Inside Feeld’s Creative Vision: How In-House Collaboration Fuels Innovation
Feeld, a platform built for a new world of dating, operates on a bold vision of intimacy and connection.
To bring this vision to life, the company has developed a distinct agency model with creative prowess available in-house while also working with external creative partners to blend creativity with community-driven insights.
Andrew Peet, VP of creative, and Caolan Howe, growth marketing lead, discuss the inception of Feeld’s in-house team with LBB’s Olivia Atkins, including how they collaborate with external partners, and the pivotal role their diverse global community plays in shaping their campaigns.
From remote shoots to the recent ‘First Timers’ series, Andrew and Caolan explore how Feeld’s innovative approach keeps their storytelling authentic and impactful.
LBB> What led to the establishment of Feeld’s in-house agency?
Andrew Peet> Feeld is a unique platform and organisation, so we’ve had to think of unique ways to collaborate across our teams. We always say that ‘Feeld is built for a new world’, as it represents the evolution of dating. And we’re very aware that when building a platform with a vision of the world that’s still coming together, but not yet completely realised, you have to do things quite differently.
Feeld’s bold vision for imagining a more intimately connected world has meant that our community is unlike any other – they’re curious, open and have a desire to explore. So, we took inspiration from these qualities and decided to put our Feeld members first, prioritising them across all of our creative, marketing, product, and so on.
LBB> You take care of the creative in-house but how do you partner with external content creators?
Andrew> We work with various external partners because they can provide us with a fresh perspective. We’ve worked with both bigger and smaller agencies – most recently, partnering with Mojo Super Market to launch our Celibate Desire tag. And of course, we also bring freelancers in to support us on various projects, especially for one-off assignments where we need extra hands. But we’re conscious that we know our community better than anyone else, so we always balance any external partnerships with real involvement from our internal creative and marketing teams.
LBB> Does Feeld have an internal production studio? If so, how does it work and what capabilities are available?
Andrew> To further support Feeld’s progressive outlook, we have always operated remotely since launching in 2014. We encourage everyone on the team to design their own working hours to complete their individual tasks. We now have teams across nine different time zones with the entire company communicating over Slack – while Feeld’s creative and marketing teams use different creative softwares such as Figma and Asana to collaborate and sync up internationally.
Because we don’t have an official headquarters or a formal studio – and are instead 100% remote – our shoots are always planned on an ad-hoc basis, meaning that we can identify locations based on how they match the particular campaign we’re putting together.
Caolan> Feeld doesn’t have its own production studio as we’re fully remote, so for specific campaigns, like our most recent 'First Timers' which was developed by our in-house lead film creative, Harry Bowley, we rented a space that fit our vibe. For these sorts of shoots, we’re always tapping into our network of local creatives to produce content and help us to incorporate the region’s personality into the series. Our global team means that we have contacts virtually everywhere, so we source our partners accordingly.
LBB> How does collaboration work in-house and why is there such a focus on creativity?
Andrew> For all of our campaigns, we always design and co-create them with our Feeld members in mind. Our founders are creatives themselves, with CEOs Ana Kirova and Dimo Trifonov trained as designers. That’s why design is such a strong consideration for us and why we like to involve our community so creatively.
Last year, we went through a rebrand and decided to involve our members in the accompanying photographic campaign. New York-based photographer Molly Malaton, who shot the campaign, typographer Charlotte Rohde, who led the brand redesign, and the cast for the campaign’s assets were all Feeld members. It’s our members that make experiences on Feeld so unique – which is why it was essential to include their participation and consentally tell stories that reveal their inner worlds.
Caolan> We always aim to prioritise our members. I’ve been a Feeld member for a long time now, but I know that the app’s fluidity and openness, even just dating apps in general, can be a lot for some people. Our most recent 'First Timers' series was inspired by the insight that people could feel daunted by using the app because it’s such a new way of dating – so we wanted the campaign to take viewers into the journey of the unknown and help them to experience new feelings around discovery to get more connected with themselves.
The second episode in the 'First Timers' series, 'My First Kink Experience'.
LBB> Tell me about the 'First Timers' series and how you utilised your community to source subjects for the campaign.
Caolan> Feeld’s first episode was shot in Amsterdam. We did an initial online callout for the film and received such overwhelmingly positive responses from our members that it was difficult knowing which members we should include in the first episode. The series revolves around members’ dating firsts – whether it’s their first kink experience or first kiss.
LBB> How important is first-party data in your in-house operations? If it plays a central role, how does it guide the work your agency produces?
Andrew> For first-party data, we partner with our internal team to understand what our members are most interested in to inform how we can show up for them. We consider the shifts and trends that are happening within the app. For instance, we know that many Feeld members are creatively-inclined because they express an interest in painting, art, film, dance and music among other hobbies, so that inspires us to explore meaningful branded and cultural partnerships, like our current collaboration with the off-Broadway play, Pretty Perfect Lives.
But any insights gleaned from our members is obviously top line to protect their privacy, so it’s something we bear in mind when working internally and with external partners.
