OTT player Lionsgate Play has launched a new campaign “LoveMoreBrowseLess” that will witness a series of videos and posts. The app has roped in actor Ananya Panday to amplify the campaign.
Said Amit Dhanuka – Executive Vice President, Lionsgate: “Valentine’s Day is an important day where traditionally we have seen content consumption go up. Last year we took a stand as a brand to be meaningful to singles who might feel left out with our #DateAMovie initiative. This year post the pandemic we want to take a bold stand and encourage people to go out and do something special with their loved ones as we finally can (at least in India). We are thrilled to launch, #LoveMoreBrowseLess wherein along with famous Bollywood Star “Ananya Pandey” we are encouraging people to make time for Love at least on this day. Ananya has curated a brilliant experience for 3 couples across Mumbai, Delhi & Bangalore which people can win by participating in a simple contest on our social media.”
Ogilvy created a new ad series for Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk. The campaign has six videos.
Said Zenobia Pithawalla, Senior Executive Creative Director & Mihir Chanchani, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy India: “Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk decided to celebrate Valentine’s Day like never before. By giving young people in love ideas, on how to celebrate Valentine’s Day in these tough times. Tying in aptly with its larger communication idea, ‘How far will you go for love’.”
Added Neville Shah, Executive Creative Director, Ogilvy India said: “These simple stories attempt to inspire couples to surprise their partners. It’s not about the bigness of the act. It’s about the grandness of the thought. And that’s the simple intent. We designed them for short format surfaces and deployed them episodically, increasing the interest with each asset. A campaign designed for love. Simple.”
Said Anil Viswanathan, Senior Director, Marketing (Chocolates), Insights and Analytics, Mondelez India: “Being synonymous with Valentine’s Day for almost a decade, Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk has been inspiring consumers to celebrate the season of romance and making the day count in their love story. Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk has built and strengthened consumer love and connect with youth in India through relevant storytelling and personalised offerings. Our recent campaign “How Far Will You Go For Love” was received very well, winning consumers hearts especially with Gen Z strengthening overall brand appeal and emotional connect with this audience. Valentine’s Day is an important day in our consumer’s life, and they believe in making the day count. They know that words often fall short to express their deepest emotions for the dear ones in their lives and they share a special bond with Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk to express themselves.”
Added Shekhar Banerjee, Chief Client Officer and Head – West, Wavemaker India: “The year gone by has been quite different and difficult for most of us and especially for young couples who have been staying away from their partner / loved ones. Going into this year’s Valentine’s Day we managed to bring the brand much more integral to expressing love. We went an extra mile to make Valentine’s Day furthermore special for young couples through custom partnerships with web series and showcasing true inspiring stories in association with Humans of Bombay and Terribly Tiny Tales”
Voot Studio and Mia by Tanishq have collaborated for a Valentine’s Day brand film. Voot Studio has conceptualized and created a 40-second film as part of a campaign to showcase Mia’s ‘The Cupid Edit’ Valentine’s Day collection.
Said Gourav Rakshit, COO at Viacom18 Digital Ventures: “Voot Studio has been an effective partner for brands in their objective of driving the right message, reach and resonance through engaging and interesting brand solutions. Mia by Tanishq is a very progressive brand that breaks stereotypes through its inspiring product line and messaging. We are happy to partner with them in creating a captivating film for their latest launch that will strike the right chord with the right relevant audiences on Voot.”
Added Shyamala Ramanan, Business Head, Mia by Tanishq: “Mia is a line of fine jewellery, hand crafted for the woman of today. ’Mine’ in Italian, Mia is unique, precious and beautiful. Our Valentine collection, The Cupid Edit, captures the Pearl’s timeless allure in combination with the brilliance of diamonds in a modern avatar. We are excited to collaborate with Voot, as it is a perfect platform to run an exclusive brand campaign for our latest collection.”
Yardley has launched London’s Gentleman Classic Daily Wear Perfume as a Valentine’s Day Special. Actor Genelia Deshmukh will feature in the digital campaign – #GiftForMyGentlemen. The brand also roped in influencers Pria Beniwal and Sunakshi Grover to share the ideal gift for the man in their life.
Said Manish Vyas, Vice President and Business Head of Yardley India: “The true hallmark of a Gentlemen is his definitive, awe-inspiring, chivalrous nature. This Valentine’s Day, as women look for the perfect gift to celebrate their timeless love for the gentlemen in their life, we at Yardley have the ideal gift – Yardley London’s Gentleman Classic Daily Wear Perfume. We are happy to associate with Geneila Deshmukh, who really values the Gentleman qualities of her husband and sees Yardley London’s Gentleman Daily wear perfumes to be the fitting gift for this Valentine. This campaign is an attempt by the brand to let consumers celebrate the timeless emotion of love by gifting timeless classic – Yardley London’s Gentleman Classic Daily Wear Perfume.”
Valentine’s Day 2020 is just another day. For a majority, this templated festival of expectations, the celebration of love and care would come and go like the other such days, Rose Day, Proposal Day… associated with it.
It was Valentine’s Day, and the prices of roses expectedly hit the circuit-breaker around February 14. In the era of proximity, floating or fleeting loyalty, the app-led search for love and commitments, high cost of expression and permanence of tattoos, it was templated.
It was celebrated because the marketing community had put peer pressure for you to celebrate it. The ritual of love, roses, gifts and dining were performed. It was no longer about what you wanted to do but about what you should be doing.
For the brands addressing young adults, It was an opportunity to stand apart, be quirky, cheeky and leverage the festival mood.
In my timelines, WhatsApp was full of silly jokes around love, sex, wife, girlfriend ex or otherwise, commitment and future relationships.
For me, the evening was spent with wife dressed in Valentine colours at the St Andrew’s College Auditorium, Bandra. Ad Club COO Bipin Pandit and his group of specially talented singers and musicians under the banner of Khumaar, a celebration of love and romance kept one entertained with songs of love and romance.
BRAND AND VALENTINE’S DAY.
One of the regular readers of my blog (thanks) sent me two clips. In her view, they were a great example of brands attempts to remain relevant. The brands were willing to innovate within the constraints. And that made me think.
VALENTINE AND AFFECTION
Oh, Yes, the nation again saw some groups disturbing couples in a few cities. The self-proclaimed extra-vigilant valentine social regulators took upon themselves to draw the line according to their ill-defined interpretation of culture and social expectations.
Brand Manforce after having burnt their fingers during Sunny LeoneNavratri hoarding some year back recognised this unbridged gap in the era of video traping. It urged young couples to exercise caution during Public Display of Affection (PDA) and digitally capturing their moments of intimacy. It was purpose-led safer sex. #YouAreNotAlone follows their earlier campaign #ShutThePhoneUp. Lovely, to see a brand continuing to focus on the same idea.
Durex, the other condom, moved towards 365 days of love, care and sex. Three years back, the brand asked couples to connect on Valentine’s Day and give your mobile a rest. The brand has been slowly evolving. And if you see their international work, you will realise they are at different point of evolution across countries.
So, Durex now sees the redundancy of Valentine’s Day. Who needs it when every day could be Valentine’s Day. It seems to talk the language of the current generation, always-on, curious, and questioning traditional relevance.
Valentine’s Day is here and we’re NOT excited! Because let’s face it, with Durex everyday is a celebration and hence #EverydayIsValentines! So, select the most boring gifts you have received on this day from the options below and we will gift you something super exciting instead!
— Durex India (@DurexIndia) February 11, 2020
OTT GOES OVER THE TOP ON VALENTINE DAY.
Netflix, on the other side, has a finger on the pulse of young adults. Their message ‘We are sincerely and terribly sorry for all the drama we’ve caused before. We promise to be better’ was definitely beautiful and relevant. Netflix apologised for all the fights it has started. It silently made the point of its high viewer engagement and involvement. It is a nice cheeky way to leverage the festival with strong product service association. It was treated like a Netflix original and starred ‘Maskaby’ cast, a Netflix original to be released later this year. I hope the audience loved it.
BURGER KING BRILLIANT TAKE ON VALENTINE’S DAY.
The Burger King and McDonald’s rivalry is well-known and documented. The brands have given us many moments of wow. This one is no different.
This year, way Burger King looked at Ronald (the McDonald Clown Mascot) and branded it as the most lonely person on earth, it is just superb. The script remains true to the valentine ethos while refocussing on the competition.
The communication is cheeky. The loneliest man in the world has always been in front of their eyes. Burger King asks customers to go ahead give company to the loneliest man on earth, take a picture or two and tag @burgerkingindia to get a free Whopper this Valentine’s Day. #LonelyNoMore. Must compliment the team that saw this opportunity.
PEPSI SOLO LOSES THE PLOT.
Now compare Netflix, Manforce with a brand like Pepsi using an overexposed fifty-plus star for Solo Swag. The timing absolutely bang on. The message and brand ambassador choice questionable. The spot has high visibility and attracted millions of viewers. Hope, the brand does not misinterpret views with brand affiliation.
https://youtu.be/MOVM4757i-Q
BOROSIL FAILS ON VALENTINE METER.
BOROSIL in the changing societal environment tries exploring the first Valentine Day for the same-gender couple. The idea is excellent. The curtailed expressions of the same-gender couples in the earlier era have been well-captured. ‘I hated Valentine Day, not because I did not have someone to share, but because I did’ is brilliant and powerful.
The brand missed because of a weak product association. And whatever was left was destroyed by adding the end-super about Supreme Court’s favourable verdict on section 377 in 2018! Should it be the first or the second Valentine’s Day? The subtlety was lost, and the forced brand integration is fragile. It happens when brands search for a purpose and find one that is constrained.
BRAND GRAVEYARD ON VALENTINE’S DAY.
Few brands remained functional, so they played safe with their communication on Valentine’s Day, neither gaining or losing. Brands like, Hide and Seek, KFC (Bucket bae), and Platinum Bands.
Kalyan Jewellers tried to play the patriotic card to align with the feelings of women missing their husbands who are on duty at the border.
Don’t forget ‘The Man Company’ trying to make it simple for all kinds of love. ‘Love knows no age, religion or gender’. Very stereotyped expression.
MELORRA RUINED SOMETHING.
Here is the one I loved until it exposed itself as a pure selling tool. Upping the game fell flat when it got down to giving brand items as a gift. Melorra campaign was was bubbly, strong, confident, cheeky, empowering and full of attitude and then it was just about sales. #UpYourGiftingGame
THEY DON’T MAKE THEM LIKE THIS ANYMORE.
The one that I would rate highly is SBI INSURANCE Valentine’s Day ad. Watch it to know how it touches the chord. It is an excellent example of emotion and product linkages. ‘Hira Kya Zane Tumhari Umar’.
Leave it, if there are no dots, stop connecting them. If you have a real purpose that is brand linked and allows you to leverage an opportunity- go right ahead. Otherwise, it is a waste to do forced integration.
Gipsi, the AI + HI division of Tonic Worldwide, has released a report highlighting actionable insights from the digital data universe basis a comparative trend over the last three years for Valentine’s Day.
Key highlights from the report:
According to the report, women are taking the lead in gifting their partners. Compared to 2018 where searches for ‘gifting for him’ were 50 per cent vs searches for ‘Gifting for her’, 2019 saw the search volumes grow to 55 per cent exceeding searches for ‘Gifting for her’ which dropped to 45 per cent. The growth continues this year. While brands have been targeting women for gifting men, we will see an increase in spends for targeting women.
Searches for ‘Valentine’s Day ideas’ has declined by 21 per cent from 2017 to 2019. However, there was an increase of 26 per cent in Valentine’s day events from 2017 to 2019, whereas, Valentine travel and destination was buzzing with a 33 per cent rise in 2019 searches for travel offers and deals around the special day.
There was also a 67 per cent rise in searches for eco-friendly gifting options from 2017 to 2019, which is expected to grow by 30 per cent this year. In social conversations love for each other is expressed through love for green.
An increase in gay valentine searches by 29 per cent from 2017-2019 shows that there is high awareness around the LGBTQ community, and it is likely to be higher this year. There is a significant chatter around the LGBTQ proud and out expressing their wishes for the V-Day
Commenting on the report, Unmisha Bhatt, Chief Strategy Officer and Director – India & MENA region, Tonic Worldwide, said: “Brands are constantly struggling today on making actionable implications from data.. With our Valentine day snapshot, we attempt showcasing how simple data points can change perspectives and focus areas for brand, business and communication.”
Added Anjali Malthankar, National Strategy Director, Tonic Worldwide: “Gipsi is agile and adapts to multiple data points. It identifies the under currents and also validates them through various data points. The biggest insight for 2020 Valentine for me is that Valentine is being used for larger purposes – Green, LGBTQ, spreading love to fight Social media’s toxic sentiment. This in my mind is a rise of Valentine’s day in our country where it was seen as a western concept and had become a target for political agendas.”
ColorPlus has launched an ad film for Valentine’s Day that attempts to encapsulate the essence of true love.
Said Sheetal Seth, Head of Marketing & Digital – ColorPlus:“With the widest range of colors to choose from at ColorPlus, we wanted to put forth our story in an engaging manner. Our insight – love has many colors, but knowing men are bad at expressing themselves we wanted to bring out this softer side in an engaging manner and no better occasion than Valentine’s Day.”
Added Vivek Bhambhani, Group Creative Director, Grey India: “The colour of love isn’t just red as Valentine’s Day would like us to believe. Love has many shades. A relationship could be bright and cheery one minute, and feeling blue the next. So, we didn’t want to do a typical lovey-dovey film. We wanted to capture the other shades of love – like in the midst of a fight and how, in the end, true love triumphs. Now, the critical element to fixing any relationship issue is communication. And that’s what the little notes dropped in ColorPlus shirt pockets help achieve in this film.”
Big Bazaar celebrates love with two digital ads planned for the Valentine’s Day weekend.. Connecting with the young elders in every family, the first campaign narrates a special bond shared between an old married couple. The second campaign features a special marriage where the wife is hearing and speech impaired.
Speaking about the campaign Pawan Sarda, CMO, Future Retail said: “As a brand, Big Bazaar has always believed in celebrating occasions and moments with everyone. The Love Weekend at Big Bazaar celebrates an all-inclusive valentine’s day with all our customers. From young elders to specially abled, everyone has a love story. We welcome our customers to visit our stores to experience this special kind of love from Feb 14-16, after all #LoveSabkeLiye.”
Big Bazaar has organised a Love Walkathon that will be held on February 15 which invites over 10,000 young elders and persons with disability to participate. In addition to this, all Big Bazaar stores will be offering a range of gifting offers grooming products and the latest fashion collection.
Lotte Choco Pie has launched ‘Pause To Cherish’, its Valentine’s Day digital campaign launched under its Lotte Fest initiative.
Said Venkatesh Parthasarathy, VP Marketing, Lotte India: “For decades, Valentine’s Day is so strongly associated with youngsters in our country while it actually represents love, affection and friendship without any age barrier. We are truly excited to celebrate the love of seasoned couples in our country which, I feel, will inspire the young. In this digital world, the old-fashioned way of expressing love in the form of letter cards can make these Valentines feel extra special and I am confident that through this campaign Lotte Choco Pie will make their enduring relationship more memorable.”
CaratLane has tapped into the emoji-speaking, meme-sharing and self-expressive nature of millennials with an upbeat Valentine’s campaign titled the ‘New Expressions of Love.’ Conceptualised by Lowe Lintas, the campaign rolled out nationally with a combination of TV, digital and CaratLane’s social media channel.
Talking about the campaign Atul Sinha- Senior Vice President Marketing, CaratLane said: “The New Expressions of Love’ campaign beautifully captures how we’ve made precious jewellery the coolest (yet affordable) way to express your love this Valentine’s Day. Every design from our Valentine’s collection comes with an expression, all you have to do is choose yours. If she makes you LOL all the time, then tell her so with the smiley ring!”.
Tanishq, India’s leading jewelry retail brand is famous for its blend of traditional values coupled with a modern outlook in its product designs. While showcasing its unique offerings, the brand’s various campaigns have always provided a fresh perspective to ornament purchase.
On the occasion of 2017 Valentine’s Day, Tanishq and 22feet Tribal Worldwide are back with a new film which beckons the viewers to give a #GiftFullOfLove to the person you love. Not because it’s a day to celebrate ‘love’, but because you love them. The film looks at Valentine’s Day as not just an occasion to celebrate love between two spouses but as an occasion to celebrate love in all forms and relationships. It explores various relationships a person has in their lifetime and how Valentine’s Day is a celebration of all of them. An older couple, a recently married couple, two sisters, father and daughter, all of them come together to celebrate this day of love with Tanishq- a Gift Full of Love.
The background monologue states how love is not bound by age or marital status; that one can choose their own Valentine or be their own Valentine! The act of gifting should be filled with love irrespective of one’s choice. All this while cleverly showcasing Tanishq’s various branch outlets across the country.
This film simply serves as an unusual take on one of the many simple truths of life and breaks the clutter for the brand. It has received an overwhelming response from the brand’s social followers, resulting in over 111K views and 337 shares on Facebook alone since the film’s release on February 08, 2017.
Added Ramraaj Raghunathan, Business Development Lead, 22feet Tribal Worldwide, “Tanishq has always been passionate about exploring and celebrating the bonds that connect people. Our products symbolize love, trust and commitment. Though this web film on Valentine’s Day, we hope to encapsulate love in all its forms and celebrate it with all of customers.â€
The on-ground leg to the activation brings to life the joy of expression through personalized calligraphic cards being printed in stores with a personalized message of love. This will be given with every pack of ALPINO. This promotional activity is driving engagement in Delhi/NCR, Mumbai and Bangalore by partnering with Moreretail chain.
Voot Studio and Mia by Tanishq have collaborated for a Valentine’s Day brand film. Voot Studio has conceptualized and created a 40-second film as part of a campaign to showcase Mia’s ‘The Cupid Edit’ Valentine’s Day collection.
Valentine’s Day 2020 is just another day. For a majority, this templated festival of expectations, the celebration of love and care would come and go like the other such days, Rose Day, Proposal Day… associated with it.
Nestlé ALPINO is set to celebrate lovewith popular rom-com writer Anuja Chauhan for an exciting Valentine’s Day activity titled ALPINO Love Notes with Anuja Chauhan.