Melissa Hobley knows that Tinder is “seen as the hookup app,” but she revealed at the Variety Studio, presented by Canva, at Cannes Lions that the brand is taking a different approach. The app is re-centering marketing on “the storytelling of love in Tinder.”
“This is going to sound very controversial,” said the brand’s chief marketing officer. “We’re talking about love at Tinder now — the brand has never really done that.”
Hobley revealed that 40% of Tinder users are in search of a “serious” connection, a market her team is currently tapping into by showcasing success stories of real people who have used the app. “We want to affirm who you are and what kind of connection you’re looking for,” she said.
“The best part of my job is getting wedding invitations and baby announcements,” Hobley continued. “We’re using creators and influencers to tell those stories. That’s how we think of it: Showing up where Gen Z is sharing those stories of love. Be it queer love, a young couple, an old couple, a couple in Europe, a couple in Tokyo, or a couple in New York, that’s how we think about storytelling today.”
Hobley attributes the needs of Gen Z to the new creative scope of Tinder’s marketing efforts. “Gen Z gets my creative juices flowing,” she said. “What are they watching? What’s happening tomorrow? Who are they following? How are they showing their sexuality? I think it’s such an interesting time with cultural relevancy, we’ll never be done on that part.”
She also divulged that artificial intelligence may be able to influence the scope of the app moving forward. “There’s areas where it’s obvious that we would not jump into with AI — chemistry,” she said.
“One of the insights at Tinder is that people have a really hard time writing their bio. [What if] you start to share a few things and AI can spit out a profile bio for you in 10 seconds? Imagine if AI could help you find photos to put in your profile.”
