Match.com drops M2M for Initiative in 10m review

Online dating site Match.com has appointed Initiative to its 10m planning and buying brief following a four-way pitch.

Online dating site Match.com has appointed Initiative to its £10m planning and buying brief following a four-way pitch.

It is not clear whether the incumbent M2M re-pitched for the business alongside three other undisclosed agencies.

It is thought Match.com’s UK managing director, Jason Stockwood, who was recently promoted to the role, oversaw the pitch. Stockwood was appointed marketing director last year to oversee a shift in strategy. This included an increased advertising budget and a greater focus on above-the-line advertising..

Match.com’s current television, press and outdoor campaign features two characters: “cupid and fate”. The campaign encourages single people to find love for themselves by signing up to Match.com and uses the strapline “why wait for love to happen”.

The campaign shows the two characters wastingtime playing quizzes and video games, rather than actively seeking a partner. The campaign runs across the London Undergroundnetwork and has been created by US agency Hanft Raboy& Partners.

Match.com claims to be one of the world’s largest dating portals and has more than 20 million users. A million of those are paying subscribers.

As well as its flagship site Match.com, it has 35 country specific sites in 18 languages. The dating site was launched in 1995 and is owned by the internet conglomerate InterActiveCorp.