Tinder was the leading dating app in Australia, but needed to drive appeal amongst Gen Z and the LGBTQIA+ community in order to grow. A key strategic insight about Gen Z values, and their dissatisfaction with mainstream brands, opened up an opportunity for Tinder to create something meaningful for them and the LGBTQIA+ community that helped the brand smash its objectives and drive relevancy amongst two critical growth audiences.

Tinder launched in Australia in 2013, re-defining and disrupting the traditional approach to dating for millions of people. The brand prides itself on inclusivity and is the only dating app that has national scale in Australia.

However, by 2022, there were a number of tough challenges. Since launch, there has been an influx of other dating apps that catered to a range of communities & dating intentions among single Australians. Bumble & Hinge, which appeal to female users and those interested in long term relationships, as well as the launch of Grindr & Her, which cater to specific LGBTQIA+ groups.

The core objectives for this work were connected to the brand delivering growth and increasing multiple brand metrics among core growth audiences – Gen Z & LGBTQIA+ Australians.

The challenge facing Tinder with the audience was one of relevance – the brand was mass market & had been around for a number of years, & for many, it wasn’t seen as innovative, or as welcoming as other dating apps.

Sydney Mardi Gras was the annual focal point for the LGBTQIA+ community, a time for connection & celebration & the perfect occasion to build Tinder’s credentials as a safe, inclusive home for members of the community & beyond. However it is also where rainbow washing is most prevalent, with the overwhelming perception being that brands turn up for a couple of weeks a year at Pride, paint their logo rainbow and then go back to ‘normal’ afterwards.

To become highly relevant for Gen Z, Tinder had to prove their commitment to Australia’s LGBTQIA+ community, beyond flashy, temporary one-offs.

Values play a critical role in fostering credibility & connection with young audiences. US research found nearly 80% of Gen Z agree brands should address diversity & inclusion, with Deloitte report stating, “The core values of the generation are reflected in their prioritizing social activism more than previous generations”.

This insight was critical to unlocking the solution – as the only Australian dating app with national scale, where people of all sexualities & gender expressions can find people like them, Tinder had a powerful opportunity to demonstrate shared values with Gen Z by creating something meaningful for LGBTQIA+ audiences, nationwide.

While Mardi Gras is a fabulous annual celebration of LGBTQIA+ love & inclusion, it’s also very Sydney-centric. For young queer Aussies, high costs & long distances make it highly inaccessible – especially for those living in regional areas, where lack of visibility & community connection can leave many feeling isolated.

While hundreds of brands showed up to support Mardi Gras for a week in Sydney, Tinder turned to the countryside, creating the first PERMANENT landmark for regional LGBTQIA+ Pride & inclusion. Inspired by more than 150 ‘Big Things’ found all over regional Australia, ours was the first big landmark to represent & celebrate Pride, far & wide.

Beyond being a fabulous, inclusive monument, the Big Rainbow also became a virtual landmark on Tinder, allowing LGBTQIA+ Australians to bypass their in-app radius & set their location to the Big Rainbow, for the first time giving them the ability to connect with thousands of LGBTQIA+ users all over Australia.

The Big Rainbow Project had dramatic effects for the Tinder brand.

PR: Over 224 million earned impressions across 671 placements, with every major national news channel & (more importantly) hundreds of regional news outlets spreading the message.

100% positive PR sentiment

Social: Over 57 million organic impressions across TikTok, Snapchat & Meta

Perception (vs 2pts objective):

“Is for people like me” +10pts

“Is inclusive” +14pts

“Helps me meet people for many different connections’ +11pts.

Total brand lift: 10.83pts (avg across all perception metrics)

144,380 unique site visitors & 16,631 high-quality submissions at BigRainbowProject.com.au

Regional community organisations, the public & even local MPs rallied in support of their towns becoming the home of The Big Rainbow, with one town Mayor even campaigning for his hometown by taking out an ad in the local paper.

Tinder’s brand purpose is to “spark the magic of human connection”. They are a proud ally of the LGBTQIA+ community, enabling connection & self expression for all sexualities & gender expressions. And as the only dating platform with nationwide reach – and the leading dating platform for LGBTQIA+ Aussies in regional areas – Tinder wanted to help ‘spark the magic of human connection’ for remote rainbow communities by furthering awareness, visibility and inclusion, to ignite Pride all over the countryside and have a lasting, positive impact on regional queer communities.

The creative idea taps into regional Australia’s fascination with ‘big’ things. We have the Big Banana, The Big Prawn, The Big Guitar… even a Big Potato. These big landmarks can be found all over the country – they are iconic tourist destinations, often putting the regional towns they live in on the map. In fact, there are over 150 of these ‘Big’ things all over regional Australia, representing countless Aussie communities. With the Big Rainbow Project, not only did we create the first ‘Big Thing’ for Australia’s regional LGBTQIA+ community. But unlike most brands who show up during Sydney Mardi Gras, we didn’t stop activity once the festival ended. Instead, we launched the project when Mardi Gras wrapped up, and kept the campaign going for over a year, until the Big Rainbow found its permanent home, where it now lives on as a lasting symbol for regional Pride.