Match repositioned around adult daters with 'Adults Date Better'

While other dating apps romanticise young love, Match needed a platform that claimed an overlooked segment: emotionally mature people with interesting life stories, ready for something real.

A 360 campaign across film, out of home, radio, social, digital and influencer, launching on Brooklyn billboards where Match data 'over indexes' for adult singles. In-app, Match added a 'ghostbusting' feature that pushes daters to close conversations instead of leaving people hanging, and Matched by Us, a customised weekly match. CCO Mo Said voiced the film himself.

No results reported. The platform launched in August 2021, following a July teaser that encouraged singles to 'lick every stranger they can' in celebration of dating's return.

LBBOnline reported in August 2021 that Match had launched 'Adults Date Better', a new brand platform by Mojo Supermarket that repositioned the dating service around an overlooked segment. 'In a world that treats adult singles like leftovers', the platform argues that everything that makes them adult — life experience, confidence, emotional maturity — is what makes them attractive.

The strategic idea grew from Mojo's research into Reddit's Dating Over 30 column, where users emphasised that dating as an adult sucks. CMO Ayesha Gilarde said Match was 'saying goodbye to the casual daters, the don't know what they want-ers, and everything in between', while the campaign copy put it plainly: 'Everyone loves to talk about young love. But what about dating an emotionally mature, fully formed human? … Someone who shares their feelings and their food. We'll just come out and say it: Adults Date Better.'

The platform came with product, not just ads: a 'ghostbusting' feature promoting accountability in conversations and 'Matched by Us', a customised weekly match. The 360 campaign — film, OOH, radio, social, digital, influencer, UX and CRM — first launched on out-of-home boards in Brooklyn, which Match's data shows over-indexes for single adult dating. Mojo CCO Mo Said, who once thought dating as an adult sounded like a nightmare, did the voiceover himself.

Every dating app romanticises young love, leaving adult singles without a brand that speaks to them.

The insight came from real users: Reddit's Dating Over 30 threads, not a focus group.

The repositioning shipped with product features — ghostbusting, Matched by Us — that make 'emotionally mature' operational.

Media planning followed the data, launching where adult singles over-index: Brooklyn.

Positioning can be arithmetic: when every competitor sells youth, the brand that says adults date better owns a segment nobody is talking to.

The platform launched in August 2021 across film, OOH, radio, social, digital and influencer, starting with Brooklyn billboards, with the in-app features rolling out alongside. No performance results were reported.