Valentine’s day is notorious for polarizing feelings of both love and hate. Some plan for weeks for the perfect night while others try their hardest to pretend it doesn’t exist.
For advertisers though, the feelings of love are unanimous. And it’s no wonder, with the average celebrant spending $142.31 on the holiday, up from $133.91 in 2014 according to the National Retail Federation. Of that spending, which is expected to have reached $18.9 Billion, it’s projected that 53.2% people bought candy, 37.8% bought flowers, 21.1% bought jewelry, and 35.1% spent money on a special night out.
While it’s normal that brands in these categories would bump up their advertising for the special day, some unexpected brands are also joining in on the love fest. Here’s a look at four Valentine’s day campaigns that surprised me this year with their heart-warming messages and innovative social tactics.
What I love the most about these campaigns is that they are either enabling amazing experiences or empowering others to share theirs. And, as we all know, memorable experiences is a match that sparks the fire of brand advocacy and brand love.
Revlon Believes #loveison
The beauty giant is prioritizing social with their #loveison campaign, promoting their lipstick line and the idea of being “addicted to love”. User generated content is at the center of their digital efforts, with the brand giving consumers the opportunity to create custom gifs and upload pictures of their loved ones for a chance to be featured in Times Square.
Result? With a hashtag built into the campaign name itself, the response across all social networks has been huge, increasing the brand’s engagement for the month by 16%, according to Sprinklr’s Social Business Index.
McDonald’s Wants You to Share the Love
While fast food isn’t usually the first thing that comes to mind around Valentine’s Day, McDonald’s didn’t want to miss an opportunity to join in on the love. Nationwide, the chain ran a “pay with lovin’”campaign, randomly selecting customers to “pay with lovin’” for their food instead of money. Consumers embraced the campaign with a range of lovin’ including high fives, hugs, happy dances, calling their loved ones, and even a proposal.
Result? This unique campaign is helping to warm up the public’s less than great perception of the fast food giant, with their satisfaction on social increasing by 11% over the month, according to Sprinklr’s Social Business Index.
Alibaba Grants Some Wedding Wishes
Alibaba, the Chinese tech giant, is also unexpectedly getting in on the Valentine’s day celebrations. The site took Valentine’s day as an opportunity to publicly support love of all kinds by sending 10 same-sex couples to the US and to enjoy an all-expenses-paid wedding. The winners were determined by public votes based off videos that the couples had uploaded telling the story of their relationship. As same-sex couples are still seen as relatively taboo in China and gay marriage illegal, this is a huge public move by one of the country’s biggest businesses.
Result? Whether or not their audience is happy with their stance, the contest is generating buzz with participation on social increasing 15% over the month, according to Sprinklr’s Social Business Index.
Huggies Gets Cheeky
Huggies, along with many other baby products, has been suffering over the past five years due to a large decline in birth rate. Millennials, due to a combination of factors both financial and cultural, are having less kids, and this Valentine’s day, Huggies decided to give them a little help. Partnering with Pandora, the diaper brand created a “baby making” playlist encouraging couples to spend a little more time together this holiday.
Result? Participation for the brand on social is up 22% for the month, according to Sprinklr’s Social Business Index. But as the tagline “See you in 9 months” admits, only time will tell if this tactic pans out.
These were just some of my favorites. What were yours?
Image credits: Revlon, McDonald’s, Alibaba, Pandora
Originally posted on Social Media Today