- Global Hinge downloads more than tripled last quarter, helped by Democratic presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg's revelation that he met his husband on the dating app.
- "This has increased national attention on the brand and provided more buzz to the already strong growth we've seen," said Amanda Ginsberg, CEO of parent company Match Group.
- Match intends to build on the Hinge hype with a major marketing campaign centered on its tagline, "Designed to be Deleted."
- Watch Match Group trade live.
Democratic presidential hopeful Pete Buttigieg's personal success on Hinge helped to more than triple global downloads of the dating app last quarter.
Hinge, which pitches itself as a tool to find relationships instead of hook-ups, received a boost in press coverage "thanks to the presidential candidate, Mayor Pete Buttigieg, who met his husband on Hinge," Amanda Ginsberg, CEO of parent company Match Group, said on the earnings call this week. "This has increased national attention on the brand and provided more buzz to the already strong growth we've seen."
Buttigieg - currently mayor of South Bend, Indiana - found high-school teacher Chasten Glezman on Hinge and married him in June 2018. He explained how they met in a CNN interview at the end of March. The story sparked a 30% surge in the number of gay men on Hinge between the start of April and mid-May, while growth in other demographics was stable, Hinge told Fortune.
"We're proud of all of the relationships we've helped set up - including Mayor Pete and Chasten," Hinge founder and CEO Justin McLeod told the magazine. "We're happy to see that their love story has encouraged even more members of the LGBTQ community to find their person on Hinge."
Match hopes to build on the current Hinge hype with a "big marketing campaign" centered on the app's tagline, "Designed to be Deleted," Ginsberg said.
Combined with the cost of campaigns promoting Match and OKCupid, it expects marketing expenses to mushroom by more than 20% this quarter compared to last quarter, when it spent close to $95 million on sales and marketing. As a result, Match forecasts quarter-on-quarter revenue growth of about 7% to 9%, but expects profits to be flat at $200 million to $205 million.
