

According to a recent Financial Post article, Ashley Madison, the dating service that caters to people who want extramarital affairs is banned from placing ads on the Microsoft Network (MSN). MSN Canada states the reason for the ban is because this web service is designed to facilitate deception.

While I don't agree morally with the Ashley Madison dating site concept, I'm on the fence about this ban. On one side MSN is a business and they have the right to decide who can and who cannot advertise with them. On the other hand, say all of the big 3 search engines (Google, Yahoo, MSN) took the same stance on who can advertise. This would hurt your legitimate business. It is a form of censorship in a way and IMO the big 3 search engines are basically an essential service of the internet.

The Motley Fool has an interesting point of view regarding eHarmony's charges against Chemistry before the Better Business Bureau's ad council. The charges are in response to Chemistry's new TV and internet ads that mention eHarmony has rejected over a million singles.

The article goes on and explains that the Chemistry ads are free advertising for eHarmony and they don't necessary reflect them in a bad light. It can be a good thing for a dating service to be choosy over which singles can join.

Lavalife plans to represent the brighter side of Online Dating in its new upcoming TV commercials. They will list positive aspects as well as the message that online dating actually works.

Read more about the commercials and Lavalifes message at MarketingMag.ca.

Perfectmatch.com sent out a press release today announcing that it has teamed up with NBC to launch a TV dating special called "Science of Love: A Modern Dating Experiment". This show is scheduled to air on Monday, June 25th, 2007 at 10:00 pm ET. It should be an interesting show to watch for all of us online dating enthusiasts. Science of Love takes a look at the following question:

Can science make a better love connections than instinct?

For the contestant, NFL football player Adam Johnson chooses a candidate for his first of two dates based on his own experiences and instincts. Perfectmatch.com's Duet Total Compatibility System is then used to make a match for the second date. From here the show follow's Adam on his dates and to the ultimate conclusion where he picks which date works out the best for him.

3 Ball Productions is producing "Science of Love". Other shows they have produced includes "The Biggest Loser", another widely popular show on NBC.

A few days late but some of you may have noticed that PerfectMatch.com has started advertising in the land of television. They now join the ranks of eHarmony and Match.com with national TV commercials and is now directly competing with them. The first commercial for 2007 is a narrative explaining how PerfectMatch matching system works. It actually is very informative and I am sure will help boost PerfectMatch's already surging member numbers.

If you wish to see the TV Commercial visit PerfectMatch.com and click on perfectmatch tv on the bottom menu of their web site.