Long Term Commitments E Harmony example essay topic

e Harmony. com is a subscription-based, relationship-building service that provides a unique solution for serious single men and women seeking fulfilling, long-term relationships. It is the only service, on- or offline, that utilizes empirical research, clinical study and a patent-pending predictive technology to effectively match singles. (web) The company's focus is matching people together who eventually want to be married or at least have a long-term, committed relationship. Their company's founder, Dr. Neil Clark Warren, is an older, distinguished gentleman, whose focus is to put people together, and keep them together. e Harmony's member count is at about five and a half million, with more than 9000 marriages that they can confirm. Their clients tend to be college-educated, many with some secondary education. From a psycho graphic standpoint these are people who are looking for a long-term relationship; to find the love of their lives; and somebody with whom they can get married. It caters to people who want to be matched on deep dimensions of compatibility.

As a result of more than 35 years of experience in counseling married couples, Dr. Neil Clark Warren determined that there were 29 key drivers or dimensions of long-term relationship-success like character, values, intellect, and emotional make-up. The company has designed a compatibility quiz to determine these areas and match people accordingly. The '29 Dimensions of Compatibility,' are lumped into four major categories -- Character & Constitution; Personality; Emotional Makeup & Skills; and Family & Values. The company has even patented the concept, known as the Compatibility Matching System TM. (web) Their spokesman is Dr. Warren himself, and he appears in all of their TV spots, is the voice in their radio ads, and appears in print advertisements as well. He is the unifying message for the company. It is his model, and he explains it well.

He keeps the terms simple and straightforward - targeting those single adults who are looking for committed relationships. In the TV ads, Dr. Warren speaks first and tells a bit about the service e Harmony offers. The shot then breaks to focus on actual couples who have had success using e Harmony. The radio ads feature Dr. Warren's voice, and go along the same lines as the TV ads - it is his calm and mature voice, extolling the virtues of his company and how the compatibility test will help you find your soul-mate. The print ads, running in USAToday are prominent quarter-page ads featuring e Harmony's simple message - if you " re looking for deep, long-lasting, committed love, this is the place for you.

The company wants those adults to know that they are being matched based on deep, emotional levels, rather than just matching 'pretty' people together. The message is clear that if you " re just looking for a few fun dates, this is not the site for you. If, however, you want to get married and settle down, e Harmony has the tools you need. The TV ads touts couples who are either engaged or married, and allows them to tell their story. These true-to-life examples are a clear message to prospective clients that e Harmony is for real.

Another one of the reasons their advertising works so well is that Dr. Warren embodies all the brand attributes. He seems to truly care about his clients - he does all the talking, and people believe him and trust him. He has credibility with over 35 years of research and understandably, people believe what he says. Although e Harmony was started in 1998, we are just now seeing large market coverage for this company. e Harmony is in the Growth stage of the Life Cycle, and their pricing structure is as follows: 12 Month Membership Plan $249.95, 6 Month Membership Plan $159.95, 3 Month Membership Plan $99.95, 1 Month Membership Plan $49.95. There are other dating services available, but none so focused on marriage and commitment as e Harmony, they essentially have the monopoly in this area. They will be able to continue to charge these prices for quite a while, until another company can compete at their level.

At this point, no other company is even attempting to do so. Until then, e Harmony can either keep prices the same, or possibly even increase them. With over 6 million members and currently averaging more than 10,000 new users a day (web), raising prices doesn't seem like the course of action they would take. According to independent measurement firm com Score Networks, e Harmony held the largest market share among the top online dating providers. In January and February 2005, e Harmony led the industry with the largest market share of any company in the online dating category. (web) The competitive situation is clear - no one can match e Harmony. Other online dating services are not focused towards long-term commitments. e Harmony has the monopoly or at least monopolistic competition at this point.

Although there are a variety of products in this arena, e Harmony stands out from the crowd by focusing on more mature adults. Their placement is nation-wide - perhaps even world-wide. Distribution is not an issue, as their product is marketed, sold, and delivered online. The promotion of the brand is clear - they are building a selective demand among single adults - their service offers what those consumers want. And price being the last indicator of the life cycle - e Harmony is charging more than their competitors ($24.95 per month and $99.95 per year for match. com) - but they can. Their product offers more than match. com's. (web) Clearly, this puts e Harmony in the Introduction to Growth phase of the Life Cycle.

Bibliography

web Net Plus Marketing, Inc. web search. html Search for Tomorrow, The next generation of online ads promises the most targeted and trackable messages ever. Meet the future of advertising. From: Issue 85 | August 2004, Page 69 By: Alison Over holt web Dating Campaigns Take It Personally.
Thursday, February 12, 2004.