For Gen-Z women in the UK, online dating had started to feel like admin. Research kept telling us the same thing: the loop of swiping, matching, dry chat and rejection had worn them down. Dating fatigue had set in, and for Tinder in the UK the consequence was straightforward. The audience that mattered most was spending less and less time on the app.
If dating felt like a chore, the fix was to make it feel like entertainment instead. So we went looking for where the fun actually sits for this audience, and found it in the plot of it all. Gen-Z women are not on dating apps to find fine, that will do. They are after the twists, the near-misses and the stories worth retelling over a drink. Tinder had the potential to be what keeps those stories coming.
This insight gave VCCP Social Club our hook - the idea that the journey gets more fun as the plot gets thicker. This changes Tinder's role on social. Less matchmaker, more the friend hyping you up before you leave the house.
So we built ‘Tinder for the Plot’. Wherever the brand turns up, it makes the case that dating can be better than the same old drinks and the same dry chat, and that every connection adds to a story you are already writing.
“Solid foundations enable consistent and effective social which engages the audience Tinder wants to attract. Setting strategic guardrails also means the team can quickly jump into trends and conversations as they are happening, in a way that always feels authentic to the Tinder brand”.
Alex Dalman, Managing Partner of faith and Head of Social and Innovation at VCCP Social Club
Once we had our strong foundations, it was time to build the systems to keep it going: how Tinder shows up on each platform, how it works with influencers, and how content gets made, all steered by three pillars. Reassure, relate, re-energise. Underpinned by recurring content series that give the brand a world people recognise, plus community management, influencer campaigns and social partnerships.
The F.I.B.I. Guide, a TikTok series where a host road-tests dates nobody would think of, from wrestling to pottery.
Date Debris, which invites the community to share the objects that outlived the date they came from, a twig, a receipt, whatever survived.
A football themed partnership with Ruby Loot to create a limited run of tees built for one very specific occasion: watching the football with someone you just matched with.
Cost of Lipsing, a special investigation sparked by a potential UK kissing drought and interaction at the Wood Green Pepe’s, hosted by kissing correspondent and creator Moses Combe.
And Astrology Mode, which we launched by running an organic influencer campaign with 16 hand-picked talents to give matching a cosmic twist.
The plot is thickening nicely. Engagements are up 1.7x, community management drew 80,000 engagements in its first two months, and the Astrology Mode influencer work pulled 1.9 million organic views at a 4.2% engagement rate, against a 2% industry benchmark. And there is plenty more plot to come.