Hi Angie. Thanks for taking the time to chat to MediaCat Magazine. Can you give us the elevator pitch for HER? What makes your dating app stand out?
HER is the world’s first global LGBTQ+ platform, with the largest population of queer women in the world. HER is a dating and social community app and content platform that also runs global events on and offline.
You’ve had a long career developing advertising revenue for brands. What excites you about working with HER and what are the possibilities?
There are three things that excite me about working with HER and the collaborative opportunities with brands. The first is that HER is seeing users spend up to 25 minutes in-app, which means brands have a well-engaged platform to tell their story, connect with their audiences and start building a reputation for brand equity.
I’m also excited to see how Gen Z is powering the global queer market like no generation before; over 41% said they identify as neutral on the spectrum of masculinity and femininity. This is a key audience for brands and HER is a great start to authentically connect with this audience and be part of the conversation.
Finally, HER has a global LGBTQ+ engaged audience and unrivalled targeting potential. With GDPR, cookie-less future planning, brands need look no further to reach this diverse audience. Many have already reached out to understand how to curate their brand messaging and bring purpose driven messaging to HER’s user base — its a great place to start a new role!
HER is all about creating meaningful connections for queer women. How did this come about?
HER was founded in 2013 by Robyn in London. She was working at a branding agency, helping them develop new dating concepts, while at the same time using a terrible app for lesbian and bisexual dating. Understanding how much dating was growing as an industry and how crazy it was that no one had built an app for women, she quit her job and started to make an app.
The first app Robyn made and released was Dattch. An app that looked and functioned similarly to Grindr. But it turned out, an app that was built for men and worked exceptionally well for men, was not one that was going to work well for women.
So from all the learnings of Dattch, HER was created.
How important has HER been for this community around the world? How have advances in technology helped create real connections between queer women?
HER’s mission is to connect every queer woman, non-binary, trans and GNC person on the planet and that is only possible through leveraging technology and insight. With every connection HER makes with a queer person, something powerful begins. A relationship, a connection, a support system and another person you know that is like you. HER is making a difference, and we read hundreds of messages each week about people’s friendships or relationships being built.
Your new role is Head of Global Advertising and Partnerships — what opportunities do you feel there are for brands in queer spaces right now? How can they add value to the culture in a meaningful way?
According to a Google survey, over 45% of people 18-34 say they’re more likely to do repeat business with an LGBTQ+ friendly company, so I believe brands can add value in queer spaces. The most crucial insight is that people are aware of brands’ ‘rainbow washing’, so long-term partnerships that offer custom content, entertainment, product and conversation will naturally win over the audience when it comes to being authentic and adding value.
In 2022 diversity and inclusion remains a hot topic, both in terms of how the queer community is seen by wider culture, and within the queer community itself. What role do you think brands can play in connecting queer culture to the mainstream?
Brands are getting better at promoting age, cultural and gender diversity in advertising & marketing, but there is still a distinct lack of representation for the LGBTQ+ community. It’s so important for brands to represent all identities authentically, especially when portrayed across global advertising campaigns. I think its essential to include the extensive queer community and showcase real people, real stories and real insights.
As part of your new role, are there any unexpected or leftfield brands with whom you’d love to collaborate? And why those?
Category-wise, gaming, car brands and sport — mainly because these categories typically need to work harder at connecting with more diverse audiences. I’d love to see how they could add value to HER’s platform, events or content.
What excites you most about the future of HER?
HER is positive, safe space for queer people that is only just getting started with global growth so its an exciting time to join and I’m thrilled to be part of the expanse of such a caring and inclusive company.
Featured image: HER dating app