Tinder… “is how people meet. It’s like real life, but better.” Apparently.
The dating app has been finding its way into the news a bit lately for two main reasons:
1. Jason Derulo launches his new video clip on Tinder.
2. Tinder launches its “premium” (ahem, money-making) service: Tinder Plus.
Lets talk Derulo first.
Earlier this week Jason Derulo appeared in many Tinder user’s feeds. As they swiped right, the app took you to a link to his new single “Want To Want Me“.
‘I wanted to find a new way to launch my video. ‘I see this app as the wave of the future. I know my fans will swipe right,’ he said.
Right. I just can’t help but see a misalignment here. I’m not a Tinder user, but I understand how the app works and even I know that it doesn’t have video capability. What’s the fun in swiping right only to receive a link? That’s not very “Tinder-ish”.. sounds like an obvious marketing ploy to me!
The other issue was that many fans, once they found out about the promotion, were unable to access the faux profile. Surely, Tinder could have come up with a much more creative way to be involved and use current features of their app, so that the campaign aligned and in turn received more engagement. I’d be interested to see what the click-through rate of the link was on the day of the launch.
2. And then came Tinder Plus
Tinder is valued to be somewhere between $750 million and $1 billion dollars. So their decision to monetise the app with a premium service is really no surprise right?
The paid subscription for Tinder Plus allows users to undo swipes, browse for matches in other cities across the globe (their new “Passport” feature) and avoid advertisements.
Apart from problems with age related pricing discrimination (which you can read about here), you’ve got to wonder whether a service that has built its foundations (and reputation) on a free-of-charge business model can survive in a monetised environment.
I would love to hear what you think about this!
Do you think the Jason Derulo x Tinder campaign was successful or a flop, and why? Do you think Tinder has lost the plot with its digital marketing efforts?
And one for the Tinder users… would you be prepared to pay for a premium Tinder service?
Kylah | Blogs 
Interesting, I wonder if Tinder had that plan all along? It’s just another example of a ‘freemium’ service (much like WordPress!) where the basic model is free but payment is required to ‘move up’ to a Premium service.
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Definitely. However, I could see a benefit in upgrading to a paid premium service on WordPress as you get a lot more relevant features and functions available to you. I don’t really see much of a benefit in paying for the premium Tinder service when the additional features seem pretty insignificant. Though that might just be because I’m uninterested in Tinder all together.
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That was a really good read Kylah! Getting a link to a song would just put people off I reckon, because it’s so transparent. It feels like they’ve sold out. I know a lot of my friends that use tinder have gone off it because of the change, and that’s the demographic they least want to lose!
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Thanks Becky 🙂 Yeah I can see where you’re coming from. Change can be good but in this case I think they’re doing it wrong.
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Can’t get my head around people paying to use Tinder! Surely now users are in the same desperate category as those that use RSVP.com and adultmatchmaker.com to find their ultimate soul mate!
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Hahaha. It would make sense if they were paying for something worthwhile.. But the features they are putting on the premium service sound like money gone to waste! I doubt that they will get many people subscribing to it, but it will be interesting to see.
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I think the campaign failed. If I was Derulo, I’d make sure my campaign didn’t look so bad. I agree, Tinder should have waited and added a video feature or something.
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Agreed, I think the campaign could have been SO much more successful on a platform like Snapchat.
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I wonder how long tinder will be able to sustain in the changing world! I mean right now it may be a fad, but I think in a year or so people will just get bored since it’s so shallow. I have never used it though so maybe the success rate is high enough that it will sustain?
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Yeah I know what you mean. I don’t use Tinder either, but a lot of my friends do and I agree with you; it is very shallow. I think that might be why people like it though. It doesn’t seem like “serious online dating” and requires minimal effort. The light-heartedness of it, compared to other similar platforms, could mean that it does sustain. Then again, how many times can you “match” with someone before you get bored?
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This is my first time hearing about the Tinder plus option and I straight out laughed (especially at their passport feature), Im amazed that people would even consider paying for it. In terms of Jason Derulo I’m shocked that he chose that as his advertising platform, good on him for taking a new approach but I don’t think it worked. I agree that he should have given snapchat a try or stuck to the normal platforms. Great read though 🙂
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Yeah lets give him some points for trying and leave it at that 😉 Thanks for your feedback!
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I hadn’t heard of tinder plus before, it might not be something people want to admit they pay for, but they may just do it. Some people can get desperate. Check out my latest post about booming your social media followings http://www.edjmedia.com.au/get-over-2000-likes-on-your-page-for-60-find-out-how/.
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You’re right. I would be interested to see how many people do subscribe to the paid service!
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very interesting! seems similar to my most recent post about spotify! great read xoxo
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I reckon the Jason Derulo x Tinder campaign would have been funny if he used the lyrics of his new song as pick up lines. I think Tinder is realising it is a maturing social media app and are attempting to capitalise on it while they still can!
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Haha! Totally agree Paolo, he needs you in his marketing team! I like your thinking, I do think that they need to refresh their strategy though.
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I agree with you! I don’t use Tinder myself, but I know how it works and I can’t image how a Jason Derulo x Tinder campaign would have any relation to each other so I can’t see how it would be very effective – but to each their own.
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I have to say, I hadn’t heard about Derulo’s single on Tinder before, but as soon as you said it I thought “that’s a terrible idea”. I definitely don’t want to see (what I assume is) a fake profile for a musician I don’t even care about when I’m just trying to find a date!
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