Brands explore their sweet spot on dating apps

Swiping right or left has well accustomed itself in the contemporary dating scenario with apps playing the role of cupids; love is blooming tremendously on our screens far larger than it is in the good old coffee shops.

With the majority of urban 20 something nestling in such dating apps, few brands and organizations have got their creativity wings on scurrying through these platforms and generating campaigns fitting on such portals for the obvious target audience.

Trends flying from the west have always landed the east hence, now even the Indian market is fiddling in this field getting itself familiarized with names like Tinder, Woo, Grindr, Truly Madly, QuackQuack, and many more. Social Samosa unmasks these campaigns which are thinking way beyond mere Facebook, Twitter or Instagram.

Diesel Jeans

Clothing brand Diesel believes in playing against the typical social media rules thus created a customized emoji campaign to run on the gay dating aGrindr to promote their summer/spring collection of 2016.

In a quest to produce a unique campaign and reach out to their target audience active on matchmaking sites they produced quirky, sensuous videos and portrayed their models as potential matches along with that endorsing their products.

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Budweiser

Tinder, the match-making app took a stroll in the advertising section by sheltering Budweiser’s #Whatever USA campaign. Within the few swipes, users could see Bud Light’s profile with exclusive auto-playing video, initiating users to get into the next phase of the contest, #UpForWhatever.

Users had the liberty swipe the video swipe left or right, which simply indicates yes for right and no for left. If a user swiped right, they had the option to enter the #UpForWhatever contest where they had to sing their favorite song into a Bud Light, toast a match or trade sunglasses with someone and finally upload their experience on the traditional social media networks.

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Twentieth Century Fox

Apart from brands, movie marketing was also leveraged Tinder, where Twentieth Century Fox launched a campaign for its comedy movie, Spy. The studio offered fans a chance to watch an early screening of the movie starring Melissa McCarthy and Judy Law. The movie characters got Tinder accounts and the users swiping right could RSVP to attend a screening organized locally.

#SpyMovie + @Tinder want to give you the ultimate date. Swipe right to see a screening w/ your bae THIS Thursday! pic.twitter.com/CeuYPv825H

— Spy Movie (@SpytheMovie) May 12, 2015

Amnesty International Australia

The non-profit organization used Tinder to elevate awareness against forced marriages which was launched on the occasion of Women’s Day. Tinder users were urged to change their profile photos to the Amnesty International logo.

The users later had the option to visit an interactive website with detailed information and the option to sign up for a mailing list.

How to be single

Speed dating app Paktor earlier this year debuted in the advertising sector by producing a campaign for Warner Bros'. latest movie, How To Be Single starring Dakota Johnson and Rebel Wilson.

For the campaign, Patkor users were introduced to a profile featuring Dakota Johnson, sided with a bio, “Meet Alice…she doesn’t know #HowToBeSingle, yet. In cinemas 18 February!”

To be a part of the campaign, the users simply had to swipe right following the traditions of a dating app or dislike by swiping left.

Rejoicing this campaign, the app gave away 50 couple tickets to the premier of the film to matched couples.

Jason Derulo

American singer and song-writer, Jason Derulo set an ideal example for innovative marketing by siding away from the herd by releasing his music video ‘Want To Want Me’ on Tinder.

Ditching the regular social media platforms, Derulo picked Tinder and when the user swipes right they came across the singer’s profile and automatically connected. The user then received a message which was the link to the video itself.

Ex Machina

British science fiction psychological thriller film, Ex Machina starring Alicia Vikander also picked Tinder to be their ultimate destination to promote their film.

Ex Machina built a campaign on the app where they built a profile of a gorgeous woman named Ava, aged, 25 years. Users swiping right got an opportunity to converse with her, as she asked them questions like ‘Have you ever been in love?’ and ‘What makes you human?’ and then eventually sharing a link to her Instagram page which revealed her identity as an artificial intelligence creation, her character in the movie.

Conducting campaigns on dating apps is a relatively rare phenomena, which is catching up quick in the market. Though these channels are unexplored and fairly alien to most of the Indian market it could be a fresh change from the regular Facebook, Twitter or Instagram platforms giving brands an opportunity to re-discover themselves.

The salient nature of swiping right or left in dating apps restricts brands to explore much in this fraternity, thus, demanding creativity and challenging them to crawl up to the level of the Western innovation and ideation.