Bumble taps Tiffany Haddish for first date play-by-play

Brief:

Women-first dating app Bumble released a video starring actress and comedian Tiffany Haddish and Los Angeles Clippers player Montrezl Harrell as they give humorous advice to unsuspecting couples on their first dates. The "Play-By-Play" digital video is available on Bumble and ESPN's social channels, per an announcement.
In the digital video, which was produced by ESPN CreativeWorks, Haddish and Harrell provide real-time commentary on couples who have arranged a date through Bumble. Each celebrity interrupts a couple in the middle of a first date to offer advice on how to better connect before letting them return to their date.
As part of the video campaign, Bumble is hosting a contest that gives app users a chance to win one of four specially planned days in Los Angeles. Bumble users have until Dec. 31 to enter the "L.A. Our Way" sweepstakes.

Insight:

Bumble's digital video and sweepstakes aim to raise awareness for the women-first dating app, which has more than 75 million users worldwide, by cutting through the ad clutter with original humorous content. Dating-related reality shows have been a mainstay on TV for years, and Bumble is offering its own spin on the genre in a lighthearted format that showcases how the app brings people together.

The show is an extension of Bumble's sponsorship of the L.A. Clippers that started last year. The basketball team partnered with Bumble to promote gender equality with their joint #StrongerWithHer hashtag initiative. As part of the collaboration, the team's jerseys added a Bumble "empowerment badge," shaped as a hexagon with three horizontal bars inside it.

To reinforce that sports-related push, Bumble tapped ESPN's branded content studio to produce the digital video. By airing it across ESPN's social channels, the company can reach a broader audience as it continues to promote itself as not just a dating app, but a women-first lifestyle brand.

Bumble has run a variety of campaigns in the past few years aimed at engaging app users with experiences they can share on social media. Halo Top Creamery celebrated National Ice Cream Day by giving app users a chance to win a free box of its Halo Top Pops. The dating app in May partnered with Cointreau to host Margarita Monday events in select cities this summer. Bumble also sponsored events by HBO and Banana Republic, and teamed with Serena Williams on a Super Bowl push last year to get in front of a broader range of potential users.