Yahoo Personals Now Using "Real People" in Ads (onlinedatingmagazine.com - January 14, 2004) Yahoo! Personals, a leader in the online dating market, has unveiled its new approach to online dating advertising with a campaign featuring singles who are currently using the service to connect and communicate with prospective dates. The new online campaign, called 'Project: Real People,' represents Yahoo! Personals' new focus on using only singles from its site in online advertisements and highlights the service's most valuable assets: a diverse community of singles looking to make a connection. 'Project: Real People' is the result of market research Yahoo! Personals conducted through focus groups and customer interactions and is a response to feedback singles had about wanting a comfortable, welcoming environment for their online dating experience. The Appeal of Being Real Yahoo! Personals' recent 'Virtues of Being Real Survey' found nearly 70 percent of singles felt most advertisement models were unreal, impersonal and unattainable further validating the importance for the service to move toward highlighting real-life, everyday singles in its online advertisements. "Building loyalty through being responsive to customer needs and helping singles feel comfortable within a dating community are key elements to success in the online dating industry," said Katie Mitic, vice president and general manager for Yahoo! Personals. "'Project: Real People' illustrates Yahoo! Personals' commitment to creating a high-quality environment for singles to meet and interact -- the campaign also brings online dating to life in a way that has never been done before." The real-life everyday singles featured in the new online campaign are from professions and lifestyles as varied as Marines, fire fighters, artists, actors, photographers, students, single parents, business managers, engineers, musicians and more. They range in age from 24 to 54 -- representing the broad spectrum of singles that are using the Internet to make a romantic connection. The 'Real People' creative content was designed and created internally at Yahoo! and will appear throughout 2004 in Yahoo! Personals site photography, as well as in online advertising on Yahoo! and at other key online venues.