Brands celebrate the little nuances of love this Valentine’s Day

Brands have become adept at converting every occasion into a marketing opportunity. While the Onam-Dussehra/ Gurga Puja-Diwali-Christmas period has been the prime festive season in India, brands have also leveraged occasions such as Republic Day, Independence Day, Raksha Bandhan, Mother’s Day, Father’s Day for marketing blitz. Similarly, over the years, Valentine’s Day has turned into a mega marketing opportunity, where brands get busy wooing lovers of all ages.

Seen as a major occasion for gifting, brands across categories ranging from jewellery, apparel, fragrance and accessories to F&B, hotels & restaurants, go on a marketing overdrive during Valentine’s Day.

Historically, February 14 was celebrated in honour of 3rd century Roman saint, Saint Valentine, who was associated with a tradition of courtly love. However, because of later folk traditions, it has become a crucial cultural, religious, and commercial celebration of romance and love in many parts of the globe. Valentine’s Day is the most awaited day for many youths and couples to share their affection and love. The feeling of love is usually expressed in red and white colours and couples exchange gifts. Marketers have converted the occasion into a week-long celebration of love under different names such as Rose Day, Hug Day, Kiss Day, etc., leading up to Valentine’s Day.

As people hunt for the perfect gift for their loved one, markets see a buying frenzy. With the rapid adoption of digital, e-commerce websites also see a major surge during this festival. The pandemic has further accelerated this move to digital.

Leveraging the Valentine’s Day, Lay’s Wafer Style, the thinnest chips from the house of Lay’s, is spreading joy by reminding the youth to ‘Take Love Lightly’ as they celebrate the season of love in a fun manner. Special videos by Lay’s brand ambassador Alia Bhatt and Bollywood actor Siddhant Chaturvedi spark celebrations of enjoying love lightly.

Elaborating on the campaign, Shailja Joshi, Director – Marketing, Potato Chips Category, PepsiCo India, said, “Lay’s believes in adding joy to everyday moments. With our newest and thinnest chips from the House of Lay’s – Lay’s Wafer style – we aim to make Valentine’s Day a light-hearted and enjoyable occasion for our consumers. The exciting content from the popular influencers exemplifies real moments between young couples today, that we hope consumers across the country can relate with and take love lightly this Valentine’s Day.”

Fragrances are one of the most thoughtful gifts for Valentine’s Day, as they’re very personal, intimate, and create everlasting memories for the person. SKINN by Titan, a fine fragrance brand, has launched a digital film featuring Bollywood actress Sanya Malhotra and upcoming OTT star Suhail Nayyar on the special occasion of Valentine’s Day. The #BestSaidWithSKINN campaign celebrates imperfectly perfect relationships by capturing the finer nuances of love, which are not only about sparks flying in the air, but more about the deep sense of assurance that comes over a period of time.

Commenting on the campaign, Ankit Kasliwal, Head of Marketing, Fragrance Division, Titan Company, said, “There are often expressions of love that remain unsaid as words fall short while conveying the true depth of feelings. Gifting a fine fragrance to a loved one, thus becomes an intimate and expressive gesture. For this Valentine’s Day, we wanted to capture this true essence of love that runs deep and showcase these imperfectly “perfect relationships”, where the little unsaid moments can be rejoiced with SKINN by Titan.” 

Fashion is another category that sees a spike during this festival. Shoe brand CityWalk has launched their brand to be part of the Valentine’s Day. They have also launched their campaign that captures the feeling with #BACKWITHLOVE, which celebrates the spirit of togetherness and encourages all visitors to indulge and do the things that they love and the people they love the most.

Commenting on the Valentine’s Day Campaign, Yogeshwar Sharma, Executive Director and CEO, Select Infrastructure, said, “As the restrictions ease out and the weekend curfew is lifted, we are slowly entering a new and positive chapter in our lives. We are hopeful of a renewed vigour in the season, and we want to celebrate this coming back to life with our #BACKWITHLOVE campaign, which urges everyone to welcome life, love and happiness with open arms again.”