Tinder hits out at skeptics, saying dating app fatigue is ‘overblown’

Dating apps have I had a bad reputation Lately, Tinder has been preying on skeptics with playful ads that flip the script on negative narratives about modern dating.

Tinder revealed the latest chapter of its “It starts with a single shot” campaign once again inviting daters to reconsider what they thought they knew about the app. Created by the reference agency Mischief @ without fixed addressthe new ads highlight how “it sucks to be wrong” about a lot of things, but “it’s great to be wrong on Tinder.”

A man misunderstands how much spicy food he can tolerate on a date. A couple arrives at a hotel for a romantic getaway and comes across an unusual convention. Another pair of dates discover a surprising revelation during art class.

Each of these scenarios highlights the unexpected, chaotic and humorous side of the meeting, lightened by the fact of having found a special person on Tinder.

“People often go on Tinder without knowing what to expect and end up meeting nice people. It’s really nice to be pleasantly surprised,” Stephanie Danzi, vice president of global marketing at Tinder, told ADWEEK.

The campaign launches in the United States on December 26 and will roll out globally over the coming months. This coincides with a busy period for online dating, from January to Valentine’s Day, when previously Tinder saw 2.1 million more messages and 298.4 million more likes sent per day internationally compared to the average for the rest of the year.

During this high season, another application belonging to Match Group Hinge is also running a campaign to attract new users.

Tinder’s message remains consistent: the app works. According to its own data, a new relationship starts on Tinder every three seconds.

“If you hear someone share a Tinder success story, they’ll often start by saying, ‘That’s a funny story; we met on Tinder. It’s that disbelief, which is ironic, because that’s how so many people meet,” Danzi said.

Removing a stigma

Starting in 2023, Tinder’s “It Starts With a Swipe,” developed by Mischief, aimed to overturn misconceptions about the platform, which, over its 12-year history, has become known as a hookup app.

In several iterations of the campaign, Tinder emphasized that it could also facilitate meaningful, long-lasting relationships. The ads range from celebrating dating micro-milestones to reinventing romantic comedies for the digital age [below].

The brand has also doubled down on its goal with product innovations, which this year include an AI-based tool to help select profile photos and the “Share My Date” security feature, which allows users to share their projects with their friends and family.

The match group has credited the campaign with Tinder’s user base increasing and its brand perception changing. However, in the third trimester, Tinder’s number of monthly active users has dropped 9% year-on-year, while direct revenue fell 1% to $503 million.

Tinder remains the most downloaded dating app in the world, according to Statista data.

An “exaggerated” story

While Danzi said “It Starts with a Single Tap” has gradually changed Tinder’s reputation for hookups, the brand still faces a marketing challenge shared by its rivals: “People wonder if Tinder and apps dating can really lead to “forever”.

In recent years, there has been a growing conversation about “dating app fatigue”, as well as reports that the apps discourage users, especially younger ones. A Axios / Generation Lab 2023 survey found that 79% of college and graduate students in the United States don’t use any dating apps, even as rarely as once a month.

But according to Danzi, this narrative about dating app burnout is “exaggerated.”

“The reality is that Tinder remains the world’s most popular dating app and the biggest gateway to relationships. [Apps] that’s how many people are dating,” she said.

People often blame the general challenges of dating on apps, she argued: “There’s work to be done in reminding people that dating takes a little effort.” As the world has become more and more digital, using an app is expected to bring you immediate success.

Generation Z is Tinder’s largest cohort, according to Danzi, but this generation has different perceptions of dating apps shaped by their experiences. The first is that “they weren’t dating before dating apps. For people new to dating, it’s vulnerable and difficult,” Danzi said.

“Second, life milestones happen later for Gen Z, if at all, which changes the priority you place on dating,” she continued.

Danzi, however, highlighted a promising trend: “We have seen a slight decline in situations. [a term for casual dating] and an increase in people taking charge of what they want and deserve. People realize it takes work,” she said. “This is going to be a positive turning point for the way dating is done and for the dating app category in general.”

In the coming year, people can expect more marketing and product innovations from Tinder “to help inspire that hope,” Danzi said. “We understand that dating can be more complicated and confusing than you would like. But we also know that there is hope and beauty on the other side.