DOWN · B2C · casual dating app
Give the app a shocking name people can't help repeating
People lit up and wanted to try it; widely covered in the news (no numbers)
Workedpositioning-nicheword-of-mouthpr-launch
What they did
Launched the casual dating app in 2013 as 'Bang With Friends', a deliberately provocative name that evoked strong emotion. When told the name, people reacted 'That's hilarious, really? I want to try it.' Colin frames it as one way to be 'outrageous' to get noticed; not every name needs to be provocative. The app was later renamed DOWN.
What happened
Immediate strong reactions and curiosity; host recalls the app being everywhere in the news in 2013-14
- Stage
- launch
Related topics
Get tactics like this every Monday
New tactics from the week's founder interviews, each linked to where it was said.
More from this episode
- DOWN: Test app icons in a color no competitor uses, with playful charactersCurrent winner after hundreds of icon tests; no lift numbers given
- DOWN: Test screenshot colors separately from the icon and use blunt, emotional captionsDeep red screenshots currently win, despite a purple icon
- DOWN: Add three onboarding questions that show what makes the app differentDay-3 retention +18%, matches +18%, paid conversion +26% with no paywall change
- DOWN: Tell new users most people like them add at least three photos
- DOWN: Treat the App Store page as the main storefront and optimize it constantly80-90% of organic downloads from store search; 300K+ downloads a month
- DOWN: Photo-verify every user and skip stock or AI photos in store imagesNo result reported
- Give new viewers a free gift to send the streamer, so they feel part of the showRetention doubled and free-to-paid conversion up 50% in the experiment
- Clubhouse: Launch invite-only with celebrity users and just two invites per personWent viral during COVID, then collapsed