Social Rocket
Hinge has developed its own media format out of a dating campaign: since August 10 2026, users can listen to five true love stories for free as an audiobook – via Spotify, Libby and Substack, among others. Instead of producing yet another ad for the dating app, the company is investing in stories that people want to seek out, share and discuss of their own accord.
From printed booklet to audiobook
No Ordinary Love began 2024 as a printed collection of stories. 2025 a new edition followed, with book and Substack releases. In the third edition of 2026, Hinge and Dazed Studio turn it into audio: authors Tembe Denton-Hurst, Nicola Dinan, Curtis Garner, Raven Smith and Rufi Thorpe each wrote the story of a real couple and narrated it themselves. It is about difficult conversations at the start of a relationship – the very core of what the app wants to convey.
The format works on several levels. The audio stories are standalone content; creators and podcasters pick up their themes; and advertising space in New York and London gives the series additional visibility. Hinge is thus not merely using the BookTok trend, which also shapes the European book trade, but adopting a familiar narrative form for its own brand message.
Smirnoff shows the other side: content to take part in
At the Advertising Week marketing congress in New York in early October, Hinge, Smirnoff and Dazed Studio discussed their campaigns. Marketing Dive reported on it on 12 October. The contrast is revealing: while Hinge develops a long-form format, Smirnoff relies on short, humorous content in the Go Off series with musician Troye Sivan.
The official partnership with Sivan has been running since 2024. Alongside professionally produced scenes, one result was an out-of-office message recorded by Sivan on his smartphone, which fans could use themselves. Here the creative idea is not just the video but a small piece of content the community can take into its everyday life. Other long-term music and creator partnerships [](https://srocket.de/blog/charli-xcx-absolut-zwei-jahre-creator-marketing-fan-events-2026/) also rely more on ongoing releases than on a one-off celebrity appearance.
The real difference lies in distribution
Hinge does not have to reach its audience exclusively within its own app: the audiobook appears on platforms where people already consume audio content. Smirnoff moves the brand idea into a shareable fan format. Both examples show how brands move from the question "Which ad do we post?" to "What could people use themselves?"
For a German marketing team, this means: first choose a topic the brand genuinely has a right to. Then build a fitting format – such as an audio series, a newsletter, a creator format or an interactive template. Finally, plan distribution: who carries the story further, which rights are needed, and which path leads back to your own offer?
Don't just count views
For campaigns like these, video views are a start. More meaningful are completed listening episodes, returning listeners, shared content, qualified website visits and the development of brand awareness. Whether such metrics are actually collected should be settled before launch. For alcohol brands in Germany, consistent age and target-audience checks are an additional requirement.
For planning, the same logic therefore applies as for measuring creator events and community loyalty: attention is the first contact. The value of an owned brand format emerges when people come back of their own accord.