Tinder CEO departs, new CMO is named in executive shakeup

Tinder CEO Renate Nyborg is stepping down after nearly two years on the job, according to the dating company’s second-quarter earnings letter to shareholders. Match Group CEO Bernard Kim will fill the role in the interim. “While we search for a permanent Tinder CEO, I will oversee a newly formed team of executives who will manage day-to-day operations and will ensure the Tinder organization is well coordinated, ships great new features at increased velocity and delivers on Tinder’s promise,” Kim said in the report. Subscribe to Ad Age Sign up now for the latest industry news and analysis Click here Part of the shakeup includes Melissa Hobley being named the brand’s new chief marketing officer. Hobley takes over for George Felix, the former CMO who left the company last month to become the CMO of Chili’s Grill & Bar. Hobley previously served as the global CMO of fellow Match Group brand OkCupid for over five years. Other executives joining Tinder’s ranks include former Match Group chief strategy officer Faye Iosotaluno, joining as Tinder’s COO; and Mark van Ryswyk, formerly an executive VP at Glu Mobile, being named Tinder’s chief product officer. Amarnath Thombre, CEO of Match Group Americas, will also advise the new leadership as Tinder continues to develop its product. Tinder will look to “better serve” female users, Kim wrote of the company's business strategy moving forward. “To that end, we’ll be rolling out a new subscription package based on curated recommendations that we believe will appeal particularly to women,” Kim said in the letter. “We also plan to introduce several features to get users’ friends more involved, such as a new patented Swipe Party feature, increasing the utility of Tinder and expanding its TAM (Total Addressable Market). Additionally, we intend to introduce a shorter-term subscription package which we think will appeal to newer Tinder users and drive incremental revenue." Kim also mentioned the dating app will be taking a “step back” from Tinder Coins, which is a digital currency used for in-app purchases. The company will “re-examine” the offering to “more effectively contribute to Tinder’s revenue.” Kim continued, mentioning a focus on virtual goods moving forward. “We also intend to do more thinking about virtual goods to ensure that they can be a real driver for Tinder’s next leg of growth and help us unlock the untapped power users on the platform,” Kim said. “I’m confident that in the second half of 2022 the re-prioritization of the product roadmap, the new team and the gaming experience Mark and I bring will enable Tinder to make meaningful product progress and position it to achieve growth rates in 2023 and beyond that are more consistent with our aspirations.” This is the latest change for Tinder, which named Mischief @ No Fixed Address as its creative agency of record in December. The brand also tapped VaynerMedia as its media AOR earlier this year.

Tinder CEO departs, new CMO is named in executive shakeup

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