Plenty of Fish had a brand problem. Being one of the original dating sites in the early 2000s, there was a lot of baggage around the brand - both good and bad. Historically POF has engaged in limited brand advertising and as a result, perceptions of the brand have been shaped by user experience and word-of-mouth. Most of which seems to be negative, neutral or confused, especially amongst non-POF users.

To help shape perceptions and own a clear space in the dating app market, POF has defined a new, distinct target audience. It’s also developed a new positioning, brand look, tone and feel, tagline (‘how dating should be’), as well as a user experience that better delivers on its brand promise.

The challenge: shifting perceptions is hard, especially when you’re up against other household brands in the market with stronger, more positive ties to culture with more money to spend.

With over 60% of North American women having reported receiving a dick pic online, our goal was to point out this unwanted behavior and firmly position Plenty of Fish as a more welcoming place to date, aligning with the needs and dating experience of our target.

We created The Gallery of Dick Pics — a virtual exhibit full of wholesome guys named Richard (commonly referred to as ‘Dick’ in North America) on Plenty of Fish — as a way to turn dating’s ugliest behavior on its head and show that pics of guys named Dick are the only acceptable kind of dick pics.

Modern dating isn’t designed with Plenty of Fish’s target segment in mind. These daters want to find a partner but won’t go out of their way to do so. They’re not the type to send a DM online or post frequently about themselves. They’re just singles who lead a more laid-back lifestyle and aren’t super picky about their partner’s qualities - they just want a real, authentic person. So for people like them, the world of online dating can be intimidating.

With this target’s needs in mind, our strategy was simple: we needed to make online dating more welcoming for all. To do this, we decided to target the worst behaviors in online dating. From catfishing, ghosting, breadcrumbing, to benching there was no shortage of bad behavior online, but we started with the worst - sending unsolicited dick pics.

The campaign was centered around an immersive digital gallery that was inspired by modern art galleries in the real world. The photography of actual men named Richard, Ricky, Ricardo, Rico (a.k.a Dick), who are on Plenty of Fish, was captured in a sophisticated, elevated portrait style to provide a visual critique of the typical low-brow dick pic. The friendly and funny copy was written to bring the brand tone of voice to life, while providing an entertaining experience. This approach continued through our OOH, social, collateral and video assets.

- Highest number of app downloads ( +14%) from a brand campaign, especially with our female demographic which was our primary goal

- Lowest cost per registration (CPR) for any branded creative to date

- 96% positive PR sentiment during the period of the campaign

- 110x rise in engagement across all platforms

- 100% of the Dicks in the gallery got dates