You might be hard pressed to find a dude with a clean-shave face these days, so it might come as no surprise that razor companies are interested in whether or not beards, stubble and other facial hair styles are a fad or have staying power. That’s why Gillette turned to cool kid on the block Tinder to find the answer, spending advertising bucks without ever placing an actual ad.
Ad Age reports that Gillette paid the dating app, which heavily relies on first impressions, to test the theory that unkempt facial hair wasn’t as desirable on Tinder as a clean-shaven or well-groomed face.
The two companies worked together to anonymously analyze 100,000 male Tinder users to see which group scored more positive responses from suitors.
According to Gillette, the study found that well-groomed men received 74% of the total right swipes (in Tinder world that means they were desirable) and 37% more matches than men who displayed photos sporting facial hair. The results of the Proctor & Gamble razor brand’s study can be found online at shavetest.com.
Despite the fact that Gillette didn’t purchase traditional advertising from Tinder, the dating app was still compensated, although an exact figure wasn’t released.
“Tinder is obviously something that’s really connected to that college audience,” Kurt Iverson, senior communications manager for Gillette, tells Ad Age. “It’s where our user is right now. They live to see who’s given them the swipe right overnight. When we started talking to them, it was a little edgier, more of a hookup app. But I think it’s gone a lot more mainstream now. All age groups are aware of it.”
The unlikely partnership between the razor brand and Tinder shows the unusual ways in which apps are now raking in revenue.
IAC/InterActiveCorp, the parent company for Tinder, announced last July that it planned to start making money from the dating app at some point.
And it appears that started early this year with the app beginning to take part in native ads through a profile for Domino’s Pizza and a match-making effort for Mindy, the main character on Fox’s “The Mindy Project,” Ad Age reports.
Internet analysts estimate that Tinder will receive 20 million active users this year, a number that is no doubt desirable to brands. But only time will tell if Gillette’s investment in the Tinder study will pay off.
Tinder Gets More Brand Dollars … by Testing Sex Appeal of Facial Hair [Ad Age]
by Ashlee Kieler via Consumerist