Peacock Swipes Right on Ad Deal With Match Group (Exclusive)
One of the benefits of dating around? A free subscription to Peacock, thanks to an advertising deal between dating app behemoth Match Group and the NBCUniversal streaming service.
The two companies kicked off an ad campaign on Thursday that will offer a 3-month free Peacock subscription for users of Match Group’s catalog of apps, which include Tinder, Hinge, Match, OkCupid, BLK, Chispa and Plenty of Fish. The campaign is also expected to include editorial content and experiential events timed to tentpole programming on Peacock, such as the upcoming Women’s World Cup and Big Ten football games.
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The Match Group partnership is the latest in NBCUniversal’s efforts to give Peacock a more casual brand image in comparison to rivals like Paramount+ or Hulu. Recent partnerships have included the airline JetBlue and the language learning app Duolingo — the latter of which resulted in an April Fools’ Day trailer for a spoof reality dating show with contestants who don’t speak the same language.
Peacock and Match Group previously linked up for a Halloween-themed date night event for Tinder users and giveaways timed to the season two premiere of Bel-Air and the release of The Best Man: Final Chapters.
“A favorite TV show or movie is an important connecting passion point when it comes to singles uncovering a reason to bond,” Peter Foster, Match Group’s gm of global advertising and brand solutions, said. “We are the perfect platform for Peacock to reach their core consumers while they are in the discovery mindset.”
A boost in subscribers could also help NBCUniversal as it enters “peak expense mode” as part of its transition from linear to streaming, as Comcast CFO Jason Armstrong described it at an investor conference in February. At the end of the year, Peacock reached 20 million paid subscribers. Earlier this year, the streamer also ended its free tier and now requires all users to pay for a subscription, which starts at $4.99 a month for the ad-supported tier.
“Peacock and Match Group are birds of a feather, two fun and relevant brands that millions of people have come to rely upon whether to be entertained, informed or to find love,” Michael Srour, Peacock’s svp of partner marketing, said. “We hope to bring Match Group’s users together through engaging content using the rich characters and storylines of Peacock.”
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