What Consumers are Craving This Year: Personalization + Intentional Connection | Michael Kaye of OkCupid and ARCHER

Marketing Happy Hour

This week, Erica and Cassie chat with Michael Kaye, Director of Brand and Communications at Match Group's ARCHER and OkCupid. In this episode, Michael outlines how each brand is breathing new life into the online dating space and standing out to younger Millennial and Gen Z daters by staying timely and culturally relevant. We also talk through the fact that today’s consumers are CRAVING personalization and real life connection with the brands they know and love (yes, including and especially dating apps!), and Michael shares 5 strategy essentials to keep in mind during your brand's first 100 days - a callback to his experience launching ARCHER.

Here's a peek at what we cover in this episode:

[00:03:41] - Michael shares a peek into his background in brand and communications, spending 5 years agency side before a cold message from OkCupid's former CMO led to his involvement with the company.

[00:06:45] - Michael explains how OkCupid and ARCHER are breathing new life into the online dating space and standing out to younger Millennial and Gen Z daters by staying timely and culturally relevant in a crowded market. He also reveals how listening to the dating community's pain points and gathering data helps his team at Match Group create marketing campaigns, and how he's seen consumer behavior highly favor personalization and real life connection.

[00:13:18] - Michael gives us a glimpse at some of the fun campaigns he's been a part of at Match Group, and explains how brands can tap into timely holidays to execute creative partnerships. We also chat through how to make sure a partnership and/or collaboration feels seamless and intentional.

[00:20:39] - Michael shares a few tips from an article he wrote for PR Week: 5 strategy essentials to keep in mind during your brand's first 100 days, including the advice to meet your consumer where they are...literally. He then touches on his nonprofit work and how he's continually inspired by the classes he teaches at NYU and UMass Amherst.

Grab a drink and listen in to this week's Marketing Happy Hour conversation!

____

Other episodes you'll enjoy if you enjoyed Michael's episode:

How to Make Meaningful IRL Connections with Your Consumer | Aly Tatnall of Coffee 'n Clothes

Brand Communications 101 | Kate Haldy of Anthropologie

Leaning In to Your Brand's Community | Kennedy Crichlow + Mary Ralph Lawson Bradley of Daily Drills

____

Say hi! DM us on Instagram and let us know which bonus episodes you're excited for - we can't wait to hear from you! Please also consider rating the show and leaving a review, as that helps us tremendously as we move forward in this Marketing Happy Hour journey and create more content for all of you. ⁠

⁠⁠Join our FREE MHH Insiders online community to connect with Millennial and Gen Z marketing professionals around the world!⁠⁠

Get the latest from MHH, straight to your inbox: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Join our email list!⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Check out OkCupid: Instagram | TikTok

Check out Archer: Instagram | TikTok

Connect with Michael: Instagram | LinkedIn

Connect with Co-Host Erica: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Connect with Co-Host Cassie: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

Follow MHH on Social: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Threads⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠Twitter⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠TikTok⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ | ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

New to Marketing Happy Hour (or just want more)? ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Download our Marketing Happy Hour Starter Kit⁠⁠⁠

This podcast is an MHH Media production. ⁠⁠⁠Learn more about MHH Media!⁠⁠⁠

⁠⁠⁠Interested in starting your own podcast? Grab our Podcast Launch Strategy Guide here.⁠⁠⁠

--- Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/marketinghappyhour/support