Dive Brief:

• Netflix and Bumble have joined forces to help users of the dating app find matches based on Netflix show preferences and knowledge, according to information shared with Marketing Dive.
• “Find the Date You’ve Been Watching For” kicks off January 30 and runs through March 13. Bumble users in the U.S., Canada and the U.K. will be able to play Netflix Night In, a game about popular Netflix titles. Each week, questions will be introduced by someone from the corresponding show.
• The campaign was inspired by a Bumble survey in which 78% of respondents said it’s easier to talk to a match if they have the same taste in TV and film, while 59% of Gen Z respondents indicated that liking the same movies and shows makes a match more appealing.

Dive Insight:

Arriving just a few weeks before Valentine’s Day, the “Find the Date You’ve Been Watching For” campaign is intended to help break the ice with dating app users, while also helping to generate buzz around popular Netflix programing like “Emily in Paris” and “Stranger Things.” Additionally, the interactive element encourages active engagement, giving users a fun activity while also generating valuable data for Bumble and Netflix.

New questions will drop each Monday during the campaign. Responses are revealed for matches once both have answered. The game uses Bumble’s Question Game functionality, which Bumble claims increases the percentage of good chats. Adding to the experience, each week’s questions will be introduced by someone from one of the featured shows, such as Ashley Park from “Emily in Paris,” Alexa Lemieux of “Love is Blind” and Amanza Smith of “Selling Sunset.” 

For both Bumble and Netflix, the campaign could be a way to drive loyalty and repeat usage, with 72% of respondents to the dating app’s survey saying they have talked about TV and movies on a date.

“When we’re getting to know someone, it’s human nature to try and find common interests. It gives you something to bond over and go beyond surface-level conversation,” said Magno Herran, vice president of marketing partnerships at Netflix in a press release.

Bumble has often leaned into pop culture to drive engagement. It has previously partnered with HBO for a movie date night, and recreated a fictitious “Ted Lasso” dating app. Teaming up with Netflix to help forge connections continues in the same vein, giving the app way to tie into the streamer’s popular content.

The campaign is also a way for Netflix to get in front of Bumble users at a time where the streamer faces growing competition. Netflix, which recently introduced an ad-supported tier, was recently able to reverse a downward trend in subscribers and added 2.4 million subscribers in the third quarter, a relief after losing 200,000 and nearly a million subscribers in the first and second quarter, respectively. During the third quarter of 2022, Netflix’s revenue totaled $7.9 billion, a nearly 6% increase from the previous year. However, profit fell 3%.