The Campaign

China's one child policy has created generations of ''Singletons'', young urban singles in search of partners in a challenging dating scene. For these Singletons, Single's Day and Valentine's Day have special meaning, and China's burgeoning online matchmaking sites have used them for promotional springboards. Zhenai.com is the best-known of China's matchmaking websites, but two key competitors, Jiayuan.com and Baihe.com, had both announced similar Blind Date promotions timed to Singles' Day and Valentine's Day, especially important this year since being touted as "The Century Singles' Day" and "The Last Valentine's Day Before the End of the World". In stiff competition for membership and pop culture credibility, Zhenai.com would have to raise the stakes. They would be working with a limited budget and against the perception that matchmaking websites weren’t trustworthy. The PR team helped Zhenai.com literally rise above the competition, hosting and promoting a dazzling Blind Date party atop the world's largest TV tower and another around the world premiere of LOVE, a much anticipated, celebrity filled movie event already attracting the target demographic. Through creative execution and strategic partnerships, the parties were a smash hit, generating widespread brand-driven buzz and increasing Zhenai.com membership by a very cool 10 million.

The Brief

Spread the love. Build trust and loyalty. - Generate membership and increased usage of Zhenai.com among 60 million Singletons in top tier one cities. - Earn the trust of the Singleton target and challenge their perception that dating websites "don't provide accurate profile information" and "you'll rarely get what you see." - Connect Zhenai.com to current pop culture events and make it a more acceptable, authentic and "cool" website. - Build a ready following; set the stage for conductinga series of future blind date parties and upcoming promotional activities beyond the holidays.

Results

What's Not to Love? Twenty pairs of Singletons were successfully matched, and formed lasting new relationships through each event. More importantly, their dating adventures attracted the attention of more than 20 major media crews and reporters who generated more than 100 stories on the party affairs, and 60 million media impressions. The events also resulted in a whopping 20,000 forwarded comments on Sina Weibo (the Chinese Twitter). Coverage spanned top newspapers, TV networks, online channels, video websites and Weibo. All told the resulting coverage produced an AVE that was 10 times the PR budget. The events were so successful in generating a stronger following and buzz that they became natural springboards for continuing promotions. But the bottom line experienced an even more romantic, fairytale ending. Zhenai.com saw its membership increase by 10 million Singletons, a number that left everyone on the management team breathlessly in love with the power of PR and event marketing.

Execution

Make it THE Hottest Party The team recruited 200 prospective blind dates to attend the Singles' Day event, which included many enthusiastic fans of the Zhenai.com's online match-making brand. Reporters and editors from Nanfang Media Group publications were also participants in the blind date experience, bringing fun and favorable coverage to the event. Singleton's who found their ideal mate in the party were given a complimentary ride together on a horizontal Ferris Wheel, 600 meters above the ground. To continue their party momentum, The Valentine's Day partygoers were Singletons who'd participated in a in a lucky draw to win tickets to the LOVE premier. Winners were then expertly matched by Zhenai.com's intelligent matchmaking system, and were invited to meet and attend the movie premier with their specially selected date. Movie stars also swarmed the after-party and spread the love to the successfully-matched pairs.

The Situation

Millions of people needed a Single solution With the coming of age of a third generation of 20- to 40-year-old Singletons in Chinese history, high demand for romantic partners has spurred the dramatic growth of matchmaking websites. Given this generation's heavy exposure to pop culture and social media channels, this year's Singles' Day and Valentine's Day holidays were expected to be unprecedented party and celebration days online for the single subculture. Zhenai.com needed to pull out all the stops to "own" these celebrations and drive new membership, in the face of aggressive competition from other dating sites.

The Strategy

Choose the perfect partners The PR team studied the tastes and trends of its audience and developed a spicy hot creative campaign theme, "Love conquers all: a Single success story", to launch on National Singles Day and ignite an online pop culture dating phenomenon. Zhenai's celebration of Singles' Day event would take place atop the world's tallest TV tower —Guangzhou's Canton Tower — allowing Singletons to seek romance at the world's highest blind date party. The Valentine's Day event hitched its star to the movie premiere of LOVE, attracting fans of the film's stars and Singletons looking to fuel a new romance amid celebrity fanfare. The team sought the cooperation of two influential media partners: the biggest media group in Southern China – Nanfang Media Group, and mainland China's top entertainment crew, Huayi Bros. Media Group, promoters of the blockbuster movie LOVE. Their strong media connections would help extend the impact of Zhenai's limited PR budget.