2023 Winner
GoldBest Launch/Relaunch
Plenty of Fish
"Dick Pics"
OMD
"Dick Pics"
OMD
Plenty of Fish had a brand problem. Being one of the original dating sites from the 2000s there was a lot of baggage around the brand.
Historically POF had engaged in limited brand advertising and perceptions had been shaped by user experience and word of mouth which was negative, neutral or confused amongst active daters but non-POF users.
To shape perceptions and own a clear space in the dating app market POF developed a new distinct target audience. It also developed a new positioning, brand look, tone, tagline and a user experience that delivered on the new brand promise of being a friendlier place to date.
Shifting perceptions is hard when you are up against other dating apps in the market with a higher profile and a lot more money to spend but they knew that above all the target audience valued authenticity and a sense of humour.
The creative concept hinged on making online dating more welcoming for all. From catfishing and ghosting to breadcrumbing and benching there’s no shortage of bad behavior online. Plenty of Fish opted to target the worst behavior reviled by the female target audience – sending
unsolicited “dick pics”.
As part of the first phase of the brand relaunch Plenty of Fish unveiled The Gallery of” Dick Pics” – a virtual exhibit full of wholesome guys named Richard that are active daters on Plenty of Fish. This turned dating’s most unacceptable behavior on it’s head by using photography that captured their daters in an elevated portrait style accompanied by friendly and funny copy.
The second phase of the campaign is where they needed to scale the campaign to DMA’s in the United States that had high potential reward but also were known for bad dating behavior.
With a limited budget relative to the other dating apps in market they knew that it was incredibly important to capture the attention of the audience while ensuring they could bring the gallery concept to life in a compelling way.
A station domination at Lafayette Station in the heart of the trendy NoHo district in New York proved to be the perfect fit that would drive high reach to the target audience while providing a variety of formats that was well suited to the gallery concept. As a station that usually features high fashion advertisers they felt that their art inspired Gallery of “Dick Pics” would stop their audience in their tracks.
There was one major problem however. The MTA was not amenable to usage of the work Dick (even capitalized) within the station.
The agency had to get creative and negotiated the use of the name Richard in the creative. Directly outside the station and in the immediate vicinity they deployed risque wild postings with QR codes and an experiential pop up store selling their Dick themed merchandise ensured that the target audience connected the in station experience to Plenty of Fish.
Social video captured the OOH execution and further targeted their specific audience in New York. This drove scale at efficient CPM’s but their audience engagement became incrementally larger every day they were active on social.
The gallery concept is unlike anything a dating app has done before and executing this idea in a New York subway station with the approval of the notoriously strict MTA (Manhattan Transit Authority) was extremely challenging. Bringing a concept like this to the MTA was risky but they knew it also had great reward. This execution required the media agency to have a deft hand in managing the vendor, the stakeholders at MTA and working with the creative agency to amend the originally proposed concept. They also had to think more about how the consumers would experience the media.
The agency was thoughtful about the media touchpoints outside of the station as part of this consideration. By utilizing these placements outside the station that were outside MTA scrutiny they knew they could elevate the consumer experience further and garner greater attention.
The agency achieved the highest number of app downloads (+14%) with their female demographic, they had a 10% increase in registrations, a 110X rise in engagement across platforms and a 96% positive PR sentiment.
Historically POF had engaged in limited brand advertising and perceptions had been shaped by user experience and word of mouth which was negative, neutral or confused amongst active daters but non-POF users.
To shape perceptions and own a clear space in the dating app market POF developed a new distinct target audience. It also developed a new positioning, brand look, tone, tagline and a user experience that delivered on the new brand promise of being a friendlier place to date.
Shifting perceptions is hard when you are up against other dating apps in the market with a higher profile and a lot more money to spend but they knew that above all the target audience valued authenticity and a sense of humour.
The creative concept hinged on making online dating more welcoming for all. From catfishing and ghosting to breadcrumbing and benching there’s no shortage of bad behavior online. Plenty of Fish opted to target the worst behavior reviled by the female target audience – sending
unsolicited “dick pics”.
As part of the first phase of the brand relaunch Plenty of Fish unveiled The Gallery of” Dick Pics” – a virtual exhibit full of wholesome guys named Richard that are active daters on Plenty of Fish. This turned dating’s most unacceptable behavior on it’s head by using photography that captured their daters in an elevated portrait style accompanied by friendly and funny copy.
The second phase of the campaign is where they needed to scale the campaign to DMA’s in the United States that had high potential reward but also were known for bad dating behavior.
With a limited budget relative to the other dating apps in market they knew that it was incredibly important to capture the attention of the audience while ensuring they could bring the gallery concept to life in a compelling way.
A station domination at Lafayette Station in the heart of the trendy NoHo district in New York proved to be the perfect fit that would drive high reach to the target audience while providing a variety of formats that was well suited to the gallery concept. As a station that usually features high fashion advertisers they felt that their art inspired Gallery of “Dick Pics” would stop their audience in their tracks.
There was one major problem however. The MTA was not amenable to usage of the work Dick (even capitalized) within the station.
The agency had to get creative and negotiated the use of the name Richard in the creative. Directly outside the station and in the immediate vicinity they deployed risque wild postings with QR codes and an experiential pop up store selling their Dick themed merchandise ensured that the target audience connected the in station experience to Plenty of Fish.
Social video captured the OOH execution and further targeted their specific audience in New York. This drove scale at efficient CPM’s but their audience engagement became incrementally larger every day they were active on social.
The gallery concept is unlike anything a dating app has done before and executing this idea in a New York subway station with the approval of the notoriously strict MTA (Manhattan Transit Authority) was extremely challenging. Bringing a concept like this to the MTA was risky but they knew it also had great reward. This execution required the media agency to have a deft hand in managing the vendor, the stakeholders at MTA and working with the creative agency to amend the originally proposed concept. They also had to think more about how the consumers would experience the media.
The agency was thoughtful about the media touchpoints outside of the station as part of this consideration. By utilizing these placements outside the station that were outside MTA scrutiny they knew they could elevate the consumer experience further and garner greater attention.
The agency achieved the highest number of app downloads (+14%) with their female demographic, they had a 10% increase in registrations, a 110X rise in engagement across platforms and a 96% positive PR sentiment.
Credits
OMD VancouverBusiness Director: Erin McWhinnie
Client: Plenty of Fish, Global Marketing Manager, Mitra Shad
Creative Agency: One Twenty Three West
Executive Creative Director: Mooren (Mo) Bofill, Rob Sweetman, Jeff Harrison, Bryan Collins
Art Director: Ryan Semeniuk, Troy Geoghegan
Copywriter/CD: Allan Topol
Copywriter: Kyle Waye
Designer: Mooren (Mo) Bofill, Jeff Harrison, Ming Mikaeo
Producer: Aliya Tarmo
Account Services: Bianca Myers