Field NotesDil Mil
Dating while South Asian? It’s complicated.
We helped Dil Mil shed outdated perceptions, spark laughter and desire, and launch a bold cultural campaign that turned auntie side-eyes into app downloads. The result? A 700% spike in engagement — and a new era of public, playful, diaspora-coded love.
SummaryYear
2023 🥰
Offerings
Strategy – Cultural consultation, perception research, app positioning
Story – Campaign concepting, copywriting, community voice
Stewardship – Media placement, influencer curation, market insights
Design – Billboard + bus shelter art direction, brand language evolution
Industry
Community Media, Apps & Technology
This wasn’t just a dating app refresh.
This was a reckoning with how South Asians love out loud.
Having dominated the U.S. market, San Francisco–based South Asian dating app Dil Mil wanted to make a splash in Canada — especially in Surrey and Toronto, where large South Asian communities exist but app downloads and conversions were low.
Despite previous sponsorships with community arts orgs, Dil Mil was struggling with brand perception. Most folks thought it was another shaadi.com clone — overly traditional, conservative, and marriage-pressured. So they came to us. Not for a campaign — but for clarity.
Our mission? Redefine what Dil Mil meant in a Canadian context — as something modern, swipeable, and actually fun.
Our Approach
The logic was: culture first and community tuned.
Dil Mil didn’t just need a refresh. It needed a reintroduction — new voice, new vibe, new cultural codes.
Himmat was brought in thanks to existing partnerships and trusted community ties. From there, we moved from standard event sponsorships into deep strategic consulting and diaspora-rooted creative direction.
Our goals were simple:
Make dating feel normal in a culture that makes it taboo
Create visibility where there’s usually shame
Make South Asian names, desires, and humour front and centre — not hidden
The Campaign: #JustDate
Inspired by the “name-on-a-Coke-bottle” model, we played with South Asian names and dating woes — flipping stereotypes into slogans that were cheeky, real, and resonant:
“Say goodbye to hookups in the car — #JustDate Sangtar.”
“Looking for someone who listens? — #JustDate Niten”
“You ain’t for the streets — #JustDate Gurpreet”
The copy wasn’t just clever — it was culturally accurate, naming the contradictions and pressures young South Asians face while dating in diaspora. The goal wasn’t shock — it was familiarity, comfort, and calling things in with humour.
Cultural Competence
We also:
Audited previous ad placements (many were not in high–South Asian density areas)
Mapped out new routes for billboards, bus shelters, and transit ads in Surrey and Toronto
Tapped local influencers to spark buzz and keep the tone real
Built a campaign designed to be memeable, shareable, and impossible to ignore
Results and impact
700% increase in app downloads within the first week
Viral within 3 hours — shared across meme pages in Canada, the U.S., and U.K.
Redefined perception — shifted Dil Mil from conservative to cool, from secret to shareable
Campaign still in rotation years later, including in India + U.S.
Fun fact: 10+ real couples (that we personally know of) found love through this launch – and thousands more did too!
Cultural Legacy
The campaign did more than boost metrics — it started a conversation. We made dating visible, South Asian names romantic, and our cultural contradictions marketable without flattening our nuance.
This wasn’t just advertising. It was a cultural reset.
This was strategy as satire, branding as rebellion, and diaspora marketing done right.
And the best part? They’re still using our copy. Because when you root your campaign in truth, it lasts.
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Dil Mil – #JustDate Campaign
Culturally-rooted humour meets viral performance. We led creative direction, copywriting, and audience strategy for a South Asian dating app — sparking 700% growth and record-breaking engagement.
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