Helping Hinge understand Gen Z's dating journey from matching to becoming official.
“The world of dating can be a bit of a quagmire for new strategy firms that we bring on. There’s so much to cover and everyone comes into this topic with their own lived experiences—it can be hard to go deep and teach us something new or connect the dots. But you did just that! ”
““I find myself constantly going back through the [redacted] research. Thanks again for the great work on it.””
services: Gen Z Custom Research & Gen Z Strategy
specifics: Gen Z consumer journey and empathy mapping, brand strategy recommendations and product recommendations
the challenge
Hinge is a leading dating app with Gen Z. They approached us to understand Gen Z's journey from matching to defining the relationship, to analyze their influences, behaviors, to understand the impact of this journey on Gen Z daters, and ultimately how Hinge can better support Gen Z'ersas they navigate through it.
the approach
We designed an 8-week custom study of 18-25-year-olds, using a combination of DMs, poll questions, Z:Z interviews, couples/partner interviews, kahoot-style focus groups, a survey of n=1000 Gen Z'ers, and social listening.
the impact
Our first work with Hinge has become such a critical piece of their understanding of culture, that it is not only used in their company onboarding but has become internal language that has reshaped how they talk about relationships inside the company.
We investigated and coined "digital body language", which has now been used across the organization as DBL, and led to features in Time Magazine, AdAge & more.
Our product and brand strategy recommendations have impacted product developments and innovations, and helped to shape the brand's overall direction, in addition to supporting the direction and focus of the brand's social impact.
