The curious case of Bumble on Indian Matchmaking

A show that revolves around traditional ways of Indian matchmaking told a story of a dating app, would Bumble leverage the placement?

Indian Matchmaking has successfully created waves of organic conversations on social media ever since the show became available on Netflix. While some netizens used the instances in the show to reflect on the regressive thought processes that still prevails in the country with regards to marriages, some used it to share stories of the Sima Taparia of their lives. Some just leveraged the trend to make memes.

The show revolves around affluent Indians in search of companionship the traditional matchmaking way. One story in the show, however, stood out. It was of Rupam who, as depicted on the show Indian Matchmaking, found someone on Bumble.

There are several layers to Rupam's story of finding a match. She is a divorced person with a child, in search of someone who could accept both these facts and be a true companion to her. According to Taparia, it would be difficult to find a match for her as these factors supposedly make her prospects slim, unless she would, of course, compromise.

Enter — Bumble, the dating app.

Towards the end of the show, Rupam finds a prospective match on Bumble, an excellent brand placement for it reflects on the ethos of the brand very well. It is, after all, Bumble's mission to help end misogyny and create a safe and empowered space for women to make the first move in a romantic relationship.  

"Rupam’s story mirrors the Bumble ideology of ‘making the first move’ and rewriting the rules of one’s own destiny. Through her first move, she has shattered stereotypes and inspired women (and men) around the world -  that a single divorced woman can look for love, can have a successful career and can have all the options she wants," a brand spokesperson said, explaining the brand relevance of Rupam's story.

However, the spokesperson explicitly denied it being a planned partnership. They said, "We saw Rupam’s story with the rest of the world and were indeed thrilled to learn of a new Bumble success-story!"

Also Read: Bumble’s Priti Joshi on differentiating from dating apps

Would the brand be leveraging it?

"We’re constantly leaning on establishing a culturally relevant brand narrative across various touchpoints. Observing the popularity of the show, this subtle brand mention has helped us reach new audiences and has continued to drive strong organic mentions and conversations about Bumble in India," they said.

So far they have only commented on a Netflix post, enquiring about Rupam's fate.

"The reply on Netflix India’s post was in the spirit of conversational light-hearted banter between two brands. Like everyone who watched the show, we were equally curious to know what happened after Rupam made the first move as her story occupies a special place in our hearts and hence our comment!" the spokesperson explained.

The spokesperson said that if Rupam were to share her success story with the brand, they would be thrilled to celebrate it as their win.

Planned or not, Bumble's mention on Indian Matchmaking is perhaps one of the most relevant and timely association for the brand to penetrate the Indian market with contextual solutions with respect to dating woes.