Dive Brief:
- Tinder is exploring marketing partnerships with Interscope Records' electronic music artist Zedd in a fresh marketing campaign to promote his latest album.
- Users that "swipe right" (or, saying yes to somebody) for a fake profile for Zedd on the dating app are presented with a discount link to buy his new album for just $3.99.
- The promotion with Zedd isn't an ad, but rather a marketing partnership that Tinder has been testing with a handful of brands including Twentieth Century Fox, E!, and New York's Urban Mudder.
Dive Insight:
Dating apps are searching to find a foothold in the mobile ad world and are having marked success. The marketing partnership's Tinder is testing out -- although it says isn't an 'ad' -- does point to the value of marketing with popular dating apps. Tinder has tried out traditional ads for Bud Light's "Up for Whatever" campaign, and Grindr (the leading dating app in the gay community) has seen ad revenue grow by 65% in the past six months through similar brand partnerships.
Some brands have had some trouble for trying to circumvent paying for ads and creating organic campaigns on the app. Gap was banned from Tinder after creating an unauthorized profile to promote it's Valentine's Day campaign with cheap "pants party" jokes. At SXSW, Tinder users were tricked by a fake profile of a girl named Ava that ended up being a promo for the sci-fi movie "Ex Machina." But brands are certainly interested in finding ways to ride the wave of popularity dating apps are on.
