Since Twitter's brand is driven by the people on the platform, generating positive sentiment means spotlighting the best conversations on Twitter and those who create them.
Every Valentine’s Day, we’re swamped with starry-eyed stories of love and romance. But the most real depictions of dating don’t happen on February 14th. They happen every day, on Twitter.
We created the Dating Twitter Advice Bureau, mixing terrible advice and surprising installations to bring the funniest Tweets to life.
OOH put content from Twitter directly into high-dwell time prime locations. The campaign was fully integrated with a video starring Phil Wang, a dating column in Stylist and a social takeover of @TwitterUK.
7,000 people visited the Advice Bureau, while 80 pieces of press coverage reached a total of 1.1 billion.
Every February 14th, we’re all pressured to up our dating game, buy things we don’t need, or made to feel bad by over-the-top declarations of romance in the press, on the apps, and on other social media platforms.
Our aim was to provide the antidote. Hilarious, self-deprecating Tweets cut through the OTT romantic gestures and make us all feel normal again. Tweeters capture the mood: read your mind, then put those thoughts effortlessly in 280 characters all wrapped up in sparkling wit:
“My crush is so cute, he’s taking a whole month to figure out the perfect reply to my text”
“My worst date will always be the one where I paid for the cinema ticket and snacks and my date reached out for the change from the cashier and put it in his pocket.”
Launching a successful brand campaign for Twitter around this content wasn’t just our goal: it was our duty. We owed it to every down-trodden dater, stressed-out single person and partner under pressure.
Twitter dating culture is raw, honest and hilarious and comes from a wide range of communities. You learn far more from this reality than ‘dating tips’ in magazines.
Strategy
We needed to capture a wide range of real life experiences, and present them in a way that was unmissable and important. We didn’t ask Tweeters to create new content. Instead we sifted through thousands of Tweets to find the funniest, most relatable dating stories. We used the Tweets in different executions of the core idea across multiple channels, each optimised to make sure everyone found just the right Tweet to make them laugh uncontrollably.
Our research process consisted of a highly diverse team of professional researchers scouring Twitter to uncover over 2,000 Tweets that reflected all experiences of love and dating. A strict editorial process boiled that list down until we had a premium selection of Tweets that reflected the diverse experiences of Twitter users, across sexuality, relationship status, ethnicity and background. Twitter celebrities rubbed shoulders with regular Tweeters. All were hilariously funny.
These Tweets - 186 in total - were then brought to life across an integrated campaign of experiential, OOH, video and print.
The Idea
Dating Twitter Advice Bureau opened its doors in Covent Garden over Valentine’s weekend, offering unhelpful dating tips, mortifying stories and interactive installations to the love seeking public.
An infomercial, starring comedian Phil Wang brought dating advice to life in romantic green screen locations.
Meanwhile, an epic OOH takeover across four London tube stations (and US subway stations) promoted hilarious and inclusive for all kinds of lovers (and single people) this year.
The Experience
Our experiential pop-up took the form of the Dating Twitter Advice Bureau, set in the romantic hotspot of Covent Garden. Ironically undermining the idea of the “right way” to date, the Bureau presented dreadful advice, along with witty Tweets brought to life in unusual, shareable experiences.
Over 160 Tweets were brought to life through 13 installations such as:
Ghosting Graveyard. Lay flowers to commemorate lost conversations...
"DATING HACK: instead of texting back right away, wait three days, then assume he's dead"
Running Date. Jog on our running machine while holding hands with a simulated date.
Spin the Wheel of Misfortune. What will your next date be like? Original? Expensive? Visceral?
"[first date] me: So, do you like street magic?
her: Not really
me: [releases 7 doves under table] Haha yeah me either"
Who Dis? Play the guessing game with Dating Twitter advice and content creator profiles.
X-rated Tweets. Enter the “adult shop” and read risqué tweets.
"HIM: tell me your wildest fantasy
ME: i'm on wheel of fortune and i spin it so hard it lights on fire
HIM: i meant like-
ME: everyone claps"
Big Red Flag. Recognise the warning signs, and get out fast.
Free Unromantic Valentine’s Gifts. Choose from a range of mugs, magnets, pants, mini-golf balls, packets of dirt and more utterly unromantic miscellaneous goods featuring helpful advice such as:
"bro we only live once ok just message her, carpe dm"
Across four days, the Dating Advice Bureau welcomed over 7,000 people through its doors.
The Video
A video featuring star comedian Phil Wang in increasingly ludicrous green-screen dating scenarios put top Tweets into action.
Just another unhelpful idea brought to you by Dating Twitter Advice Bureau this Valentines.
Out Of Home
In OOH we took over entire London Underground platforms and covered them with giant, cross-track Tweets, creating stages for witty comedy where brow-beaten commuters least expected it. People walked along platforms to see, enjoy, and photograph ads. Similar billboard blitzes ran across San Francisco, Seattle and New York.
Showcasing 186 hilarious Tweets, the content was the star of the show. We avoided traditional tropes of billboard creative, opting for no tagline, no call to action and no fictional interpretations. Our OOH campaign featured the original Tweets in all their stripped-back glory
Buzz
The overall campaign hit the spot with our target audience, with the experiential and OOH in particular driving huge amounts of online buzz and press.
- 80 separate pieces of press coverage garnered a total reach of 1.1bn.
- 7,000 people visited the Bureau across four days
- The OOH campaign in the Tube was loved by the Tweeters themselves, whose photos of their own Tweets often eclipsed their original posts with tens of thousands of likes...
- ...while the Guardian credited the campaign with making billboards trendy, and Pink News celebrated the “Gigantic gay tweets” that helped our Tube stations become the “antidote to the saccharine sappiness of, well, corporate capitalist love”
Impact
The Dating Twitter Advice Bureau welcomed over 7,000 visitors through its doors.
Twitter recorded a significant brand lift across key, target characteristics: "Twitter is bold", "I can be myself on Twitter", and "Twitter is a place where people share honest observations about everyday life" [source: Kantar brand lift study]
Love really was in the air - love for the campaign, at least. Twitter research showed 97% positive sentiment across major platforms [source: Crimson Hexagon #DatingTwitter & #LoveTwitter Feb 12th-16th].
Overall the stunningly bad dating advice video received 7.3m views.
Our PR reached a cumulative audience of 19 million, with 6 pieces of national press coverage.
Awards
Drum Experience Awards 2020 - B2C Experience of the Year
Drum OOH Awards 2020 - Classic Posters and Banners
Campaign, The Lists 2020 - #4 in their 'Top 10 live experiences'
