大象传媒

Can you tell us what MatchSwipe is?

MatchSwipe is a play-along version of the dating app that the residents of Shieldinch use in 大象传媒 Scotland soap-opera, River City, to assist with their love-lives. It allows you to put in your preferences and answer personality questions to build up a profile which helps MatchSwipe pick potential dates from a list of the show's characters.

Once you're set up you can select a character from the programme and read their profile, then choose to dump, favourite or date them. If you choose 'date', the character gets a request and replies with a response (positive or negative) based on their level of compatibility. You can then share your result via Facebook or Twitter, or try your luck with a different character.

How did this project come about?

MatchSwipe is a re-skin of 'Versailles Historical Hook-ups', which was an earlier iteration of a dating app experience that featured on 大象传媒 Taster. What's exciting about this version is that the "app" is featuring in an episode of the television programme and will form part of an on-going storyline, so this digital experience has a really strong and continuing tie-in with the programme.

Were there any challenges with this re-worked version of the pilot?

The biggest challenge was convincing members of the cast to pose for their dating profile pictures - but they came up with some crackers in the end!

What are you hoping to discover from the project?

We're looking to explore whether our audiences will enjoy engaging with our television characters on different platforms, as well as seeing if they are keen to share quick, fun experiences that are based in the story-world.