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Wednesday, May 31, 2006

Herb's a True Entrepreneur


True is an Internet dating service. If you spend much time online, you've probably seen the Dallas-based company's ads before.

What you might not know is that True was founded by an old boss of ours, Herb Vest.

You might find it surprising that Herb is a CPA by training. He was a tax accountant until the age of 39, in fact, when he had an idea for a new business -- H.D. Vest Financial Services. H.D. Vest specialized in selling mutual funds through a network of tax preparers -- people like Herb.

The business was a huge success, became a public company, and eventually was purchased by Wells Fargo.

So now Herb has started True. Does he know as much about Internet dating as he knows about accountants? No. But we wouldn't bet against him; he has the passion of an entrepreneur.

Note: If anyone's wondering, Herb's not currently a client. He's using Milly over at Ogilvy.

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posted by Scott Baradell at 3:08 PM

6 Comments:

  • I've got a big problem with Herb's business -- True claims to be the "safer" dating service, but go spend some time on MySpace (which has faced problems with pedophiles and predators.) True ads are all over the site and feature scantily clad pictures of girls who look, to mine eyes, to be underage.

    Now I'm no prude. I like pictures of scantily clad women. But these make my stomach turn. There is a definite message here, and it is come find a young girlie on True.

    True is one of the biggest advertisers, if not the biggest advertiser on MySpace, where the average age is eighteen, the minimum age for a True account. I see a big disconnect. Either they want underage signups, or they're luring those of age who like to lurk in a teen-heavy environ.

    I'm not the only critic of True ads:
    http://www.onlinedatingmagazine.com/columns/2005editorials/april2005.html

    Note that the ads I get in my browser are much like the ones from this article a year ago, in terms of bare skin, but the models are MUCH younger.

    By Anonymous Mike Orren, at 5/31/2006  

  • True has an interesting ad campaign.

    Flashy. Definitely flashy.

    But one thing I've noticed about it: no girls.

    Don't any females use the service? I'm sure they do otherwise it wouldn't still be in business.

    Why not cater some ads to them as well?

    By Anonymous Owen Lystrup, at 5/31/2006  

  • Mike,

    I completely understand your point. From a branding standpoint, the AdultFriendFinder-style ad campaign flies in the face of the eHarmony-style brand promise.

    Then again, who knows? If I were single, I could see a sexy ad making me try out a relationship site. The heart is a mysterious thing. I'd love to hear this hashed out in a focus group.

    All that said, True spends so much money on these ads that I can only assume that (A) they're working or (B) Herb's marketing team is out to lunch.

    By Blogger SB, at 5/31/2006  

  • That's half the problem, Scott, and the mismatch is something I can live with. But an unfortunate part of my current business is that I and my staff spend have to a lot of time on MySpace. And the general exclamation as new ads pop up is "Sheez! Is she 13 or 14?"

    Sexy and incongruous: OK if it works. Sexy and seventeen (at best)-- sketchy.

    By Anonymous Mike Orren, at 5/31/2006  

  • I agree ... and would defer to you in any case, since I don't spend as much time as you prowling MySpace;)

    Sexy and 13 seems to work for Abercrombie and Fitch, btw.

    By Blogger SB, at 5/31/2006  

  • Is this mike orren who use to work with me? If so, hi!
    Kerensa

    By Anonymous Anonymous, at 6/08/2006  

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