#RangDeBluedSe: Blued attempts to gain footing in India...

With Section 377 being decriminalized, Blued attempt to create a strong footing in India through their Holi campaign.

The whole of India rejoiced when in September 2018 the apex court decriminalised  Section 377. While many of us are thankful for the supreme court to take such a historic decision, there are still a few who refuse to talk about these topics in public. Embarrassment, fear, and identity crisis have been binding them to come out in the open and talk about things which is not an issue!

Amidst all this, Blued was launched in 2012  as the gay dating social media app. It claims to have 40 million users globally and sees over 11 million active users daily. The app is now anticipating to become the largest gay dating app in India after China, Taiwan and other east Asian countries.

On the occasion of Holi, Blued launched #RangDeBluedSe campaign to showcase the wave of joy within the gay community with diverse colours. The two-minute film represents the essence of love spread by the festival of colours.

RangDeBluedSe

A guy who is looking for love ends up using Blued; his mobile pops up with a new match. The video ends showing two men finding a perfect match. The video highlights the unity of love.

The video campaign has been produced by Dancing Shiva Productions and Directed by Amit Khanna (Photography).

Campaign Insight

Blued wanted to do something special for it’s target group and user base on this Holi. “We did think of having a huge holi bash but somehow realised not everyone will be able to join us from different parts of India. As holi is the biggest festival and full of colours, We decided to give something unforgettable and fun to them, what’s better than a party song for our LGBTQ community of India,” informed Sanyam Sharma - Marketing Director, Blued India.

Rationale behind the campaign

Holi is a festival which is celebrated on a large scale in India. LGBTQ community is very vibrant and has a spectrum of colours within it. The idea to amalgamate Holi with Queer community was born from the same.

A lot of advertisements during festivals from brands are seen but they rarely showcase the happiness and fun from the perspective of LGBTQ community in India.

Behind the scenes with Amit Khanna

“The campaign is bright colourful and cheerful,” exclaimed Khanna. It was important to have a story revolving around the fun one has during Holi. The protagonist finds his match at the blued Holi party comes across very soothing and romantic. “It was easy to bring forth the emotions using hi speed and the actors did their job rather well. It’s truly a colourful celebration of liberates love.”

Also Read: Brands take pride in celebrating the scraping of Section 377

Campaign Objective and The Message

“The objective is to provide some sensual yet peppy music number specially crafted for gay community which they can share and feel happy about,” shared Sharma. The messaging is clear, you can find Mr. Right anywhere, he may be sitting somewhere having a coffee or few blocks next to you. You just need to find him out!

Blued- The not so conventional app

Sharma commented, “We started our marketing campaign back last year since section 377 got struck down. Our first campaign, &t=2s">Legally Yours | #WhatsNext377  was launched in November 2018 that was focussed on the bucket list or aims in life of few of the imminent personality from LGBTQI.”

Sharma claims that the response has been very warm.

The post- LGBTQ judgement phase

“The shift is definitely there, but our community still requires some time to reach a point where they feel liberal and safe,” firmed Sharma.  More than any law, it is we, people of India, that need to make a shift. A lot of content is being made keeping LGBTQ community of Indian in mind. Multiple issues are being addressed which earlier were just a mocking subject.

On the other hand, Khanna does not see the film creating much much difference. According to him, filmmaking is the same ever since, it’s just characters and situations have evolved.

“The audience needs to connect with the emotion. It could be movies or ads and I feel the same gender or opposite gender love is now not of relevance as there has been enough food for thought on that issue. As long as love is portrayed aesthetically audience has no complaints with the gender.”

Challenges and Business Model

For Sharma, the challenges are nothing different than of any other dating app which is catered to heterosexual people. Creating a safe platform for the users is the key. Blued’s monetization model is factored on it’s Live stream feature, where users can gift their favourite livestreamers by making in-app purchases.

The app is working on bringing more video content for its users which will be exclusively available on Blued app as well as on it’s YouTube channel.

Gay dating apps in India have been prominent, despite of the stigma and the dated laws. With the decriminalization of Section 377, same sex dating apps come of age.