Quick stats: Is love in the app?

Love is in the air but do Singaporean consumers really care about Valentine’s Day. According to a report by YouGov, in Singapore younger people appear to be somewhat less hostile to Valentine’s Day than older people, with those aged 18 to 24 most likely to say it is an occasion worth celebrating (30%). However, the overall picture is still one of heavy scepticism across the generations, with the majority still expressing the commercial pressure is the main reason they celebrate the occasion, found by a report by YouGov.

Meanwhile, according to Debert Ty, chief marketing officer of Coffee Meets Bagel (CMB) there is generally a spike in users downloading dating apps during this Valentine's Day. He added that there’s definitely a noticeable bump in new users during the start of the year leading up to Valentine’s Day. “We believe a part of it is with New Year’s resolutions where people recommit to finding a partner,” said Ty.  For CMB, it is seeing an average increase of 5% in new users growth week on week since the start of 2023 for the region.

In 2021, there was a 22% spike in new user signups on Valentine’s Day, compared to the previous week. “In addition to the increase in signups, users were 10% more likely to chat with a match, compared to the past 30 days,” CMB’s Ty tells MARKETING-INTERACTIVE . As for the brand awareness, CMB works with like minded players to tell compelling stories that engage users.

As for CMB’s competitor Bumble, according to Chadwick Kinlay, chief marketing officer, TrafficGuard, Bumble is one of the top 200 download apps in Singapore. It has also moved up in ranking in different markets' top downloaded apps during this period. Indonesia has moved up by 32 ranks in its top 150, Philippines has moved up by six ranks in one week in its top 100, Australia moved up 15 ranks in its top 150 and India moved up by 13 ranks in its top 150. According to data, while Tinder remains popular, it seems that the adoption of Bumble is preferred by users in Southeast Asia.

In Singapore, Tinder has dropped by one positiobn. While in Indonesia, the app has increased rank by 12 under top 150. In the Philippines's top 100 apps, Tinder has increased rank by 15. In Thailand's top 100, it ranked 78th (dropped in rank by two).  TrafficGuard also predicts that invalid traffic (IVT) will increase to an average of 25% for mobile install rates and also across paid media (PPC) channels.

Spike in searches and clicks on gifts 

Despite the news around economic uncertainty, this year sees renewed enthusiasm in Southeast Asia as consumers look forward to gifting their loved ones. This is evident by the surge in search from the last week of January that lasts until 14 February, Rohit Dosi, vice president and general manager, Microsoft Advertising, InMobi, said. “According to Microsoft’s internal data, the top categories of items for gifting last year saw a spike in searches as early as two weeks before the Lunar New Year.”

With all the excitement, apparently gifting is on everyone’s mind. Searches and clicks for gifts shot up by 38% and 58% respectively in the week leading to Valentine’s Day, compared to the week before that last year, Dosi shared. While the hunt for the best deal, searches and clicks has increased by 19% and 13% respectively for the shopping portals subcategory in the week before Valentine’s Day compared to the previous week, InMobi’s Dosi added. 

According to the data given by Dosi, men are also trying to look their best during this period. Searches and clicks for the shaving and grooming subcategory increased by 27% seeing the biggest peak for this category during the first quarter of the calendar year.  Dosi said, “Beyond doubt, this season is a time for brands to tap into these searches. Be it ramping up their keyword strategy to reach and engage high-intent audiences or leveraging innovative solutions, being present right when people look for what they’d like to gift their loved ones will surely help brands win hearts.”

Reasons why Valentine's Day is being celebrated 

A survey Bumble conducted found that for Singaporeans, cuffing season occurs around Chinese New Year to Valentine’s Day, owing to social pressures around being coupled up during this period. Singles may feel the urge to ‘cuff’ because of perceived timelines or societal and familial pressures but that doesn’t mean they need to settle for less, Lucille McCart, APAC communications director, Bumble, shares.  

Bumble's McCart said that shifting cultural norms around dating and gender roles is an enormous task, so a lot of Bumble's campaign strategies focus on normalising making connections online while also challenging some of the more traditional ideas around relationships and meeting people. "The goal being to drive brand awareness for Bumble through localised, culturally relevant and timely story telling. For instance, in Singapore, Bumble's latest campaign “Love Letters” challenges Singaporean singles to show love to the ultimate date - themselves."

To help challenge Singaporean singles to take charge of their dating journey and date on their own terms, Bumble released a new campaign for the season: Bumble Love Letters. The love letter is synonymous with both Chinese New Year festivities and Valentines’ Day. Much like the modern love letter, the love letter snack was originally used to relay messages of affection.

"Bumble Love Letters is our contemporary spin on this age-old practice, and we were able to distribute all of our available Love Letters to our local Bumble community as part of the campaign," McCart says.

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