How Bumble created a buzz online

The global dating world has been operating on a certain stereotype for the longest time. Men are the ones always expected to make the first move while women are never encouraged to do so. The dating app Bumble is here to revolutionize the way we perceive dating in the modern world. The women-centric and feminist approach of the app aims to normalize and bridge the parity that exists between different genders.

Bumble is a platform where people of different ages, social backgrounds and sexual orientations come together to meet new people. It has expanded from a dating app to a networking platform to extend your personal, social and professional connections. So whether you are seeking a romantic relationship, a new friendship or expanding your professional network, Bumble’s got you with Bumble Date, Bumble BFF and Bumble Bizz.

In a world where sexual harassments, gender discrimination and discrimination on the basis of sexual preferences plague our society, Bumble has taken a stand to promote kindness, respect and most importantly, acceptance; acceptance of different ideologies, choices and decisions. Their powerful ideologies are conveyed brilliantly by their unique ad campaigns and marketing strategies. From their choice of influencers to their strongly portrayed brand message with the right choice of media, they have done it all. Their integrated social media campaigns and offline marketing has made it to some of the best ad campaigns recently.

Here are some of their best ad campaigns so far:

1. Dating just got equal

Priti Joshi, Vice President of Strategy, Bumble, said, “The global dating world has been operating at an imbalance for far too long. We believe that Bumble has the potential to help restructure the world of online dating in India and with ‘Dating Just Got Equal’, our aim is to support the women of India as they create a new normal in the world of dating so that rather than second-guess themselves, they are empowered to make the first move.”

Research confirms the taboo around women making the first move in India. Bumble feels that in the midst of women-centric movements to uphold feminism and the rise of #MeToo, social norms like these should also be done away with, in order to support the cause.

The idea was to challenge gender roles in relationships while focusing on equality in relationships and choosing your partner. The campaign involved integrated brand communications on social media, via influencers and the brand itself.

The campaign kicked off with a #DatingDebate among eight social media influencers: Jim Sarbh, Pooja Dhingra, Radhika Madan, Kusha Kapila, Shrishti Dixit, Reem Sheikh, and Aakriti Rana. They engaged in a debate about gender roles in relationships and engaging their followers to talk about it too. Besides this, they made three digital films to talk about women ‘Making the first move’ in a relationship. They also topped up the unique ad campaign with various out of home media in cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bengaluru and Pune.

Source: Afaqs

Source: Afaqs

2. ‘Equal Not Loose’ ad campaign

Another impactful Bumble ad campaign that launched the dating app in India and marked the beginning of Bumble’s marketing strategy in the region was ‘Equal Not Loose’. The whole taboo about women making the first move in heterosexual relationships and stereotyping women as ‘loose’ or of bad character needs to be shattered. With women killing it in every walk of life and breaking down all the stereotypes that existed in the patriarchal world to move to a more equal society, Bumble feels that it’s time to put an end to the imbalance in the normal dating norms too. They try to portray this by showing women as independent and get to pursue their professional and relationship goals. The Bumble ad campaign wanted to say that being on dating apps does not make them ‘Loose’. They released a series of TVCs starring Priyanka Chopra Jonas. She encourages women to use the app to achieve their professional and relationship goals by breaking existing relationship stereotypes and upholding feminism and the main idea of the women-centric dating app. Having Priyanka Chopra Jonas on board the Bumble ad campaign was a great advantage considering all her recent achievements in the field of entertainment within and outside the country. It brought immense traction to their dating app and made the launch and the ad campaign successful.

What helped them better is getting Priyanka Chopra Jonas on board as an investor too, in October 2018. She believes that this dating app gives women of India something that they have not had for a long time, which is freedom of choice and that is why India really needs a networking app like Bumble. Soon after its launch, it became the fourth best dating app in the country. This ad campaign was an integration of various types of platforms like OOH and social media.

Source: The Drum

The fact that it brought such a new concept in the market with the ad campaign at a time when feminism movements are on the rise, became one of the major reasons for its success. It not only talked about Bumble Date but also Bumble Bizz and Bumble BFF; basically focusing on different areas where people choose to connect with others.

Bumble has grown in the market with simplicity. They got the masses buzzing about the networking platform by being bold and swiping right on perfect integration of mediums like out-of-house, social media and influencers.