Making headlines and history for Chapter 2 Dating – a campaign about love after loss

How Hendrix Rose PR helped a niche dating platform become the voice of love after loss

Client: Chapter 2 Dating‍

Campaign: The Challenges and Triumphs of Dating After Loss‍

Objective: Start a national conversation about widowhood, dating, and rediscovering joy‍

Result: Chapter 2’s biggest-ever subscriber growth – and coverage in over 70 media outlets

The Brief

How do you start a conversation about dating when it begins after heartbreak? That was the challenge Chapter 2 Dating brought to Hendrix Rose PR.

As the UK’s only dating platform designed exclusively for widows and widowers, Chapter 2 was founded by Nicky Wake, a widow herself, to provide a supportive, stigma-free space for people navigating life and love after loss.

They had the right mission. The right message. The right audience.
But mainstream dating conversations simply weren’t including them.

Together with its sister platform, Widows Fire — created to open up honest dialogue around grief, intimacy, and identity — Chapter 2 had two goals:

• Help people rediscover connection
• Break the silence around second-chance love

The story was already there. It just needed to be told with care, courage, and cultural cut-through.

The Objective

We applied the AMEC Integrated Evaluation Framework to set measurable, strategic goals in order to create real impact.

We set out to:

• Raise nationwide awareness of Chapter 2 Dating
• Position Nicky Wake as a go-to commentator on grief, dating, and widowhood
• Secure top-tier media coverage across national, lifestyle, and regional press
• Drive website traffic and new subscriber sign-ups
• Reinforce Chapter 2’s key messages around dating after loss

The Insight

With Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy hitting cinemas on Valentine’s Day where Bridget returns as a widowed single mum, we saw a powerful cultural moment to take this message mainstream. One that could open hearts and headlines.

Bridget’s fictional journey echoed the real-life experiences of Chapter 2’s community: the loneliness, the awkwardness, the quiet guilt and the slow return of hope.

So, we built a campaign that did more than plug a platform. We sparked a national, powerful and much-needed conversation about love after loss.

We knew the story had emotional weight. But to take it to the media, we needed data. Real stories. Real voices. So, we commissioned a national survey of Chapter 2’s members to uncover the truths behind dating after bereavement.

We wanted data that resonated and complemented the themes of the Bridget Jones film, such as dating after loss, navigating dating as a widow with children etc.

The responses were raw, real, and incredibly moving.

• 63% had lost their partner in the last 1–5 years
• 90% said the memory of their late partner still influences new relationships
• 45% admitted to feeling guilt or hesitation about dating again
• 71% felt “uncomfortable” navigating the modern dating scene
• 60% avoided discussing dating with their children

The findings painted a picture of resilience, vulnerability, and the very real emotional weight that widows and widowers carry into every new connection.

The strategy and activation

We rolled out a high-impact, three-month campaign built around emotion, insight, and cultural relevance, all designed for national splash and sustained momentum.

The starting point? A smart, timely hook. With Bridget Jones: Mad About the Boy hitting cinemas on Valentine’s Day and Bridget herself re-entering the dating world as a widow, we had the perfect cultural parallel to frame our story.

We commissioned in-depth, first-of-its-kind research with Chapter 2’s community, revealing the raw realities of dating after loss. These insights became the heartbeat of the campaign, culminating in a downloadable guide hosted on Chapter 2’s website:
“Your Next Chapter: The Challenges and Triumphs of Dating After Loss.”

With emotional depth and data-driven storytelling in hand, we built a series of targeted and bespoke media angles that spoke directly to different press verticals.

Headlines included:

• Bridget Jones returns – but for widows in the UK, dating after loss remains a struggle
• Widows say modern dating is a nightmare, new research reveals
• UK widows struggle to face Valentine’s Day alone

Then we activated across every channel:

• Delivered a full-scale media outreach programme with tailored, relationship-led pitching
• Secured interview opportunities for founder Nicky Wake, with her personal story leading the charge
• Targeted broadcast features, as well as digital, print and lifestyle outlets
• Advised on leadership placements, founder profiling, and reactive commentary
• Supported with social content ideas and campaign assets to amplify reach across owned channels

Every touchpoint was carefully designed to feel real, relevant, and honest.

The Results

Let’s talk numbers. We delivered:

• Over 70 pieces of tier one coverage across national, lifestyle, and regional media.
• We achieved 1.56 billion total media reach.
• Chapter 2 saw their biggest-ever subscriber growth in the history of the brand.

Some key highlights:

Featured by The Independent, MSN, Daily Mirror, Sun, Irish News, AOL, BBC Radio, and 40+ regional print titles.

Broadcast piece with BBC Radio Leicester featuring an in-depth interview with Nicky Wake, who talked about the campaign, as well as Chapter 2’s core messages.

Ove the two month period, organic search traffic was up YOY by 154%, referral traffic was up by 75%, and new users increased YOY by 127%.

Average engagement time per active user increased YOY by 23%.

Major SEO lift from backlinks on high-authority domains, including:

• MSN (DA 94)
• The Independent (DA 91)
• The Sun (DA 90)
• Irish News (DA 82)

Average Domain Authority of secured links: 73/100

What we learned

Cultural alignment and strategic timing - Bridging a relatable film moment with a social cause‍

Authenticity - Real voices made the campaign emotional, credible, and shareable‍

Insight-led storytelling - Data turned a deeply personal experience into a national talking point‍

Measurement and clarity - AMEC gave us a framework for accountability and effectiveness

The Impact

For many widows and widowers, dating can feel daunting. For some, even taboo. But thanks to this campaign, thousands more now know they’re not alone.

As well as increasing visibility for Chapter 2 Dating, we helped it become the go-to voice for dating after loss, a voice for an often-overlooked community, one built on hope, honesty, and healing.

What the client said

“Hendrix Rose has delivered incredible results for us, which have resulted in some of our highest performing months for subscribers since we have been working with them. They have delivered some incredibly creative campaigns, finding opportunities and angles that I hadn't considered. A joy to work with.” - Nicky Wake, Founder of Chapter 2 Dating.

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