For one of many shortest months of the yr, February is among the busiest: the Tremendous Bowl, the Grammy Awards, NBA All-Star Weekend, Valentine’s Day and, in fact, Black Historical past Month, jockeying for the general public’s time and a focus.
Manufacturers and the media are sometimes so busy courting so many alternative factions directly that it’s simple for others to go unnoticed and uncared for—and in the end forgotten.
It’s a state of affairs that’s all too acquainted for ladies of colour year-round—particularly with regards to Black girls.
With that in thoughts, Bumble partnered with ethnographic advertising, communications and content material firm Worthi for #LoveLetterToBlackWomen, a heartwarming social marketing campaign that includes notable followers of well-known Black girls, together with members of the Bumble’s real-life consumer group.
Typically omitted of conventional love tales and romance-themed leisure—the place they’re sometimes relegated to the function of supportive facet characters or comedian aid—Black girls are sometimes denied the chance to have “principal character vitality” in their very own tales. So, the women-first relationship and social networking app took to creating content material to vary that narrative.
The marketing campaign was launched in February, however the model needs is seeking to have an effect far past any singular month as with earlier initiatives that assist marginalized customers.
“When Bumble was based in 2014, it was with equality in thoughts,” Christina Hardy, director of expertise and influencers at Bumble, instructed Adweek. “When our staff related with Worthi final yr, we created a plan to proceed our dedication of celebrating the Black group by elevating Black girls and hopefully producing a wave of constructive dialog to seize the love that we’ve got for these girls by tapping into not solely influencers and creators, however by way of actual Bumble Success Tales—those that met their companions on the app.”
The marketing campaign kicked off with a video written, produced and directed by musician and artistic director Jesse Boykins III and New Progress Inventive Actions that includes actor Keith Powers reciting a poem paying homage to Black girls.
“It’s unimaginable watching you do the stuff you do whereas the world takes a lot inspiration from you,” Powers emotes into the digital camera. “Please always remember how uniquely stunning you’re.”
Along with content material completely from Black creators, different movies shared via the social marketing campaign characteristic Cameron Hamilton, whose onscreen romance with now-wife Lauren Pace Hamilton made the fan-favorite couple breakout stars of Netflix’s Love Is Blind franchise, and Edwin Torres, whose associate, Dominique Jackson, made historical past as a part of the biggest transgender ensemble solid within the groundbreaking and critically acclaimed FX collection Pose.
Jackson shared Torres’ message with followers by way of her Instagram account:
“As soon as we landed on the idea, we sought to establish a variety of individuals of affect who publicly, deeply and absolutely had been loving on the Black girls of their lives,” stated Myles Worthington, Worthi’s founder and CEO. “Black girls have traditionally been chastised, dehumanized and fetishized within the media, and we wished to make sure we had been showcasing not simply males or girls from our personal group, however a variety of people that had a honest adoration, respect and love for the magnificence that’s Black girls.”
A historical past of loving marginalized communities
Certainly, the Bumble advertising staff has been busy bees with regards to distinguishing the corporate among the many more and more crowded discipline as “a relationship and social networking app based on the values of wholesome and equitable relationships via variety connections.”
Final yr, the model tapped multi-hyphenate artist Teyana Taylor to host Luv2SeeIt, a YouTube collection on the Bumble channel about Black love with visitors equivalent to Diddy, Niecy and Dia Nash, and Lori Harvey—in addition to Taylor’s NBA star and Dancing With the Stars disco ball trophy-winning husband, Iman Shumpert—discussing such various matters as relationship consolation zones, polyamory, intercourse and intimacy, and extra with Black Bumble daters becoming a member of in to share their views.
The favored collection—together with their U.Okay. podcast My Love Is… and former and persevering with financial assist of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ organizations, in addition to outreach although peer occasions like Bumble IRL, a marketing campaign bolstering the app’s security options and different initiatives—have singled out Bumble as a keeper for underrepresented communities.
Hardy instructed Adweek that all through the month of February, Bumble additionally partnered with the James Beard Basis to host mix-and-mingle occasions at Black women-owned and led eating places held in New York, Miami, Washington D.C., Dallas, San Francisco and Los Angeles.
“We’re additionally contributing a grant to assist Black Ladies’s Well being Crucial’s Honest Work Initiative,” Hardy added. “The globally going through initiative is a quantifiable answer and sustainable funding that progressive organizations can implement as a way to reap the advantages of a good office for all, led by Black girls.”
