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Grindr Launches Online Magazine Platform, Into
The goal is to shed their hook-up app reputation and forge a lifestyle brand.
In the wake of their 8th anniversary, Grindr has been doing some major image overhaul. Long considered "just a hook-up app" and quickly discarded as such whenever brought up in serious conversation, the company is making the jump from mere app to lifestyle brand. It's first big step? Launching its own online magazine: Into.
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"One thing we hear a lot from the younger generation is that they don't like the definition of a hookup app," said Grindr Creative Director Landis Smithers in an interview with Forbes. "For a long time we let people make their own assumptions regarding the app, but the truth of the matter is that our users use Grindr in so many different ways."
"Into focuses a lot on travel, since our users like to travel and go out," said Grindr CEO Joel Simkhai. "A lot of current offerings don't give you up to date info, and we have millions of Grindr users asking us to figure out what's going on around them. So Into will help you navigate while travelling, as we'll share info relating to nightlife, culture, and where to hang out."
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The pair told Forbes that the platform will focus on Grindr's main demographic (men 18-34) and will encompass the community with stories from gay immigrants and refugees and other serious topics. "A lot of what you see right now in terms of lifestyle content target at gay men is very much catered to the 35-year-old, well-off Manhattan gay," said Simkhai. "What we are looking for is to speak to users across this country and across the world who don't have that type of income, don't have to wear a suit to work, don't have a large travel budget, but are looking for things to do that are local to them." Read the full Forbes interview here, and find Into, which launched today, here.
