It’s that time of year again. Full of love for some, and denial or confusion for the rest. There are feeds are full of mushy reels, people nailing the #CoupleGoals and others preaching self love. And brand’s aren’t missing out on this either.
Agencies have been busy whipping up creative ideas and brainstorming for effective advertising campaigns while ensuring St. Valentine’s Day never falls short on content. And let’s be honest, to make consumers love an ad and motivate them to buy the product, that’s pretty much the purpose of advertising. So why let go of this opportunity?
Brands have used love as a trigger for decades to convey emotions and drive engagement. Besides, consumers love this feeling, its idea and the appeal. However, Valentine’s Day is often a tricky day for brands to navigate. And this is purely because of their product and the audience their products may cater to. Besides, there’s also the fine line between it being in line with the cultural beliefs and traditions, which many brands don’t want to cross. Brands often find themselves stuck in the dilemma about whether they should do a campaign around this day or not.
That being said, if numbers are anything to go by, love based campaigns are advertising that sells. This is the biggest reason why brands are willing to do a campaign on this topical day. India is the “youngest” country in the world (based on demographics). More and more people are open to themes revolving around love, be it platonic, romantic or self-love. That’s another reason why most brands are willing to take this as a bet. Besides, brands choosing to do a campaign on this day have shown to enjoy higher recall and inclination from their consumers.
The entire week preceding Valentine’s Day comes with great potential for brands, each day being a goldmine of distinctive content. From Ferns n Petals to Blinkit, every brand gets a moment to shine. Speaking of, a shout out to Blinkit’s recent campaign (singles mode slider on the app) that’s taken the internet by storm.
In recent years, self-love as an ideology has also been highly propagated by the ad industry. It started with Dove’s “Real Beauty” campaign, and was joined by Pepsi, Oppo, Cadbury 5 Star and even Blinkit this year. With #selflove and #selfcare trending equally on social media, brands have surely taken note of a wider audience that has felt left out. Some point out that there has been a tilt in brand advertising trends with more brands shifting focus to the self-love approach in their marketing initiatives this year.
Nevertheless, single or taken, love in language and as a language has caused quite the stir. Many high street cred brands have enjoyed the limelight by sparking interesting chatter, and leading to increased brand recall thanks to love. Shaadi.com, Man Company, Platinum, Titan and so many more apparel, cosmetic brands have witnessed this power.
Brand marketing with love, has surely been winning the hearts of consumers and gaining loyalty that resonates far beyond that specific day or occasion. That’s probably why brands love making ads about love!
At 3 Dots Design Pvt. Ltd., we believe that ‘love’ is one emotion that tugs our hearts in the most enduring ways. As a storyteller, we weave this powerful emotion in every brand story that we craft for our brands. If you think your brand needs a bit of love and care to flourish more, drop a mail at [email protected]