Launched in 2001 by Marc Simoncini, the company became the leading French and European dating site. The concept is simple and very effective: allow singles to meet and discuss online first in order to forge new friendships which sometimes can turn into love.
Although the concept is simple and daring, opportunities given by Meetic are broaden and so based primarily on information collected in the profiles created by users. Criteria referred are numerous, often traditional (age, height, professional status, place of residence), sometimes very personal (ethnic, religion, marital status or political preference) and occasionally crazy (eating habits ect ...)
However, to do all this research and especially to make contact with pre-qualified for the "great love", the user must have a subscription and then pay! This aspect is very important because the Meetic model is based on these subscriptions, which represent 96% of the company's revenues.
Thus, the
attractiveness and credibility of the site is based on the quality and the amount
of information collected on each user in order to facilitate the relationship
between them.
Therefore, the
first challenge of Meetic was to show to potential users the reliability, safety
and effectiveness of the services offered. That’s why Meetic has spent each
year half of its turnover on advertising to increase its visibility and
reputation. At present, the brand knows 86% of spontaneous notoriety in France
which is the key of Meetic succes. This revolutionary business model has
enabled Meetic to stand out from many other online dating sites and become the main
player in this field in France and Europe.