Match.com supports dating through digital

Sarah Drew, UK senior manager at Match.com, said the web was "extremely
important" to the business, which invested heavily in search and online
media during 2005 and 2006.

While Drew wouldn't comment specifically on campaign spend, she said it
matched the offline activity, and the two components aimed to mirror
each other in creative look and feel.

"It's in excess of £1 million for next year in online media. It
is to go hand-in-hand with our off-line media and is a substantial
spend," she said.

Drew said the integration of online and offline marketing would be a
key strategy for the brand in 2007. "It's very important to us. It's
not a case of whether we think online is going to be the winner or
whether offline will win.

"They need to work hand-in-hand and that's why everything we do offline
will be mirrored online, but in a much more interactive way."

She added: "The key strategy for 2007 is to have creative that is very
interactive and engages the customer, but is also clever and funny as
we want the online media to reflect the brand."

Match.com hopes the push will help to drive growth and awareness for
its brand and the online dating sector as a whole.

"There are multiple layers to what we are trying to achieve with this
campaign, but, ultimately, it is brand awareness - we want to put
Match.com at the forefront of people's minds when they think about
dating."

Drew also hopes the campaign will help cement online dating as an
acceptable way to meet a potential partner. She said one in three
internet users have visited online dating services, according to
figures from Nielsen//NetRatings.