advertising

Bumble and Tinder’s pivot to video could open up new opportunities for marketers

Greg James, Havas Media Group global CSO, told Marketing Brew these features “could all expand opportunities for advertisers beyond more interruptive ‘traditional’ ad formats.”
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Bumble

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If you did that whole Hot Vaxx Summer thing, you might have noticed a few changes in your dating app swiping routine.

  • Tinder is now letting users add videos to their dating profiles.
  • Bumble recently created “Night In,” a trivia game that lets users play with others via video, and “could introduce things like video to users’ profiles,” per CNBC.

TL;DR: The apps are adding more audio and video features for singles.

We couldn’t help but wonder…to what extent do marketers, like those at Babe Wine (which partnered with Bumble for a co-branded campaign last year) or those running ads on Tinder, see opportunities within these new audio and video formats?

Babe Wine GM Chelsea Phillips: “Video and audio capabilities expand the possibilities for storytelling, which, if done well, can make everything feel less like an ad. Although we don’t have immediate plans to execute a campaign using these features, it is something we’ll be thinking about.”

Greg James, Havas Media Group global CSO: “Well-executed video and audio expansion by these apps creates all kinds of deeper engagement opportunities for advertisers. The goal of the apps is for higher interaction, so we might see advertisers contribute in new ways through new formats here,” he said, explaining that things like product integration or endorsements “could all expand opportunities for advertisers beyond more interruptive ‘traditional’ ad formats we’ve seen in the past [on] these apps which are really mostly just short form display ads.”

+1: Ambika Pai, CSO of Mekanism, told us these features might also make it easier to help dating apps differentiate and market themselves. “When working with a relatively commoditized category (one writer coined the 2010s the ‘supermarket of dating’ era), there’s a constant push and pull between brand messaging and product messaging. With the integration of videos, marketers can start introducing true brand messaging back into the platform,” Pai said.—PB

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Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.