There's an increasing amount of stuff being written these days, which points to the future of branding becoming more about actions, as opposed to just words and brand platitudes. There are a myriad of reasons for this - diminishing trust in brands, increased transparency ....yadda yadda.
One of the markets where trust and transparency are most hoped for (by its participants) is online dating. A brand cannot easily influence this at a personal level (if I say I am 5' 10" whose to know I'm exaggerating?). However one brand has found a way to explore the information provided by their members for the good of all.
OKCupid is one of the most successful online dating operations in the USA. It is consistently outspent by its competitors in traditional advertising terms. You probably wouldn't be surprised to know that the ad spend in this category is over $100m! Yet OKCupid focus their budgets efforts on social marketing and in particular their blog, and as result generate both massive media coverage and word of mouth.
The secret of their success? It's not case studies and testimonials - its statistical analysis!
They use the data generated by their own members and present the information to them in a blog which helps members improve their performance, and therefore usage of the site. These posts get broadcast and re-syndicated widely.
As the Head of Zeus Jones says " It’s a completely circular, yet brilliant example of how an internal asset can be used as marketing, and of how value – generated by your customers – can provide even more value to your customers".
For those in the dating market, there's a great post here on "The Big Lies People Tell In Online Dating", one of which is that guys exaggerate their size (i.e height) by 2 inches.
For those about to enter, there are some interesting 'factoids' here about the photograph you submit, one of which is that it's better to shoot with a low "f setting". (Hence pic at the top).
