Month: August 2019

Kudos to Honeypot Founder’s Creativity

Posted on August 12, 2019

OPW – Aug 12 – In a world dominated by brands such as Match and Tinder, it can be tough to get attention in the crowded online dating field. George Rawlings, the founder of a new London-based dating app Honeypot, put some pretty crafty whiteboards up in London and Liverpool to promote his dating app that he built to find himself a girlfriend. Honeypot is a dating app that connects people in the moment, very spontaneously. Users check-in to their location to see who is also there and available for an immediate date.

Honeypot
Mark Brooks: The age old question, how to get to critical mass? This is a deceptive but amusing marketing program. It's a sign of the times. Expect more of these kinds of tactics from dating startups.

Dating App Hinge Wants to Be Deleted

Posted on August 12, 2019

MARKETING WEEK – Aug 12 – The dating app's first major international marketing campaign sees app icon Hingie "dying to be deleted". The new campaign will appear on TV and streaming sites, as well as on Snapchat, Twitter, Reddit, Instagram and YouTube.

by Charlotte Rogers
See full article at Marketing Week

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Has Tinder Lost Its Spark?

Posted on August 12, 2019

Tinder illustrationTHE GUARDIAN – Aug 11 – A new study, published last month in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, found that compulsive use made online dating swipers feel even more lonely. Swipe fatigue has prompted some daters to try an analogue approach. In 2019, the matchmaking industry has thrived. Caroline Brealey, founder of Mutual Attraction, a London-based matchmaking service, says the company has seen a dramatic increase in younger clients. "Tinder doesn't present anything radically new," explains Michael Gratzke, chair of the Love Research Network, based at the University of Hull. "Dating apps mimic the way we make snap decisions about people in real life. When we enter a room, it takes seconds to sort who we see." But there is one thing about it that differs from traditional love: swipe. Tinder is addictive. Helen Fisher, a biological anthropologist, argues that we simply don't know what we're doing. "We shouldn't be thinking of these tools as "dating apps", she says. "They're introducing sites. Fisher's solution? Log off when you've spoken to nine people. More than this and we're cognitively overloaded, she argues, leading to romantic fatigue.

by Emily Reynolds
See full article at The Guardian

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Gay Dating App Chappy Joins Bumble in Austin

Posted on August 12, 2019

Chappy logo 2019KVUE – Aug 10 – Chappy, an app for gay dating and friendship, moved operations to Austin. The relocation will allow Chappy to tap into the marketing and operational resources of Bumble, allowing quicker growth.

by Bryce Newberry
See full article at KVUE

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The #NoMarriage Movement Is Adding to Korea’s Economic Woes

Posted on August 12, 2019

Marriage_ringsMALAYSIA SUN – Aug 10 – Baeck Ha-na is a YouTube star in South Korea, promoting the "live-alone life". She's part of a growing and determined group of Korean women rejecting marriage and motherhood. Baeck says that the government's latest efforts to boost birthrates are "abusive" and "frustrating" because they fail to address the lack of legal avenues to ensure career development for mothers or alleviating financial burdens in raising children. When it comes to the birth rate, South Korea has ranked at the bottom of OECD countries in the Asia-Pacific region since 2016, with that rate going even lower this year. South Korea and Puerto Rico tied for the lowest overall rates as of 2017: Seven children per 1 000 people, followed by Japan and Hong Kong. In 2019, the number of those dying is expected to outpace the number of those being born.

See full article at Malaysia Sun

Lauren Goodger Re-launches Her Sex-for-Sale Dating Site

Posted on August 12, 2019

Laurenslittlesecret logoMIRROR.CO.UK – Aug 10 – The former Towie star's site, Lauren's Little Secret, was reportedly taken down last year but it's now back up and running. Lauren Goodger has relaunched her sex-for-sale dating site after previously coming under fire over the saucy venture. Subscribers to Lauren's Little Secret can set their interests to things like, 'webcam', 'BBW', 'BDSM', 'webcam' and 'threesomes'.

by Frances Kindon
See full article at Mirror.co.uk

Match Group Launches A Marriage App Pairs Engage

Posted on August 12, 2019

Pairs engage logoBUSINESS INSIDER – Aug 9 – Match Group is targeting Japanese singles looking to get hitched with a marriage-concierge app. The company is launching Pairs Engage, a "more efficient and less expensive service geared to those who are highly motivated and want to get married within a year," CEO Mandy Ginsberg said. The app suggests 30 potential husbands or wives a month, and includes a 24/7 concierge service. Japan's $0.5B arranged-marriage industry revolves around physical stores that employ lots of salespeople and service staff, meaning they're expensive to run and pricey for consumers, Ginsberg said. Pairs Engage costs 9,800 yen ($92) per month, plus another 9,800 yen as a sign-up fee once the pre-registration period ends. After downloading the app, users must submit a raft of documents including proof of their identity, income, and single status, as well as education and national qualifications for graduates and some professionals.

by Theron Mohamed
See full article at Business Insider

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Match Group Ex-CEO Accused of “Forcibly Groping’ Subordinate

Posted on August 12, 2019

Lawsuit1AGENDA – Aug 9 – Match Group's former chairman and CEO Gregory Blatt has been accused of sexual assault by Rosette Pambakian, a former marketing executive at Tinder. Pambakian's allegations first surfaced one year ago in a separate lawsuit filed by former Tinder employees. Pambakian also makes claims against Match and IAC, alleging retaliation and wrongful termination. "Match and IAC apologized to me for the assault. They offered me compensation if I never speak about the incident again," said Pambakian. In her suit, she describes Blatt as "a notorious bully" and "a powerful man", which made her uncomfortable reporting the incident. She spoke about it with Match's then-SVP of human resources Lisa Nelson, then-general counsel and corporate secretary Jared Sine and IAC associate general counsel Ed Ferguson. In April 2017, Tinder co-founder Sean Rad asked for a proper investigation. He was reportedly told by one board member not to worry about it because "everyone was going to make a lot of money". At the end of 2017, Blatt stepped down as chairman and CEO at Match Group but retained a seat on the board. He resigned from his director role on Aug. 10, 2018, days before the early Tinder employees filed a lawsuit over the equity valuation process. Upon his resignation from the board, Blatt entered into an advisory agreement with Match. The agreement is effective until Feb. 29, 2020, and limits his work to 20 hours per quarter. It is unclear how much Blatt has been paid for any advisory services, but over the span of his career at IAC and Match, he was awarded ~$125M in total compensation between 2006 and 2017, according to data provided by Equilar. This figure includes Blatt's vested stock and exercised options. The lawsuit suggests that Blatt's exercising his options worth $44.7M in April 2017 would be "questionable timing," as it was shortly after Blatt's actions were allegedly reported to HR. Blatt rarely sold stock in Match Group, but his largest transaction appears to be a sale with a value of $11.8M in March 2018.

by Stephanie Forshee
See full article at Agenda

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CEOs Who Cheat in Bedroom Will Cheat in Boardroom

Posted on August 12, 2019

Ashleymadison screenshot 2019BLOOMBERG – Aug 9 – That's the conclusion of a provocative new academic study that found a strong correlation between adultery and workplace misconduct by corporate executives and financial advisers. Finance professors at the University of Texas at Austin and Emory University examined users of Ashley Madison, a dating site for married people looking to have affairs, thanks to a computer hack in 2015 that exposed the names and personal data of ~30M users. CEOs and CFOs who had accounts were twice as likely to have engaged in a financial misstatement or be the focus of a class action securities lawsuit between 2008 and 2014. Cheating brokers were more likely to have black marks on their records maintained by the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority.

by Matt Robinson
See full article at Bloomberg

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New Study by EliteSingles: Who Should Pay on a First Date?

Posted on August 12, 2019

Elitesingles logo new dec 16BUSINESSWIRE – Aug 8 – Premium dating site EliteSingles asked 300K Americans who should pay on a first day. 63% of men think the man should pay on a first date. Less than half of women (46%) agree. 1-in-5 women (18%) prefer to go Dutch on dates; only 7% of men feel the same.

See full article at Businesswire

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