Dating Giant Badoo Nears 500 Million Users | A Review

LONDON – UK, JUNE. 12th, 2019 Badoo, the world’s largest dating app and part of the group of dating and social networking companies created and majority-owned by Andrey Andreev, announced today the launch of a new global brand campaign.  Among the updates is a new identity and slogan including an updated logo, brand TOV, MOOH and OOH strategy. The rebrand marks a significant development in the company’s evolution as it rolls out its new mission urging people to own their perceived flaws and date honestly.  

Debuting in Spain and England, the global two-week MOOH and OOH execution will closely follow into Brazil and Russia, two of Badoo’s top markets. Badoo's new tagline of 'Date Honestly', replaces 'Bigger than Dating', and shifts the TOV with an emphasis on inclusion and self-acceptance. Created entirely by Badoo’s in-house creatives ‘Date Honestly’ continues the company’s dominance in the dating world as it nears half a billion global users.

The first of Badoo’s MOOH and OOH creative featuring real users, with real handwritten bios launches in London this week - in a city-wide initiative, including Zone 1 tube stations and key bus routes across the capital. In support of the campaign, Badoo has pledged it will no longer use models or actors in future promotional material.

 

The original logo has been creatively reimagined to include a smile.

Previous Logo                                                           New Logo

“We’ve had a traditional heart for some time, we felt this is somewhat of an outdated model of traditional love. As we thought about the best way to express what openness and honesty mean in the modern dating experience, we’ve simply given the heart a voice. It can say what it wants now, it can tell its truth – Date Honestly.” Said Dominic Gallello, Chief Marketing Officer, Badoo.

 

Madrid OOH

Dominic went on to say: “In a society that profits on our self-doubt, Badoo is a place where it pays to be the real, unapologetic you. We fight the ambiguity of modern dating with an authentic, unfiltered conversation. We believe a real connection is born from being honest in who you are and what you really want.”

Badoo has just celebrated its 100 billionth message sent via the platform. The 'Date Honestly' update is now live and will be supported by Social Media, a YouTube series and a London event.

My experience with Badoo

If anyone has experience with dating apps, I certainly do. I started dating online using ICQ on DOS, before Windows came along (oh dear, I'm really showing my age now!) and I have used Badoo ever since it started in 2006.

Through ICQ, I met a great friend from Germany. Using an app called FriendFinder, which no longer exists, I made another great friend from Peru (where I am also from). Then on Badoo I've made several friends, including someone who I've now been good friends with for about 10 years.

Most people think that dating online is just for "dating", either for one night stands, friends with benefits or relationships, but it is actually much more than that.

There are many reasons why people date online; either because they don't have time to socialise, they don't like socialising, they are not very confident meeting people in person, or maybe they just like getting to know someone before meeting them. For me, and many others like me, online 'dating' apps are also a great place to look for friends, not just locally but worldwide or to find someone to talk to when you just want to have a coffee at home and have a chat. You can find very interesting people to chat with about anything, work, your career, life, etc.

It is up to you to take control of who you chat with, what you chat about and where you take it to from there.

People make a big deal about people lying about their appearance on dating sites and apps. Personally, I find there's a simple solution; chat for few times with the person and then meet them in a public place, such as a coffee shop and from there, it is just like meeting someone in a pub, restaurant, event or anywhere else, so appearance shouldn't be such a big deal.

The secret to getting what you are looking for in a dating app is:

Firstly, have a clear idea of what you are looking for and start filtering with the right questions from the very beginning. More importantly, always be honest, it is only fair, honest about how you look and what you are looking for.

Secondly, chat with the person at least 10 times before meeting them, always trying to understand if they are honest or not, by asking the same questions.

Lastly, no matter what you are looking for, have the ability to keep it cool and always think making friends is the foundation of every type of relationship. Meet the person in a public place a few times, never invite them to your home or go to theirs, until you know pretty much everything about that person.

Badoo is very similar to many other apps, the main difference is that there are so many people using it, that you have a vast variety of personalities to choose from. 

What would I improve?

I would make it a bit more like Tinder, so you can only chat with people that like you too, so there has been a mutual like before you can chat with someone.

Mili Ponce

Keynote Speaker on Digital Marketing and Entrepreneurship, Social Media Strategist, Trainer, Writer, Blogger, Mother, Daughter, Granddaughter, Dreamer.
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