TVC Review: Astropod Dating App – Made in Stars

Launched in mid-2022, Astropod is a dating app that blends the modern-day trait of vehement swipers with traditional astrology to validate matchmaking compatibility. Put differently, it poses as an admissible app, particularly in a South Asian society like Nepal where many prefer astrological compatibility in their matches. With Valentine’s Day around the corner, Astropod has showcased its latest brand video. The TVC succinctly conveys, via a striking narration, how the app manifests into happiness by pairing you with the perfect partner.

At a first glance, the TVC has managed to breakout of the bubble that most brands in Nepal seem to fail at. As we have stressed many times in the past, the business industry is full of TVCs that are overloaded with descriptions about what their products can do, mostly done by featuring popular celebrities. However, Astropod has adhered to the storytelling principle of marketing. The ad does not make any effort to show in-app features and other redundancies. Minimalistic to its core, it simply shows how users of the app can attain happiness by getting the most compatible match.

Here, the narration does the role of describing how the app works. Obliquely, the narrator makes a subtle connection with the features of the app. The words ‘Let stars do the talking’ hints at the app’s feature to check compatibility between people through the use of astrology. In the beginning and also at the end, the ad highlights the brand’s tagline ‘Made in Stars’ which is a reference to the use of date & time of birth and zodiac signs to ensure the perfect match for the believers of astrology.

Overall, the TVC is well-executed and adheres to the storytelling principle of marketing which is unique to the Nepali ad market.