Match.com, an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp (NASDAQ: IACI), announced today the launch of the All- New Match.com which includes a new look and feel, new content and a new advertising campaign designed to showcase members' individuality with the tagline, "It's Okay to Look."
"The category as a whole has been missing real guidance about how to feel good about going online and be proud of the quirks that make you beautiful," said Jim Safka, CEO of Match.com. "Romance and love are very personal, and yet many people create their profiles in minutes, using photos with bad lighting or not filling out any information about who they truly are as a person."
In a recent survey of Match.com members, 71% said their biggest fear when it comes to dating is rejection, yet 72% of the same members surveyed never had someone to review or help with their profile.
To launch the All-New Match.com, the Company has teamed up with Jay Manuel from America's Next Top Model and Style Her Famous to create the Match.com Portrait Toolkitâ„¢. As Match.com's Director of Style, Manuel gives members the attitude and advice they need to style their photo, wardrobe, hair and make-up and how to take fantastic photos that capture their unique attributes.
"We all know that the more confident you feel, the more confident you will act, and confidence is sexy," said Jay Manuel. "My goal with the Match.com Portrait Toolkitâ„¢ is to make people recognize how truly special they are, while learning to present themselves in a way that makes them feel excited and self-assured about putting themselves out there."
In addition to the Match.com Portrait Toolkitâ„¢, Match.com is launching the advertising campaign "It's Okay to Look," by world-renowned photographer Peggy Sirota, which features 26 real Match.com members from all over the country. The members featured in the campaign were chosen based on their varied ages, geography and lifestyles to represent the Match.com community.
"It felt like being a star in the spotlight, and I was not the least bit nervous," said 71-year-old Match.com member and "It's Okay to Look" star Kirsten Philipedes. "I felt that I probably was the best looking I have ever been in my life, being made up and fussed over for hours in that fabulous gown!"
The campaign will include television, radio and print, and the newfound "stars" of Match.com have the opportunity to chronicle their life-changing experiences through personal blogs, which will be accessible at Match.com.
Safka believes the campaign will resonate because it is a candid look at the people who make up the Match.com community along with their personal experiences with the site. To take a peek at the Portrait Toolkit or the All- New Match.com, visit http://www.match.com/ .
About Match.com
Match.com pioneered online personals when it launched on the Web in 1995 and continues to lead this exciting and evolving category after more than a decade. Throughout its 11-year history, Match.com has redefined the way people meet and fall in love and is credited with more marriages than any other site. Today, more than 15 million people around the world participate in the Match.com community, providing a rich tapestry of ethnicities, interests, goals, ambitions, quirks, looks and personalities from which to choose.
Match.com is the world's biggest online dating and personals property, according to the November 2005 global ranking of the Personals category by industry-leading independent measurement firm comScore Media Metrix. Number one across North America and Europe, Match.com operates leading subscription- based online dating sites in 31 countries, in 18 languages and spanning six continents. Match.com also powers online dating on MSN across Europe, Asia, the United States and Latin America and is the premier provider of personals for Love@AOL. Match.com is an operating business of IAC/InterActiveCorp.
SOURCE: Match.com
CONTACT: Liz Entwistle Edelbrock of Match.com, +1-214-576-9321, or
Liz.edelbrock@match.com
Web site: http://www.match.com/