OK RSL, here are the fruits of your consultation!
Our first impressions on looking at your website were that you have a great domain name, and an interesting proposition for the target audience (as you say on your website, its a more relaxed way of meeting people than the one-on-one experience, but it also appeals because your chances of striking lucky are six times greater at a dinner party for 12 than they are if its dinner for two).
Having said that, we see a number of challenges that need to be overcome.
Firstly, you describe the service as unique on your website, without explaining what makes it unique. Without too much trouble, we found another company that seems to offer a very similar service as yours:
http://www.dinnerdates.com. And to be honest, dinnerdates has a more polished website (albeit with a slightly less personal and more corporate feel).
The other challenges that need to be overcome are those which would affect any dating service. The very act of going on a blind date says something very personal about oneself: Im single, which in turn beggars the question Why?. Of course, as the demands of peoples working lives have increased and they marry later, so this question has become less important, and the likely answers more acceptable. Nevertheless, some element of stigma persists.
Then there are the fears that a) Ill end up going on a date with someone I dont find remotely attractive, b) worse still, I wont even like them, c) worse still, theyll turn out to be an axe murderer on day-release from Broadmoor. These fears are reduced, but not eliminated by going on a blind date dinner, as opposed to a one-on-one date.
Bearing all this in mind, our overall recommendation is that you should concentrate your marketing efforts on public relations (both on and offline), in particular in securing word of mouth recommendation (which is key to allaying residual fears that people may have about using a dating service).
Two possibilities here. You say in your brief that you are about to issue a release. From the information youve supplied, we dont think that a press release that announced your service would, on its own, have much take up from journalists. We dont see a strong enough unique, new, or different hook for the story.
Our first recommendation, therefore, is to introduce a new element to your website that gives it a unique selling point, a hook for media coverage, and a viral mechanism for online word of mouth recommendation. The working title for this project is Chain Dating.
The rationale for the project is that lots of people organise blind date evenings themselves - from setting up a couple of friends for dinner, to organising blind date evenings for 20-40 people. But anything beyond setting up a couple of friends requires a great deal of organisation and planning.
The principle of Chain Dating is very simple. You offer a unique mechanism through which anyone can organise their own blind date event on your website. The system works as follows. Im a single bloke called John. I visit whosfordinner. I select a date and venue. I enter my e-mail address and the e-mail address of one single person I know, of the opposite sex. Shes called Lizzy. Lizzy automatically receives an e-mail inviting her to join me for dinner. If she declines, I am notified and begin the process again. If she accepts, she must invite a single man that I dont know (not because I want to meet the man, but because they in turn will invite a single girl I dont know). Lizzy enters her e-mail address, and the e-mail address of that man, who is called Simon. Simon now automatically gets an e-mail inviting him to join Lizzy and, say, 11 other unknown single people for dinner. But he must now invite someone of the opposite sex that is not known to Lizzy. Shes called Mary, and because shes a friend of a friend of a friend, its very unlikely I, John, will have met her before. The process continues till the party is full, and with each step, it becomes even more unlikely that I will know the invitee.
So, net result: a dinner party where somehow, everyone shares a connection, but each person will likely only know two other people in the room (the person that invited them, and the person they invited). A great ice breaker there whilst everyone figures out how theyre all connected. Theres the added comfort factor in knowing that youll know and like at least two people at the dinner party, and that your friends are there in case someone did turn out to be an axe murderer. Still no guarantee that youll find one of the guests attractive, but theres no way round that.
And what have I had to do to arrange this intriguing dinner party at which I am going to meet the single girl of my dreams? Just enter my e-mail address, and that of one girl I know and like. Thats it.
This is a novel process that we are confident would generate considerable media coverage (would pique the journalists interest to try it out and see what interesting people they met). It gives you a unique selling point. Each time someone invites a guest, they are in effect recommending your service (each guest has to return to your website in order to accept/decline and invite another).
Furthermore, it could be developed to take the whole whosfordinner concept well beyond the dating game. Indeed, it could serve as the platform for creating a dinner party for 12 people with any common interest (i.e. instead of saying that each guest must invite an unattached member of the opposite sex, they are told to invite a member of the opposite sex that is interested in, say, playing backgammon).
As regards the cost of this project, the basic database function that it needs to operate is very simple, and we think it could be done for less than £1000. You then write the launch up as a press release, and distribute to all lifestyle magazine publications, on and offline.
Thats an example of developing another angle to your business with the objective of giving it a strong news hook, and the basis for a viral marketing campaign.
It may be that you dont want to take that much of a leap. So our second, alternative recommendation is that you carry out a survey of your customers to find out which is the most successful way of getting a girlfriend/boyfriend/husband/wife.
At the time of booking, you ask them to estimate the number of single people they have met in the last year through: a) introduction by a friend or family member, b) through work, c) through blind dates, d) as a result of self-introduction (say, at a party). Then ask how many of those introductions have led to a relationship (you wouldnt have thought more than one or two in that time frame, but who knows in this day and age!).
Then, 3 weeks after the dinner event, you contact the guests with a customer satisfaction survey. Amongst other things, this asks whether the guest has formed a relationship with any of the other dinner guests. It also asks for testimonials.
You would expect to find a higher rate of conversions from introduction to relationship via blind dates than other ways of being introduced. The interesting thing would be to quantify that effect. Headline: Blind Love. Story: A survey released today has found that when it comes to the search for love, youre XX% more likely to meet a compatible partner during a blind date than through an introduction from a friend. Then you can talk about the number of people that everyone meets during the course of their single life, how they meet, and why blind dating is so much more effective than hoping youll meet someone down at the pub (primarily because love is a numbers game). All this gives you the hook to integrate messages that help to increase peoples confidence in blind dating and your service (which offers better odds than one-on-one blind dating).
The costs of surveying your guests would be very low, and wed recommend that available budget be spent on having a psychologist oversee the questions being asked, and lending credibility to the results.
On a closing note, weve already said that we think your site needs a bit of polishing here and there. This, of course, is quite a subjective opinion. But for what its worth, the key areas we thought could be improved on are: Explanation of cost. We couldnt find even a ballpark figure for what the evening would cost us, beyond the £6 booking fee. You state that the bill would be split, but what we want to know is what the likely cost for dinner will be. Formatting: for our taste, the text is too small. Copy: Needs to be tightened up. Some sentences are too long.
Wed recommend that this work is carried out prior to further marketing projects.
