Designer watches, dancing cars - brands set up new love goals this Valentine’s Day

As in the past years, brands have come up with a variety of campaigns and marketing drives to tap into the spirit of Valentine’s Day. Adgully takes a look at what’s on offer this year... 

Tanishq – #LoveRemains 

As a brand that celebrates relationships, Tanishq over the years has always presented a very mature and progressive point of view on the subject of ‘love’. With the true meaning of love most often getting lost in the distraction of overt displays of love like candies, soft toys, marshmallows, heart emojis, etc., Tanishq decided to do something touching this Valentine’s Day. 

The brand has come up with a new ad film, conceptualised by Arun Iyer, Chairman & CCO, Lowe Lintas, and directed by Gauri Shinde, that seeks to give Valentine’s Day a whole new meaning. The film brings on camera, real people who had a relationship in the past to talk about their belief in love. A series of candid conversations made by corporate executives, artists, actors like Sandhya Mridul and Manav Kaul, hark back to their relationships and cherish what remains – ‘love’. The film leaves the viewers with a touching message to “keep celebrating love”. 

Speaking about this film, Deepika Tewari, AVP – Marketing, Tanishq, quipped, “Valentine’s Day is a day when the world celebrates love. We at Tanishq have tried to reflect an aspect of love that goes on forever. In this new film, we captured 7 real love stories. In the journey of life, these people fell in love and each of their relationship has left behind something that they will cherish forever. These stories pull a heart string and evoke a strong sense of emotion and are very relevant and relatable, especially today. Because whatever happens in the journey of life, we would like people to keep celebrating love. Because love always remains.” 

Arun Iyer added here, “The idea came from a very simple thought. On Valentine’s Day, everyone celebrates the beauty of love. But what about the difficult bits? It’s the ones who have seen this other side of love that truly know what it’s like to be in it. We thought that Tanishq, a brand that has always shown the mature side of relationships, should not just celebrate the good parts of love, but also the sacrifices and hardships that make it stronger. It was a very difficult film to execute as everyone in the video is a friend or a friend of a friend, who is pouring his or her heart out on camera. And with Gauri on board, it was truly an immersive experience.” 

Watch the film:
https://youtu.be/ia-FJv3U_NY 

Swiggy – #MyValenDine 

Matching in the modern-day is all about choosing a partner (by face) and hoping it ‘clicks’. This Valentine’s Day, among all the roses and right-swipes, Swiggy and their digital agency partner, Dentsu Webchutney, have come up with a novel approach to finding the perfect match. 

Swiggy has created My ValenDine, an opt-in platform, which uses interested Swiggy users’ order history and matches them based on their favourite food and preferences. On Valentine’s Day, users come back to the microsite to find who their ValenDine’s matches are. 

Ashish Lingamneni, AVP – Marketing, Swiggy, explained, “Food is one thing that nearly every Indian loves, in their own different way. However, there are so many people out there who would have similarities in which they order and enjoy their food. As India’s top food delivery service, we see these similarities on a daily basis. So we thought, ‘What could we do with India’s greatest talking point – food?’” 

Valentine’s Day is incomplete without a serving of one’s favorite food, mixed with a dash of love. Taking the mantle from Cupid this Valentine’s Day, Swiggy decided to help people find their food valentines. Dubbed ‘Valendine’, this clever little algorithm helped people match with other Swiggy users, who have similar favourite foods, order times and special requests. This completely opt-in microsite was available for users between Feb 11^th and Feb 12^th, it aimed to help people bond over their mutual love for food. The proverbial icing on the cake? If someone is able to find their gastronomical other half in time for Valentine’s Day, they may even win an exclusive Swiggy voucher. In fact, the site hit immediate success with close to 1000 registrations within the first few hours.

PG Aditya, Creative Director, Dentsu Webchutney, Bangalore, added here, “The insight came from one of the seemingly bigger challenges of modern dating – it’s not a match if you have nothing in common. Food is the perfect talking point – everyone has a particular food they love, and a particular way they love their food. With Swiggy’s user data, we have found a way to use this to bring people of similar tastes together.” 

The campaign was launched on Sunday, February 11, on myvalendine.swiggy.com, where registrations were open until Monday night. Interested users had to register before the deadline with their name, phone number and a link to their Facebook profile. 

The site hit immediate success on Sunday, with close to 1,000 registrations within the first few hours, despite limited promotion. “Food plays a far more important role in our society than just filling our tummies”, Lingamneni continued. “This is just one of the innovative ways in which the team has been exploring the things food can do.” 

Syska LED – The light of love 

Leading LED lighting solutions company in India, Syska LED, has rolled out two digital marketing campaigns this Valentine’s Day. The key objective behind the conceptualisation of both the digital campaigns was to showcase and spread awareness of love in the form of LED lights. Conceptualised by IBD, a Percept Company, the creative script is not just about romantic love; it celebrates all forms of love. Syska LED plugged into this emotion with a couple of sweet, heartfelt films that turned the spotlight on the innocent love between a young girl and a puppy she finds and the abiding bond between two old friends who have stood by each other through the years. Promoted via #LightOfLove, these films are winning hearts and evoking both a smile and a tear on YouTube. 

Commenting on the new Syska LED digital campaigns, Rahul Gupta, Managing Director, IBD, said, “This campaign will entail the contribution of digital in a maximum way as its role is increasing significantly among the Indian audience of today. For this year’s Valentine’s Day campaign, the brand will integrate with social media platforms like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and on their YouTube channel; all with an aim to reach out to its potential target audience for this campaign. Our current endeavour is not just about romantic love, but to spread the Light of Love among all and drive the message strongly through LED lights of Syska.” 

Vivo V7+ – Designer dreams 

To celebrate the season of love, Vivo India has roped in ace designer Manish Malhotra to design the V7+ limited edition. Mullen Lintas conceptualised the ad film for this limited edition. The agency bagged this project following a competitive multi-agency pitch. 

Men often struggle to find a perfect gift for their lady love, every year on Valentine’s Day. Working on this insight, Mullen Lintas has created the new film, delivering on the brand’s thought of exhibiting the limited edition as the most desired gift, one can give to their valentine to express their profound love. The ‘Infinite Love’ motif at the back of the phone adds uniqueness and exclusivity to the product. The story revolves around a guy, who has found the perfect gift for his lady love. The film plot seamlessly combines the design features of the phone in a fun and romantic way that is sure to woo every girl. Manish Malhotra’s appearance in the film furthers the phone’s exclusivity. 

Kenny Zeng, CMO, Vivo India, commented, “Vivo has always believed in delighting the customers with its product and design innovation. With the launch of V7+ Manish Malhotra Limited Edition, we are providing an opportunity for consumers to express their love in a more elegant and captivating manner. The ad film conceptualised for this limited edition beautifully captures the endearing emotions of finding the perfect gift for your valentine on this Valentine’s Day.” 

Shriram Iyer, President and NCD, Mullen Lintas, elaborated, “Vivo wanted us to create a film for their V7+ Valentine’s Day limited edition phone that should stand out in the clutter. When we looked at the task deeply, we realised that most of the men fail to impress their women with poor gift choices. So, the idea was crafted to assure guys that this is the ultimate gift for their Valentine and in the same breath it assures women that they will be swept off their feet.” 

Syed Amjad Ali, President, Mullen Lintas, added here, “Vivo is an extremely exciting and a popular brand in the country today and we got an equally exciting product to work upon. V7+ is an awesome product and it deserved a great idea. The product and the campaign is truly clutter breaking.” 

Watch the film:
https://youtu.be/XF7VT3FrhqM 

Roadster – Dancing Car 

Roadster, one of India’s top outdoor lifestyle brands conceived by Myntra, has put up a bold, yet hilarious video on social and digital media platforms, as a lively tribute to Valentine’s Day. The theme of the 10-second film twirls around the flavour of fun and tease associated with this day, by making much of the archetypal dancing car. 

For Gunjan Soni, Head – Jabong and CMO - Myntra, "The Roadster Life Co. is a brand about experiences on the road, and as such, exploring and adventure is imminent. This Valentine’s Day we decided to take a road less travelled! The digital campaign is for anyone who enjoys a bit of humor. The message is simple - hit the road and enjoy the experiences, whether it's finding hairpin bends, great little food places or solace by the wayside. We are looking at this content being engaging to our current fan base and interesting to our newer audiences."

The campaign has been conceptualised by the agency Brave New World and is produced by VF Films. 

The objective of the campaign is to make it engaging for the brand’s current fan base as well as garner interest from newer audiences. This is also part of a larger marketing strategy, recognising the importance of staying relevant by having a ‘brand-take’ on events – some funny, some serious, but all deeply rooted in its space, allowing audiences to see the various shades of the brand and relate to it better. 

Snapdeal – Valentine’s Store 

Snapdeal has set up a special Valentine’s Store to celebrate the season of love that is offering a variety of products for expressing love not just towards spouse and romantic partners, but also towards parents, teachers, children and friends. Popular gifting categories include fashion, fragrances, home décor and electronics. 

The top selling items on the store are fragrances, soft toys, fashion jewellery and couple T-shirts with special Valentine’s Day designs. Gold and silver-plated flowers, candles, decorative jewellery boxes, sunglasses, and mugs are the other items which are popular as gift items. A minimum discount of 30 per cent on fragrances and an additional 10 per cent discount on many leading credit cards has also offered buyers greater value for their purchases. 

“Valentine’s Day can be about so much more than chocolates and flowers. At Snapdeal, we offer a convenient one-stop shop with a great variety of thoughtful gift items,” said a Snapdeal spokesperson. 

Shopholix – Spyk the Love 

Shopholix, India’s first fashion & lifestyle couponing platform for brick & mortar stores, has launched a special campaign called ‘Spyk the Love’ to reward shoppers who express the most affection for their loved ones. As part of the campaign, launched in association with fashion brand Spykar, Shopholix is placing several Valentine’s Booths across malls in Mumbai from February 13 to 18, 2018. 

Shoppers can participate in the campaign by visiting the photo booths set up by Shopholix and Spykar, hold the heart/ placard/ props of their choice, and share their picture with their loved ones. Not only the people getting the most love and likes on Shopholix for their photos will stand to win a host of prizes from Spykar, every like will get a special Valentine’s Day gift voucher from Spykar as a show of respect for spreading the love. 

Speaking about the campaign, Hemant Upadhyay, Co-founder & CEO, Shopholix, said, “Valentine’s Day is not just for couples. It is, in fact, more about expressing your love for anyone special in your life, be it your parents, your siblings, or even your friends. Shopping, for most, is usually a group activity done with people they are close to, and Shopholix aims to make the experience even more delightful during the Valentine’s week. We are delighted to associate with a leading fashion brand like Spykar for the campaign and are sure that the offer will make the season of love extra special for our consumers.” 

Shoppers can use #spykinlove #iloveable when sharing their pictures on social media and tag their friends to get the most likes. The people with the maximum love shared will receive a grand prizes worth over Rs 30,000 from Spykar. Every participant will get a gift voucher from Spykar on the spot for participating. 

Idea Music – Say it with a song 

Idea Music, the one-stop entertainment destination from Idea Cellular, has ramped up its music collection for this season. Love comes in all languages and the same holds true for the Idea Music app, which has created a special collection of playlist across 13 languages to dedicate the right song to one’s loved ones. 

Whether it’s ‘Truly Madly Deeply’ by Savage Garden, or ‘Hans Matt Pagli’ by Sonu Nigam, or even Diljith Dosanjh’s ‘Do you know’ topping the Punjabi charts – the app has a wide range of songs to choose from to express love for the special one. 

This year, since Valentine’s Day is coinciding with Maha Shivaratri, the Idea Music app has also curated music reflecting diverse form of Indian culture with devotional songs for Maha Shivaratri. Idea Music has compiled a list of devotional songs to for devotees to celebrate the festival. This includes songs of Mahashiv Jagran by Anuradha Paudwal, Mahashivratri Katha by Debashish Das Gupta, Dhyanam Shlok by Asha Bhonsale and songs by Pandit Gyanendra Sharma, Om Namah Shivay by Nitin, Jai Ho Sambhu Deva by Suresh Wadkar, Brahma Vishnu Shivshankar by Anuradha Paudwal for devotees.

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