BLK Drops HBCU Stickers to Help Singles Connect for Homecoming

BLK is encouraging its users to show their school pride in time for homecoming—and possibly snag a date while they do. The dating app created for Black singles—whose past campaigns have focused on vaccination and voting—recently launched a new feature called Homecoming Mode, intended to allow its users from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) to connect with fellow alumni and plan meetups ahead of their schools' annual homecoming celebrations. As the company states: “Homecoming at HBCUs is an annual highlight for the campus and the community to celebrate Black joy and culture. A highly anticipated event, homecoming allows HBCUs to connect with their communities and to forge relationships between different generations of students and alumni. HBCU homecomings also provide space and time to connect or reconnect with friends, the community and, more broadly, Black culture.” Through the feature, users can add an HBCU sticker to their profile, which enables them to show their school pride and connect with other users who attended their alma mater. The eye-catching stickers, designed by Los Angeles-based artist Sabine of Dame Design, include colors, catchphrases and slogans from the schools, but are unique to the app and avoid trademark infringement. Jonathan Kirkland, head of brand and marketing for BLK, told Adweek the design representation for each school is based on “if you know, you know” imagery, with the company initially starting off with 15 schools chosen based on a crowdsourced ranking of best HBCU homecomings. Kirkland also said as the company continues to build out the feature, it's aiming to have all 107 HBCUs included by the end of 2023. BLK hopes by then to have the feature fully integrated into the app beyond homecoming-specific timeframes—which could potentially extend the usefulness of the app long after users find romantic matches. Juvenile, Mannie Fresh, Mia X and BLK Dating App Urge Singles to 'Vax That Thang Up' Who's got school spirit? To date, Kirkland said the most used stickers have been for Florida A&M University, North Carolina A&T—where BLK will have ambassadors during homecoming—and Howard University. Prior to launching the feature, BLK has been engaging with HBCUs on initiatives including hosting a “Stay Home”-coming virtual DJ battle hosted by The Breakfast Club radio show host DJ Envy in 2020, working with the North Carolina Black Alliance to support a 10-school HBCU Voting Tour throughout the state to encourage early voting, and sponsoring the 2022 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Basketball Tournament. The company is in talks to expand that partnership to include the Cricket Celebration Bowl (the post-season college football game against the Southwestern Athletic Conference) and potential scholarship opportunities for students attending MEAC institutions. “Last year we partnered with an HBCU alumni designer and owner of the #HBCUGrad clothing line to produce a limited-edition line of HBCU-themed sweatshirts,” Kirkland said. “We promoted him and his business across our social channels to our massive audience to help him get exposure.” In addition to in-app pop-up interstitials, BLK has been promoting the feature via its social channels and push notifications to existing users.

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Heading to Homecoming? BLK Launches Profile Stickers to Connect Single HBCU Alumni

The dating app is encouraging school pride

Leslie Blount

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Leslie Blount