The usual and the offbeat of Valentine’s Day marketing

It’s that time of the year when brands get cheesy. From Fab Café, the restaurant brand of Fab India, inviting you to a Cupid’s Table to PepsiCo launching limited-time flavours of its potato chips brand Lay’s Herby Crush and Lay’s Cheesy Love, marketers are pushing love like never before in these pandemic times.

This year, beyond chocolates, cakes, flowers, and jewellery, all sorts of brands are jumping into the V-Day frenzy. From packaged food to consumer durables and from e-commerce firms to travel aggregators, companies across sectors are wooing consumers with innovations, offers and deals.

Take Abhibus, an e-ticketing platform for bus bookings that is pushing a ‘Travalentine’ offer — book one seat and it will cover the second.

Or, take Havells India, which has launched an electric skincare product range targeted at the female grooming segment ahead of the V-day.

For brands, V-Day has become key to grabbing the attention of GenZ-ers and millennials. That’s why the quirky campaigns, irresistible deals and limited edition products.

Amit Tiwari, Vice-President, Marketing, Havells India, admits that over the years, Valentine’s Day has emerged as an opportunity to exclusively engage and connect with the younger set of consumers.

And, as Shailja Joshi, Associate Director, Potato Chips Category, PepsiCo India, says, “Valentine’s Day is not just an occasion for youngsters to express their love and cherish their relationships, but is also one for brands to deepen audience connect by becoming an instrumental part of their celebrations.”

PepsiCo’s Lay’s has not only launched two variants but also got together with 20 other brands such as Airtel, Cadbury, Center Fresh and Dunzo for a social media engagement activity on Twitter and Instagram.

Age no bar

But while most campaigns are youth-focussed, even brands directed mainly at seniors are marking the day. Take Columbia Pacific Communities, which has launched #LoveBeyondAge, dismissing notions that senior citizens are too old to find, express or enjoy romantic love.

Brand expert Harish Bijoor says, “Valentine's day is certainly a stop point for the marketer on the prowl. It has progressively become bigger year by year, in terms of delivering a good blip on sales.”

Indeed, online beauty and personal-care store Purplle is reporting great traction for its Valentine Day’s offers. Says Nippun Aneja, Chief Business Officer, Purplle.com, “We are marking this celebration with the biggest sale of the year, leading up to Valentine's week and, this year, we have witnessed a growth of close to 100 per cent vis-à-vis last year.”

Or, take, Nestle India, which has taken its V-day consumer engagement strategy beyond chocolates. Besides its Kit-Kat Love Break campaign, it is also offering immersive augmented reality experiences through its Nescafe ready-to-drink cold coffee packs for virtual coffee dates as consumers stay at home.

But beware!

Cyber criminals are about

Even as marketers flood your inbox with Valentine’s Day offers, cyber criminals, too, are loving this opportunity. According to Check Point Research, over 400 Valentine’s Day themed phishing individual email campaigns were spotted in January.

Love can be dangerous as well!