How we created a viral social show by letting strangers kiss on stage

Beneath all the marketing know-how and sarcasm YAP provides you daily, there are teams of people managing several projects under The Attention Seeker (TAS) brand, including The Dating Void (TDV), our social media and live audience-based dating show.

And driving our TAS brands is Laura Oliveira, our Brand and Marketing Manager, who joined us when TDV was an idea our boss Stanley chucked at her. The goal was to produce a higher-production show that not only built partnerships with other brands, but also elevated TAS’ portfolio for future clients.

Now, a bit over a year later and after accruing millions of views and tens of thousands of followers, she calls the show her “baby”. I sat down with Laura and asked how she helped TDV become what it is today, and how blindfolded 20-somethings kissing turned into real-world business results.

So Laura, looking back to this time last year, how were you involved in the beginning of The Dating Void?

TDV was a brief that was handed to me on my third or fourth week working here. So I'd say it’s been something I've grown from the ground up. 

Because the whole purpose of creating this show was for content, how did that shape how you ran the events?

Our intention was always to get this show to go viral, so we asked “How can get the framing to stop people from scrolling? How can we get the first line people are saying to be something that hooks you in?” Because that was always the intention with the content, it then naturally translated onto the stage. And of course, when you watch the show, there's lulls and stuff that gets cut out when we're editing. But overall, I think because that is the goal with the output, it ends up being that way in real life as well.

You were eventually able to get quite a few brand partnerships on board. How did you find brands keen on a concept like TDV?

So we first had to think about who was going to come to the event and who was gonna watch the content. This was primarily people in their 20s, young, single and looking to have a little bit of fun. Then we looked for brands that we had an aligned target audience, and brands that were a little bit unconventional with their marketing, like not so square or clean, because obviously lots of crazy stuff happens at TDV. Then it was just a matter of outreach, like I just reached out to as many as I possibly could.

What were your learnings around finding those partnerships?

I learned that they didn't really care so much about the content. Our main focus was the content and going viral. But the brands I was working with at the event really cared about the real life marketing, the activation and opportunity to really get the product in the hands of their target audience. And the more we grew, the more brands wanted to get involved, and people would recommend it to their friends and so it spread word of mouth. That's how we were able to land our biggest partnerships. One of their brand managers came along to the show and thought it was a great opportunity to get their product in their target audiences’ hands!

What kind of results have you seen in running a live show like this, not just for the Dating Void brand, but for The Attention Seeker?

It's been a great brand building piece for the agency because it's something we can now show clients that we can do. It proves that we're versatile, you know. Like we not only grew our own brand, but we also started the side show. And we're able to build a social show that's a little bit higher production than your typical short form video content. I definitely think it's brought value in that way.

What are some big lessons you've learned about how to grow a brand from scratch on social media?

I've learned that no one really knows what they're doing. Of course we have so much expertise and we have so much experience here at the agency, but we can never guarantee that something's gonna work. It's really about trying and iterating, tweaking and throwing sh*t at the wall. That’s what I tell anyone trying to build a brand on social or personal brand: just do volume until you find what works. When The Dating Void was just starting out, we were posting every single day. We have scaled back now, but at the beginning we were constantly testing to see what would land, if it was the host saying this or the girl speaking first, you know?

And that's a lesson for everyone who's trying to grow on socials. Just give it a go. If it's wrong, you'll figure it out , and then you'll pivot and find a way that works for you. Even if it seems out of your reach, give it a crack, because you never know until you try.

-Devin Pike, Copywriter