On your birthday, something special happens on social media: you receive hundreds of likes and well wishes from friends, family, high school classmates and people you haven’t talked to for years on Facebook. And while this has been the standard for years, one startup is hoping to personalize the birthday wishes even more.
Doppels is a simple birthday discovery and smart gifting app that connects people through their shared birthdays. In addition, this app has made the gift giving process even more personalized. Read below how this innovative app is making birthdays even more special:
Happy Birthday
After logging into your account via Facebook API, the platform uses your date of birth as the core data to help you calendar all of your friend’s birthdays and discover other people around you who also celebrate your special day. Doppels also gives others the opportunity to send you a note or gift tailored to your interests. How great is that?!
Each day Doppels will let you know whose birthday it is within your social network or local area and offer you a wish, gift or text option.
“It’s time to reinvent how we send wishes, gifts and express gratitude, generosity and random acts of kindness in a digital age,” said Matt Hagger, cofounder and CEO of Doppels.
The Star-Match
The Star-Match feature is designed to be a friendly connection builder. The algorithm will match users with other Doppels members based on their interests, birthdays and location. Hagger is hoping people will be able to relate to each other around different categories and build friendships.
“Doppels means ‘same’ in German. This app is about connecting people and Star-Match gives people something beyond just a bio and lets them know that someone is nearby to connect. It’s also a great way to break the ice and reform relationships,” said Hagger.
Initially Hagger wasn’t sure this concept would take off, but then Doppels started experiencing early success and ended up catching the eye of the 17-25 year-old demographic.
“When we launched in January 2016, it ranked in one of the top 30 social networks and people simply liked the idea of discovering who shared your birthday nearby and the idea of celebrating with others,” said Hagger.
Doppels also caught the interest of celebrities.
“During some early pop up events in L.A., people of similar interest and age groups were combining birthday parties using the app. Within a month we had celebrities such as Justin Bieber, Big Sean and Grammy-nominated producer Kosine Palacious attending the first official ‘Doppels Day’ event,” said Hagger.
To date, Doppels has over 260,000 users and acquire about 1,000 new members each day, said Hagger.
Say Goodbye To The Wish List
Writing a wish list for birthday presents at 10 years-old is expected. At 26, not so much. Coming Summer 2017, Doppels will introduce a smart gifting tool that allows users to send gifts that match the celebrant’s interest based on profile and location. This will bring back some conscious thought to digital gift giving instead of the current non-emotional email that links to a gift card.
“We feel like emotion and storytelling has been lost in the transition from physical to digital gifting,” said Hagger.
Brands that are trying to crack this demographic need to start thinking differently as the younger demographic is looking to give gifts in an organic and thoughtful way, Hagger said.
“Young people are tired of being sold to. What we’re trying to do is provide the tools for young people to give authentically and efficiently,” said Hagger.
For hyperlocal businesses looking to attract members of their community, soon they will be able to partner with Doppels, target their marketing dollars and provide special discounts or offerings to a celebrant on their birthday.
“We want to help local business introduce themselves through our tools and create a connection. On your birthday you could receive an offer on Doppels and in minutes you could be walking into a local business. I chose Venice, California as a great breeding ground for this tool to help all the local businesses,” said Hagger.
Big brands are also heading for Doppels. The company announced they have secured an exciting national partnership with Amazon to drive sales and disrupt their digital gifting experience.
Express Yourself
Snapchat Stories are an easy way to send your friend a birthday wish. Aimed at capitalizing on this trend, Doppels will soon offer the ability for a member to send a birthday video that ends with the unveiling of the gift.
“What we’re trying to go with the birthday story is trying to replicate the unwrapping of a present,” said Hagger.
Giving Back
Each month, Doppels hosts an On Deck concert series entitled “Gratitude” to help raise money for local charity where the entertainment community can come together and put on a show in the name of giving where all donations go to charity.
“It reinforces the company’s culture of being a platform for giving and celebration,” said Hagger.
Download Doppels for iOS and Android is coming Summer 2017.
If you are in the LA area, check out their Doppels On Deck concert for charity.
Photos courtesy of Doppels