NEW YORK, NY, July 25, 2023 – The Knot, a digital wedding planning authority and one of the largest Vendor Marketplaces in the U.S., today announced its new brand look, direction and ad, which will be amplified in a national multi-channel campaign supported by the brand’s largest marketing launch of all time. After a year of economic hardship and pent-up demand following the pandemic, The Knot is transforming to increase its relevance with the next generation of couples, while driving growth for the small businesses within the brand’s Vendor Marketplace. Featuring more than 3 million reviews, The Knot Vendor Marketplace facilitates connections between more than 1 million couples and over 200,000 wedding professionals per year. The platform includes vendor listings spanning 25 categories, including DJs, venues, florists, officiants, planners and more.

 

Before reimagining its identity and marketing strategy, The Knot conducted extensive research to better understand common pain points and the needs of modern-day couples and the vendor community. The Knot found¹ couples are increasingly relying on vendors, redefining wedding rituals and placing greater emphasis on in-person connection with friends and family after COVID-19 caused people to spend time apart. Looking ahead to the future of weddings, 81% of Gen Z are open to the possibility of getting married, with 1 in 2 saying they definitely see it happening, according to a new study from The Knot². Regardless of their relationship status, 72% of Gen Z are looking forward to their wedding day and more than 75% have already taken at least one action related to weddings—from envisioning what their own wedding might look like (51%), to saving ideas/inspiration (32%) and even looking up the cost (32%).

 

“For more than 25 years, The Knot has been a leading expert in the wedding space—but we know the industry looks different now,” said Jenny Lewis, Chief Marketing Officer of The Knot Worldwide. “As an industry leader, it is our responsibility to both respond to and help shape what this next chapter of weddings looks like. We’ve found that couples want to work with brands that embrace the highs and lows of wedding planning, and empower them to create celebrations that feel like an authentic expression of who they are as a couple. Wedding vendors play a critical role in bringing that vision to life and they are the backbone of every great wedding. This campaign seeks to shine the spotlight on vendors—the often unsung heroes of the industry—in a new and fresh way.”

 

In 2022, there were 2.6 million weddings in the U.S. due to pent-up demand. This year, The Knot expects there will be about 2.1 million weddings³, signaling a return to pre-pandemic levels. While the overall quantity of weddings in 2023 will resemble 2019, there have been other notable shifts in consumer behavior since then. In the first quarter of 2023, The Knot saw an approximate 40% increase in couple searches on The Knot Vendor Marketplace and an over 70% rise in vendor leads when compared to the same time period in 2019.

New look and feel

This is the first step in The Knot’s journey to be the ultimate wedding partner and champion of celebration. By broadening audience appeal, The Knot will have a greater opportunity to support couples end to end during wedding planning, through the company’s digital Vendor Marketplace, Wedding Websites, Invitations and Registry. The Knot brand relaunch includes:

• Refreshed Logo: The Knot’s word mark and logo, visible across the company’s website, app and social media channels, are more modern to reflect changing times—while retaining a script-style font to honor the brand’s legacy. A purposeful swoop to the lettering is intended to evoke the sensation of dancing, mirroring The Knot’s new focus on celebration.
• Energized Colors: To differentiate in an industry that often uses similar traditional colors, The Knot’s new palette is grounded in black, white and cream, leveraging bold pops of contrast color including pink to add excitement and maximize relevance to the modern consumer.
• Celebratory Illustrations: The wedding industry is highly dependent on photography of couples. In contrast, The Knot’s illustrations serve as another type of storytelling mechanism, incorporating a new signature confetti element to put celebration front and center.

Creative film and integrated marketing campaign

“We want consumers to be aware of all the products and services we offer to support them—but we’re betting big on The Knot Vendor Marketplace in particular. We’re focusing on the value of vendors in our new film creative and investing in marketing like never before to help couples and fuel growth for small wedding businesses,” added Lewis.

The Knot’s largest marketing campaign is focused on driving awareness of The Knot Vendor Marketplace. The Knot produced the new ad titled “Free Celebration from Expectation” directed by Marie Schuller to reflect the diversity of all couples, celebrate different wedding styles and feature a wide range of professionals who make weddings possible. The campaign features 16 vendors from The Knot Vendor Marketplace credited on screen, with three starring roles:

• Amy Shack Egan, Modern Rebel
• Justin McCallum, Justin McCallum Photography
• DJ GBaby, Level Up Entertainment

For the first time, The Knot will invest in national video advertising to amplify the film creative. The national media buy launched today, encompassing TV and connected TV, YouTube and online video, audio, social media and more.

View the new ad here, and follow The Knot on Instagram, TikTok, Facebook and Pinterest for campaign updates and behind-the-scenes videos from its latest creative.

External partners

The Knot partnered with TwentyFirstCenturyBrand to create the strategy for its new brand direction. Brand design studio Koto supported the development of The Knot’s new visual identity and leading independent agency Special U.S. produced the creative which served as the basis for the integrated marketing campaign. The media strategy and investment were executed in collaboration with media agency Known.

¹ The 2023 Global Wedding Report was released in June 2023, encompassing findings from a study of more than 25,000 people who got married in 2022 across 15 countries.
² The Knot fielded a survey in June 2023 among 1000 Americans, ages 18 to 42.
³ The 2022 Real Weddings Study was released in February 2023, including takeaways from a study of nearly 12,000 couples who got married in 2022.

About The Knot

The Knot is a leading wedding Vendor Marketplace that connects couples with more than 200,000 local wedding professionals and offers a comprehensive suite of planning tools that includes personalized wedding websites, invitations and registry services that make planning easier to help couples enjoy the experience. The most trusted authority on wedding planning, The Knot reaches a majority of engaged couples in the US through TheKnot.com; the #1 wedding planning app on iOS and Android, The Knot Wedding Planner; The Knot national wedding magazine and The Knot book series. Since its inception, The Knot has inspired approximately 25 million couples to plan a wedding that’s authentic to them. Visit The Knot online at TheKnot.com and follow on social media: @TheKnot on TikTok, Instagram, Pinterest and Threads and Facebook.com/TheKnot.