Bumble

Bumble was built on women making the first move, and most of its campus marketing spoke to women. The app only works if men join too, though, and college men were a hard audience for a brand that led with female empowerment. The idea of bringing them into that mission was met with a lot of skepticism.

I created the Male Organization Partnership Program to reach college men through the student organizations they already belonged to. The goal was to make them part of the conversation instead of the target of it. Bumble sponsored their tailgates, parties, and campus events and hosted exclusive events of its own, and each partnership included an education piece on respect and accountability in dating. The events gave the brand a reason to be there, and the conversations that happened at them gave the partnership its purpose.

The program started with 10 universities and 15 partner organizations. Within 18 months it reached 150 universities and more than 600 partners across the US, Canada, and Mexico. Sponsored events grew to 50–70 a month, up from 5–10, and registrations and active users grew among college men in partner campus zip codes.

Experiential & Community Marketing

The Bumble House

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