It’s here, and it’s electric. To celebrate the rebrand, we sat down with the brains behind Official, Founder Zac Stern, to discuss the inspiration behind Official’s glow-up. Zac talks about community feedback and how it charted the course in several areas of the rebrand. We talk about Official’s commitment to continuously work on improving the in-app experience for couples and why rebranding marks the beginning of an exciting journey with significant changes and improvements planned for the future.
Redesigned to keep the vibe flowing, Zac answers ten questions about the Official rebrand.
Interview with Zac Stern, Founder of Official
Q: Can you tell us about the inspiration behind the rebranding of Official?
A: “We had been considering a rebrand for a while, especially as Official started to grow. We defined the app's concept, and couples loved it, but we realized that pink and purple hearts weren’t representative of 100% of relationships. We wanted to bring some spark, edge, and realness to the app.”
Q: What motivated the decision to rebrand at this time?
A: “We recognized that the brand needed a refresh, and after we joined Bumble Inc. in April 2023, we could focus on making it happen. Our team is committed to building a new brand identity that’s fun, contemporary, and intuitively feels real and right.”
Q: How does Official’s new brand identity reflect its missions and values?
A: “It's next level. The old brand—the pink and purple hearts—no longer reflects many real relationships today. We wanted Official to represent something spicier for couples to feel cool about being on their journey to better communication, sex, more fun, whatever it is. So, we created an interface that could excite anyone, no matter who they are or their relationship style. The aim is to get them moving on their mission.”
Q: What are the key features Official has that set it apart from other relationship apps?
A: “I think our focus on “Intimacy,” and our audience differentiates us. We focus on reaching Gen Z, and our features speak to that. Our features are built for fun but can also be considered a way to proactively work on communication skills. You can communicate feelings ahead of time, like setting your mood when you’re working through a frustrating day or sending support without needing to send out a novel. While other relationship apps focus on fixing broken relationships, at Official, we don’t think your relationship needs to break to give it attention.”
Q: How has community feedback influenced the development and direction of the rebrand?
A: “Integral. Users told us what they wanted from the app, and we made it happen to create a better experience for everyone. The app was slow, so we improved that. Premium couples wanted more content, so we gave it to them.”
Q: What impact do you hope the rebranding will have on the app's overall user experience?
A: “The rebrand is more than just a facelift—it's also a big upgrade on the backend, and that's something that users should start feeling really, really soon: building better infrastructure and better connections in the app so that it doesn't just look fresher, but it performs at a higher level. It's faster, with more intuitive clicks. Everything comes together more seamlessly, which is what we wanted: a balanced experience of both beauty and better functionality.”
Q: With user-generated content removed from the app, are there plans to foster a sense of community and connection among Official users?
A: “Right now, Official is focused on helping interpersonal relationships before expanding out. Our goal is to help couples have better relationships, hopefully, the best ones possible, not have them sift through other couples' content or compete against each other in games or something similar. We start by looking at the couple and then at the digital elements we can provide to connect them in real life. User-generated content doesn’t feel like a big part of that right now.”
Q: How do you measure the success of Official beyond its numbers?
A: “There’s no feeling quite like meeting someone new and learning they use and love Official. Success is that moment knowing that our app has helped people connect better and add value to their relationships.”
Q: How do you plan to keep Official's content fresh and engaging for couples over time?
A: “So many ways. New fun. New layouts. New features. I can’t say much without getting in trouble, but it's all coming. If you liked the rebrand, you will love the journey we’re heading on. And we want to keep hearing from our users, so there will be an opportunity to share feedback with us as well. It’ll all continue to be about engaging our community and building features they want to see.”
Q: Do you have any parting thoughts to leave us with?
A: “That this is just the beginning. We have a cool, exciting roadmap in front of us and a stellar team to execute on it. More changes are coming. Some of our features and core gamification within the app will change. The rebrand was the first step in getting there.”
Have More Fun in Your Relationship
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