Oh, Valentine’s Day— A day of love, roses, and… campaigns?
It’s not exactly a secret Valentine’s Day is a huge commercial holiday. Each year, companies spend billions of dollars on paid advertising, and that’s not even accounting the effort put toward earned media, like public relations.
So, what exactly constitutes a successful Valentine’s Day campaign? Let’s start with the basics:
Tell A Story
A good way to make your campaign more relevant is to invest in storytelling. We all feel compelled by and connected to human narratives.
By telling stories this Valentine’s season, companies can help people understand what makes their company so special and what it stands for. In turn, leaving a lasting impression.
Hallmark’s 2020 Valentine’s campaign, “Tell Them They Matter” is an excellent example of using storytelling to connect with people. The video shows a young girl getting bullied online, and then finding the Hallmark card one of her friends wrote for her, drowning out the negativity. It’s not the most original narrative, but it’s an effective way to promote kindness and love.
Understanding Your Audience
Hand in hand with storytelling, understanding your audience is key when crafting Valentine’s Day messaging. What does your audience actually want this Valentine’s Day?
For example, single people probably don’t want to see engagement rings. Most students can’t afford high-end luxury items. For reasons like these when a company is constructing a campaign, it’s important to actually think about who its target audience is in the first place.
A good campaign will consist of relevant and meaningful content, created with the beliefs of the target audience in mind.
The sustainable vegan kimono and sleep accessories company niLuu understands its audience perfectly, showcased in their “fall in love with you” video. It exudes an elegant, beautiful air that promotes self love— a message its audience will surely love.
Creativity
If I told you to close your eyes and think of Valentine’s Day, I’m sure you’d picture roses or some pink and reds colors— maybe even a teddy bear, or candy. Like most holidays, Valentine’s Day is pretty predictable.
To break through the clutter, companies should focus on differentiating themselves from the rest. Maybe mess around with some fun, less traditional colors. Maybe focus on self-love instead of romantic love. The opportunities to break free from complete tradition are endless.
Panera’s outrageous baguette diamond ring campaign is an excellent example of a creative campaign. Starting Feb. 14th, people can enter to win unlimited free coffee (and potentially a baguette ring!) by posting a picture of themselves enjoying Panera Bread food or products. It even comes in a bread bowl!
Laila Samphilipo, Account Associate
prowlpr.com 