Priti Joshi, vice-president of strategy, Bumble, sat with NewsX for an exclusive interview for its special segment NewsX A-List. Bumble is a location-based social application that expedites communication between interested users.
Priti started by addressing the global coronavirus pandemic. She said, “First and foremost, our users are at the front and centre of everything that we do. So we have done everything in our power to make this time easier and a little bit better for them as they’re trying to navigate the world of dating and connecting in a virtual or socially distanced way. What we witnessed right at the beginning of the pandemic is that our users were really excited to get to know one another. We saw an increase in messages sent by 20%. As the pandemic started, we also actually saw that users were using the in-app feature called video chats and its use increased by about 40%. We’re seeing that our users are very much craving connection but also doing it in a safe and socially distanced way.”
Priti further added, “We’re seeing an increase in something called slow dating. It is a phenomenon where users are getting to know one another, virtually, whether that’s through the video chat feature, or they’re sending many more messages back and forth. And they’re establishing a connection before they even think about meeting in person. Now, once they do meet in person, what we’ve introduced on our app is a series of badges that indicate how comfortable you are, when you meet in person and how to meet. So you can either indicate that you just want to go on a virtual date, meet in a socially distanced way with the mask on and so on. But we’ve introduced these other features as well to allow our users, once they’re past the slow dating phase, to get to know their potential connections safely in real life.”
Talking about how Bumble stays digitally in touch with its users, she said, “the most important thing for us is understanding and hearing from our users and understanding what they’re looking for. So we have many different ways in which we are interacting with them. We’re working very closely with dating experts, connection experts and mental health experts during this time, to help share tips and tricks on how you can stay connected and feel strong and safe in those connections during this time. Another thing that we are working on really actively is understanding what success looks like from our users. So we’ve heard from so many users around the world about successful relationships that they have entered since the onset of the pandemic, one of the users who has shared her story with us has said that she sensed a seismic tonal shift in the way conversations are going on Bumble and everyone is more vulnerable, more open and therefore it’s leading to more honest conversations.”
Throwing some light on the future of virtual dating, Priti expressed, “I think what we’ve seen over the last six to eight months and what I think we’ll continue to see is that the concept of virtual dating or pre-dates will continue, it’s actually a really wonderful way to get to know somebody and lay the initial groundwork. Before you decide, yes, I want to see this person in real life. Yes, I want to continue a relationship or connection with them. So I suspect that virtual dating will be around for a while.”
Bumble has recently come up with a new feature of podcasts where it has collaborated with some very well-known names. “We feel so fortunate to get to put out a lot of these really interesting digital podcasts and other assets for India to hear. So first we launched a series called ‘Is Romance Dead?’ in partnership with the improv actor and comedian Kaneez Surka. It’s available on many streaming platforms throughout the country. It’s this concept of exploring romance and talking about it through the eyes of others and different kind of industries or sectors. So whether you’re thinking about that as a part of music, food, drink, literature or science, what does romance look like in all of these avenues. We’ve also launched our season 2 of ‘Not Another Lockdown Dating Show’. This is back by popular demand where we’re exploring what it’s like to navigate the new rules of dating and have added a little bit of comedy and twist to it so that it’s hopefully more entertaining. Also we’ve launched an integrated digital marketing campaign called ‘Love Will Find A Way’. This concept was really inspired by what our users in India were telling us. It’s a series of digital stories that talk about all of the hope and excitement that one has to look forward to as they are building connections during this time,” she said.
As the pandemic is not over yet, she said, “We certainly hope that this pandemic is coming to a close soon enough. But in the meantime, the most important thing for Bumble and for our users is making sure that we’re allowing and facilitating our users to form connections in a safe and socially distanced way. And so I expect and hope that our users will also get to see great innovation in terms of how we can help to continue to form these connections and support our users as they are going on these journeys of hope and excitement and forming these connections in a positive way.”