7 Successful Valentine’s Marketing Campaigns That Didn’t Rely On Mush

July 8, 2023 | Digital Marketing

successful marketing campaigns

 

Like many other days, Valentine’s invites mixed reactions.

While some celebrate all the love that is in the air, others find a place to hide; to save themselves from the excessively romantic vibes, especially the ones created by mushy advertising.

So it makes sense that to target a wider audience, marketers need to plan out a more creative approach; one that doesn’t rely on mush.

Here we have collected some such brilliant adverts that celebrate love.. but in a different way.

So, hush the mush and enjoy these valentine campaigns:

1. MegaRed took an initiative to fix hearts on Valentine’s

This nutritional brand took a “healthy” approach to celebrate the season by deciding to fix hearts… No, not the broken ones. The brand created a campaign around their “fish oil supplements” (a doctor friend tells us that these supplements keep heart healthy).

People could gift a free sample of their product (by requesting it through their Facebook app) to someone whose heart they love. And those who chose to give this gift got a free sample too.

Since social media was involved in the picture, many celebrities took to Twitter to spread the word about it.

2. Netflix said the way to “her” heart is through her favorite TV show

netflix

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With this ad, Netflix proved that ‘making the first move’ doesn’t have to be creepy, annoying or mushy.

The video ad shows a man binging on a TV series to impress a woman he just met; the only thing he heard her say: “Orange is the new Black? That’s my favorite show!”

So, are you looking for ‘X ways to impress someone’? Learn everything about their favorite TV show. 

Good move, Netflix!

3. Dairy Queen created a Valentine’s parody

Dairy Queen is a fan (not fast) food chain.

dairy queen

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They created a Valentine advert where all our lifelong notions of women’s love for jewelry are discarded. Because here, we see a woman who is overjoyed when she receives a spoon as a Valentine gift; to eat the heart-shaped red velvet cream cake which Dairy Queen baked, with love.

This brilliant advert definitely broke all the cliches. And also left us grinning.

4. Barneys New York asked its audience to pin their favorite apparel

Valentine’s celebrates love. And what more does a woman love than her man jewelry.

Barneys took a creative approach which drove traffic to their website and gave them visibility on both Facebook and Pinterest.

They created a Facebook contest which invited people to create a Pinterest board of their favorite apparel. They asked their audience to:

  • Follow the brand page on Pinterest and create Valentine’s wish list, categorizing it under Women’s or Men’s apparel
  • Visit Barneys Pinterest page to pick items for the board

And this is what did the trick of increasing traffic: of all the products being included on the board, it was mandatory to include at least 5 from Barney’s store.

Barneys New York

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5. Uncommon Goods provided relief to last minute gift buyers

This campaign was rather “uncommon”… and very beautiful.

Uncommon goods, in their Valentine’s mail, asked people “Whose heart are you aiming for?” and depending upon the input (husband, wife, girlfriend etc), took them to landing pages where they could browse products aligning with their requirements.

Uncommon Goods

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In this campaign, there’s no mush, and yet, there is a sweet celebration of love.

Of all the amazing details that have gone in this campaign, we love these two, the most:

  1. That “my own” section which lets you pick gifts for yourself.
  2. And the “expedited shipping” which delivers the gifts on time.

6. Practo #HealthyBreakups advised us to break up with unhealthy habits

How will a healthcare company advertise on Valentine’s Day? Boring educational content or safety tips? Practo, a doctor discovery app, did something delightful- #HealthyBreakups!  

practo

This campaign posted interesting and interactive visuals on its Facebook and Twitter page, with an aim to educate consumers on some of the unhealthy habits they should ideally break up with. With graphics involving a heartbreaking up with french fries, and a pair of lungs breaking up with a cigarette; Practo pushed a pro-health message in a creative manner that was a great fit for social media engagement.

The health-tech marketing campaign was a huge success as Practo claims that the post reached out to over 1.4 million people on Facebook and 200k people on Twitter. They also claimed to have received over 10,000 shares on Facebook, and over 400 re-tweets on Twitter in a day.

Their brilliant concept combined with the successful execution has put them in our top 7 list.

7. Uber took a #RomanceonDemand route

What’s common between a cab company and Valentine’s Day? An Uber ride taking a couple from one place to another?

No, there’s always a creative route that doesn’t rely on a Google map 😉

Uber, in 15 major US cities, transformed its mobile app from regular ride-sharing into a rose delivery service.

Through their app, they gave customers a choice of requesting roses to be sent to their preferred location. Further, to make the evening even more special for the loved one, the bouquet of roses was delivered by a suited-up Uber driver with a personalized card, straight to their door.

Though this romantic gesture came with a cost of $100-150, it became highly popular and also encouraged app downloads.

uber

The Romance on Demand campaign was launched on Uber’s blog, via social channels with the hashtag #romanceondemand. The company even made a delightful YouTube video that got over 13k views. This campaign for Uber aligned extremely well with its customer base. The success of the campaign can easily be measured bher many Uber taking it to other countries and running it till 2017.

Conclusion

These marketing campaigns take creative approaches in incorporating the basic advertising element: “creating content that strikes the emotional chords”. Here, they dip in the feelings of love and the cupid hits its mark, without going overboard.

Such marketing approaches never lose their charm because they leave imprints on our hearts. And for any brand to be able to advertise, while keeping the spirit of love alive; that has a different appeal altogether.

For us, these campaigns belong to that category. They stand out, while still staying in the box… of love. May the love be with you!

As for all the singles out there, why don’t you try out a hen or stag weekend trips this time? Maybe Cupid will find you the love of your life on one of these adventures.

 

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