“It’ll be lonely this Christmas, Without you to hold, It’ll be lonely this Christmas, Lonely and cold, It’ll be cold, so cold, Without you to hold, This Christmas…”
Or maybe not, if Bumble, the women-first dating app, has its way after launching a new ad campaign, encouraging women across Europe to date on their own terms.
Created in collaboration with 72andSunny Amsterdam, “Fall in Love with Dating”, is designed to challenge dating expectations through the eyes of a woman “owning” her dating experience as a place for self-discovery and exploration. The campaign aims to inspire women to do the same and celebrates those who take control of their dating lives.
Bumble’s own research has apparently found that while people are eager to “reset” their dating lives, they are approaching dating in a different way. Single people are feeling more confident about what they want in a partner but they are not limiting themselves to predetermined dating goals.
In fact, in the UK a third of people would describe their approach to dating as exploratory and 70% admitted they would go on up to four dates a week in order to meet as many people as possible.
Launching in Germany before being rolled out to the UK, France, The Netherlands, Sweden, and Israel, the launch film is directed by Stockholm based Sheila Johansson.
The cinematographic ad focuses on the process of the lead character exploring and discovering what she wants out of her dating life. It includes the familiar issues, such as asking your friends for advice, the first time you cook for a new date, and brushing your teeth with your finger when you first stay the night.
Ultimately, the ad is designed to embrace the good and the bad dates, the people you meet, and the process of discovering what you want along the way.
Bumble vice-president for EMEA Naomi Walkland said: “There is no right or wrong way to date and dating in itself is something to be celebrated. Often, it’s only in retrospect that we realise how much we discovered about ourselves in the process of dating and how the dates, both good and bad, were part of getting to know what we want.
“We’re seeing that the pandemic has forced people to reflect a lot and they are approaching dating in a different, more exploratory and less rigid way. We wanted to celebrate this with our campaign and encourage women to own their journey.”
72andSunny Amsterdam executive creative director Laura Visco, who met her partner on Bumble, added: “Society tells us we’re supposed to love being in a relationship and hate everything that happens in between. As women, we are hard-wired to dislike everything that doesn’t end in a long term relationship.
“There’s already so much that we need to figure out in life, that we wanted to bring some levity to dating – we all need to reframe what that journey looks like, and the beautiful messiness it brings, that makes it worth living.”
So, what is the consensus around the Decision Marketing office?
At last a refreshing take on dating, and, to be fair, fitting of the Bumble brand. Talk to most women about their experience on mainstream sites and you are likely to hear grim tales of scammers, perverts and idiots. But with Bumble women are in control, as the blurb states: “When members of the opposite sex match on Bumble, women are required to make the first move, shifting old-fashioned power dynamics and encouraging equality from the start.”
But what is equally refreshing about this campaign is that it does not claim Bumble users will find instant “luurve” and walk into the sunset hand in hand. It portrays a more realistic scenario in that most people have to kiss and, more even likely, sleep with a few frogs before they find their prince – or princess.
And, if we weren’t all so loved up here at the Decision Marketing Nerve Centre, we’d likely give Bumble a crack, too.
Decision Marketing Adometer: A “girl power” 10 out of 10
