The Brief

The influx of free dating apps was impacting eHarmony's position and business. Our key task was to improve the cost per subscription by 10% YOY. We looked at our existing 1st party data, and undertook a complete segmentation study to better understand the nuances of our customer base. From this, we constructed a segmentation model that allowed eHarmony to know their customers better and guide more efficient acquisition. Our strategic ambition was to conceive tailored messaging and niche media for reaching key segments in relevant ways. We created ten archetypes of modern Australian love. "Mr. Career" is probably not looking for love in the same way as a "Female Conservative Divorcee", so we prioritized all segments based on profitability, volume and opportunity to target, to ensure we were focusing on the most commercially viable segments, and deploying the most cost effective communications for each.

Creative Execution

TV has always been the lead medium for eHarmony, with digital display as support. For testing this new approach we only used digital mediums. The use of digital display, social and video varied for each segment, as did our targeting by geographic, demographic, daypart and behavioural factors as indicated by integration of our site analytics, proprietary research and Roy Morgan Research. A summary of our media implementation targeting strategy for one segment follows: Yuppies: Smart young professionals with disposable income enjoying a sophisticated urban life. Time poor and looking for someone with similar socioeconomic status. Single 25-45 Females Perth, Sydney, Melbourne Contextual category buys overlayed with highest indexing times per category Travel & Dining 9am-3pm Gaming 5pm-12am Real Estate all day, 3pm-5pm peak Employment 9am-12pm Business & Finance 9am-12pm Entertainment 9am-12pm Smartphone & Tablet – 70/30 weighting Facebook additional targeting - Travel, Nightlife, Food and drink, Business, Social Media Twitter Keywords: Travel, Food, Drink, lunch. Followers: Flight Centre, Expedia, E!News, Trip Advisor, competitors.

Describe the creative solution to the brief/objective.

eHarmony’s products were able to keep up with the modern single who is time poor and craves convenience, but they were still selling the fairy-tale: a one-size-fits-all romance for single Australians. New competitors forced them to consider whether a one-size-fits-all approach to finding love was still realistic. Focus groups were held and a key discovery was that not all Australians who used online dating services were looking for a soulmate, some just wanted to meet new people and have a great date. New players such as Tinder were effectively exploiting this. There were so many different need-states and behaviours in the category that we weren’t previously aware of. This confirmed that our singular, broadcast approach to targeting, messaging and media was no longer relevant.

Results

Prior to the campaign, the Cost per Subscription had increased by 31% from 2014-2015. Our brief was to improve it by 10%. As a control period, the month prior to our campaign had TV + Digital Media, and featured exactly the same creative executions and promotional offer. There were no competitor factors that were significantly different across either the control or campaign periods. Our new segmentation targeted approach resulted in a 76% decrease in Cost per Subscription between April and June. Cost per subscription across May and June combined is 61% below the YTD monthly average. In other related measures, our use of data-led, highly targeted media strategies also saw an incredible 240% increase in the crucial Registration to Subscription rate and a 93% increase in click through rates across the board.