It’s that time of year again. Love it or hate it, there’s no escaping Valentine’s Day. For brands and businesses alike, it’s one of the most profitable days of the year! After a long January, when consumers feel the effects of a tight purse and post-Christmas blues, Valentine’s is an ideal way to give your brand a much-needed revenue boost and re-engage shoppers!
We’ve picked out some of our all-time favourite Valentine’s Day marketing campaigns and adverts to give you some inspiration!
Spotify x Tinder
When it comes to romantic and platonic relationships, studies have found that music is a powerful foundation and an initial basis for finding common ground. With this in mind, music-streaming platform Spotify teamed up with the dating app Tinder to create an effective Valentine’s Day campaign.
Tinder uncovered that adding top tracks or an anthem to your dating profile increases your chances of being swiped and getting matches. And since music is known to bring people together, Tinder collated the top songs that users feature on their profiles. Spotify took this data and created a ‘Valentine’s Playlist’ that automatically updates whenever other popular songs are featured. The playlist also included the top songs from user-generated Valentine’s Day playlists globally from the last 90 days.
If you’re looking for love-themed music, Spotify makes sure to update its playlist frequently!
Wilkinson - ‘Smooth Valentine’s Day’
The Wilkinson razor brand might not be the first thing that springs to mind when it comes to Valentine’s Day, but they have produced unique campaigns throughout the years. One stand-out campaign was their ‘Smooth Valentine’s Day’.
Featuring a billboard, their hearty advert consisted of members of the public that were secretly populated with stems of roses. Members of the public were asked to pull a ‘hair’ from the bearded billboard, and their reactions were captured on film and compiled to make the ad. 10/10 for originality.
Zalando - Get Rid of Your Ex's Clothes
Tapping into the anti-Valentine’s demographic, leading European fashion and lifestyle platform Zalando took their Valentine’s Day campaign in the complete opposite direction last year. Their campaign centred around the clothes and belongings left behind after a breakup, collecting dust in closets across the globe. Instead of pondering on what to do with them, Zalando came up with a simple solution: donate them.
Promoting Zalando Pre-Owned, the campaign promoted the ease of donating clothes while supporting the goal of eco-friendly fashion and recycling. In exchange, customers can benefit from shipping convenience, discounts and multiple payment options.
KFC - Scratch and Sniff
You heard it here first. If your other half hints at flowers or chocolate, what they really mean is, ‘get me a KFC scratch and sniff card’. It sounds completely made up, but the iconic fast food franchise did, in fact, create scented cards as part of their Valentine’s Day campaign in 2020.
Collaborating with card company Moonpig, KFC created a range of eight designs with the campaign slogan ‘Roses are red, Violets are blue, Fried chicken’s the best way, To say I Love You’. Who said romance was dead?
Ryanair - Escape the Nonsense
Ryanair is no stranger to a Valentine’s campaign. Their previous concept, ‘Escape the Nonsense,’ targeted singles who want to escape the pressure of Valentine’s. `Last year, they also played on the intensity of the day.
Titled ‘Love is in the Air’, Ryanair launched a special sale exclusively for singletons who are looking for a romantic getaway for one. With flight prices starting from just €16.99, the seat sale enticed solo travellers to treat themselves with the tagline ‘From me to me: Roses are red, adventure is great, you should try flying solo – you don’t need a date!’
Deliveroo - Third Wheel Kevin
If you’re convinced you don’t have a third wheel, then you probably are one. Deliveroo’s Valentine’s campaign reached out to all the third wheels with a dynamic campaign centred around Kevin. Going about his day-to-day life, every activity seems impossible without a companion, apart from mealtime, that is.
To celebrate singles on Valentine’s Day, Deliveroo created a ‘Third Wheel Meal Deal’ for the Kevins of the world to enjoy!
Pizza Hut - Love on a Platter
Pizza is the way to many people's hearts. With the tagline ‘We Bake Hearts, Not Break Them’, Pizza Hut had thousands of internet users lusting after their heart-shaped pizzas. Pizza Hut has been running this campaign since 2019 in selected store locations, and it’s no surprise the fast-food chain keeps bringing them back!
Thortful
Thortful thrives during Valentine’s Day. Last year the card company tapped into the weird and wonderful with their homage to love languages - no matter how strange! It’s simple, sweet and extremely memorable!
There we have it, some of our favourite Valentine’s campaigns of all time! Think we’ve missed one? Drop into our DMs on socials and let us know!
Need a hand with your social strategy for any upcoming holidays and events? Get in touch with us and see what we can do to help!
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