Despite the turbulent economic climate and the challenges of COVID 19, Valentine’s Day still presents a tremendous opportunity for brands to advertise their products.
COVID might be in the air and it has greatly affected how we do a lot of things, but that doesn’t mean love isn’t in the air as well. A survey says 59% of internet users in the United Kingdom and United States plan on buying a Valentine’s Day gift this year, with U.S. consumer spending predicted to reach over 21 billion U.S dollars.
One can still notice the increasing involvement of brands, eateries, hotels and other business locations as they push various activations to grow their relevance in the mind of consumers. Compared with activities within this period in the last few years, it is obvious that this marketing window is indeed becoming more relevant.
While brands and businesses were busy exploiting the Christmas and New Year marketing windows massively, great opportunities during Valentine’s day were begging for exploitation virtually every year. It is remarkable that brands are now increasingly noticing this gap and many of them are painting the city red.
Going around major Nigerian cities revealed that so many churches, social groups and cultural associations had special valentine events for couples with popular brands stepping in to sponsor some.
Since February 14, 269 AD when the Emperor Claudius-led Roman Empire sentenced Valentine, a Catholic priest, to death for conducting secret weddings, his death has been commemorated in so many countries across the world as St. Valentine’s Day. Presently, St. Valentine’s Day has grown to become a big business and shopping window. It is indeed regarded by many as the “second largest card sending holiday of the year,” after Christmas. Many analysts feel sales record puts it ahead of Easter.
Over the years, Valentine’s Day has evolved and expanded through aggressive marketing strategy, with men and women in the Western world scurrying to buy flowers and other gifts for their loved ones. Although in some countries rising covid cases have remarkably hampered celebrations. In other climes where some normalcy exist, it was celebration galore.
Valentine’s day has always been big business globally. According to the 2018 Valentine’s Day Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey presented by US-based Statistic Brain Research Institute, the average annual Valentine’s Day spending in the last few years was around $29.39 billion while the number of Valentine’s Day cards exchanged within the period was valued at $280 million. Average number of roses produced for Valentine’s Day is $376 million; revenue of domestically cut flowers in the United States alone was given as $273 million, while annual revenue from jewellery stores for the period was $2.9 billion.
As love birds don their red colour outfit, which is regarded as the official Val colour, and do Shakespeare’s bidding of spicing love with music in celebrating the heroics of St. Valentine, the event just like previous ones has remained remarkably gorgeous even with the looming strict COVID 19 guidelines existing in some countries.
From cinemas to cakes shops, hotels, resort centres, to quick service restaurants (QSR), brand owners and marketing buffs are unleashing several marketing strategies through discount offer, campaigns and promotions to lure customers through this growing marketing window. According to market research firm IBIS World, Valentine’s Day sales reached $27.3 billion in 2019.
To deepen the season of love in Lagos and environs, Domino Pizza, a popular eatery is making this season of love memorable with their newly launched spicy catfish pizza! The new Catfish Pizza special is a tasty mix of Pizza sauce, Mozzarella Cheese, Red Chili, Onions, Green Pepper toppings and Catfish!
Taking the experience up on a notch is an amazing Valentine deal of any Medium Classic + Lava Cake (now with M&M)+ 50cl Coke available from N4500 available in all Domino’s branches
Even the banks are not left out as Customers of Fidelity Bank are in for a treat this Valentine after the Bank announced plans to host a delightful evening of music, fun games and delightful experiences. Tagged “The Euphoria’’, the event is scheduled to hold this Saturday, 19 February 2022, with singers, comedians and other guest artistes entertaining guests.
Techno Mobile is thrilling her consumers with win a 30-seconds shopping spree this Val season. With the “Show Me Love” Valentine Promo, TECNO mobile is showing love with beautiful gifts, great discounts and much more. 21 lucky people also stand the chance to win a 30-seconds shopping spree.
OPPO Mobile Nigeria, is not leaving any stone unturned as it launches its 2022 Love Season Campaign titled “Say It with A Gift” to spread the spirit of love through gifting this valentine. OPPO Love Season also features exciting discounts and awesome gifts items to customers who buy select OPPO smartphones starting from the 3rd-15th Feb 2022.
Another leading mobile phone brand, Infinix, is giving consumers memorable Valentine’s Day treat with its ongoing #ShootYourShotWithInfinix campaign and your votes will be needed for the contestants to win.
It is obvious that Valentine’s Day has become one of the biggest non-traditional holidays, in many societies across the globe. Research affirms that the build up to the day, in terms of brand and media frenzy, is only surpassed by Christmas, which is widely regarded as the biggest traditional holiday in the world.
Valentine’s Day presents a tremendous opportunity for brands to advertise their products with the hype of the special day, increase sales, and get old customers to try the brand again.