MxMIndia

Tag: Valentines Day

  • The idea is to create two such Big Days each month. Especially in those months when there is no important festival. And then, in tandem with the media, market that day to the hilt

    Anil Thakraney: Marketers must conjure up more V Days

    By Anil Thakraney

     

    I write this piece on the lovely Valentine’s Day. Romance is in the air, and the social media is bursting with it. Even the mass media is doing its two bits to promote love. More so in Mumbai, now that the Shiv Sena has stopped beating up the heart shaped balloonwallahs.

     

    Guess it’s a huge day for florists, card sellers and other marketers. And I quietly snigger at the plight of all those dolts who forgot it’s the great V Day, and bought nothing for their partners. They’ve had it, I say! And in order to ‘make good’ for their crime, they will now have to rush to buy expensive goodies. When viewed as a gullible consumer, this sort of purchase pressure is kinda exploitative. However, this is an industry portal, so I am on the side of the canny marketers, and shall suggest that the Valentine’s Day Sales Carnival can easily be extended to an all year long bonanza. Leading to windfalls for the industry.

     

    The idea is to create two such Big Days each month. Especially in those months when there is no important festival. And then, in tandem with the media, market that day to the hilt. Imagine these: Daughter’s Day. Son’s Day. Granny’s Day. Chachi’s Day. Bhabhi’s Day. Cousin’s Day. Mother-in-law’s Day. And so on. I believe Father’s Day and Mother’s Day already exist, but for some strange reason, marketers haven’t been aggressive on them. They should be. India is a country of relations, we are emotional fools, people feel a strong sense of bonding with family, even the extended one. Wonder why CEOs have been sleeping on this goldmine. When heavy sales can happen even if there’s absolutely no need/want for the goods in the consumers’ lives.

     

    So go for it, guys. Declare a Special Day. Create a buzz around it. Get celebs talking about it. This will get the mass media interested. The social media chatter will follow. And voila! You have another day in the calendar to embellish the toplines.

     

    On that thought, happy belated Valentine’s Day. Hope, for your own well being, you didn’t forget to buy her/him an expensive gift. 🙂

     

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    PS: Cute idea from Scotland to promote tourism. They dressed up a couple of ponies in cardigan sweaters made out of local wool, used them in ads, and these creatures have turned into celebrities! And they help generate a great deal of curiosity about Scotland. We should do something similar with stray dogs and cows that line our streets. Dress them up in khadi kurtas. And Gandhi topis. 🙂

     

  • Come Feb, matters of the heart assume much importance for jewellers, restaurants, chocolatiers and even media companies

    Love makes for good business

     

    By Meghna Sharma

     

    If a price can be put on love, it is put in February. From hoardings on the urban landscape to the countless offers on products and services, everyone is looking to cash in on Valentine’s Day.

     

    Mohit Joshi

    “Valentine’s Day has become an important youth touchpoint over the years. It is almost like a ‘festival of youth’. This is why relevant brands cash on this unique opportunity through various consumer-connect programmes,” says Mohit Joshi, managing director, Havas Media India.

     

    For a brand which caters to various age groups and especially youth, which is usually scattered in their choice and opinion, the day acts as a perfect solution to catch their attention through the message of love.

     

    “The concept of Valentine’s Day mostly revolves around the idea of gifting, and hence we see many consumers opting for gift vouchers for their loved ones. It’s still not as big as New Year’s Day, wedding season, Diwali, etc, but we see a lot of traction towards our ‘beauty-oriented’ services. The demand for such services is much higher in this season and we see a surge of almost 15 percent especially when we run attractive promotions,” says Chhavi Sharma, marketing Manager, Kaya Ltd.

     

    Online shopping websites which cater mostly to youngsters are also reaching out to their TA with attractive offers. A spokesperson for Myntra.com says, “Festive seasons such as Diwali and Christmas have a mass appeal across all age groups, but Valentine’s Day is especially popular with the youth who constitute a large part of Myntra.com’s TG. This Valentine’s Day, Myntra.com is not only looking at giving shoppers great deals but is also trying to engage with them as a brand. With the Love Connection contest, the brand is engaging with its audience in a two-way conversation and giving them a chance to win prizes.”

     

    TimesMobileLtd. (TML) has launched a greetings and gifting mobile app, GreetZAP. The app introduces the concept of voice cards, which enables users to record a message and send it to their loved ones through physical Voice Cards, which are home delivered. Speaking about this new initiative, Ajay Vaishnavi, Director – Telecom, TML, said, “With Voice Cards, we have brought a new way to express feelings which today’s youth, who are very connected and tech-savvy, will love to use. With the GreetZAP app, they can do a lot more than sending plain text messages while greeting their near and dear ones.”

     

    However, many brands feel that age has nothing to do with it and are leaving no stone unturned to reach out to various age groups, as the Idea Valentine’s Day ad shows. SBI Life has launched a marketing campaign riding on the Valentine’s Day mood through their latest ad – Valentine Gift at 60 – across national and regional channels.

     

    Chandramohan Mehra, VP and Head – Brand and Cross Sell, SBI Life Insurance, says “High on emotional engagement, the campaign reinforces our promise of enabling customers to ‘Celebrate Life’. The idea is to trigger the thought of planning for post-retirement needs. Consistently, we continue to anchor our brand communication on positive emotions, to drive across the point that customers need to plan today so that they can continue to live life to the fullest.”

     

    Not only brands, but media too isn’t shying away from making the most of the opportunity. This Valentine’s Day, 92.7 BIG FM has announced the launch of a special campaign to rekindle romance among married couples. The campaign, named ‘Phir Pyaar Ho Gaya’, celebrates the season of love dedicated to married couples.

     

    Nikhil Gandhi

    “Given its place in the lives of our viewers, the day is an important one for us at Bindass since we are a 360-degree youth entertainment brand,” says Nikhil Gandhi, executive director, youth channels, media networks, DisneyUTV. The channel has partnered with Close-Up for their ‘Bindass Come Fall In Love’ initiative to give 10 couples a chance to go skydiving with their partners at Amby Valley.

     

     

     

    Arunabh Das

    Notwithstanding all the hype, the general feeling is that though the day has come up tremendously and is an interesting advertising opportunity for many, it’s still a small event. “If we compare the event with others like Diwali, it has a long way to go. Newspapers do get advertisements related to the day, but since not major economic activities take place around it, brands don’t take it that seriously,” says Arunabh Das Sharma, president, BCCL.

     

     

    Neel Kamal Sharma

    “Diwali and New Year have much more mass appeal and a larger opportunity for business as compared to Valentine’s Day which is still limited. So, by figuring out the relevance of these days for a product/ service, we work out suitable customized communication which will be more effective,” adds Neel Kamal Sharma, COO – Buying, Madison Group.

     

     

  • In Freaking News, Ranjona Banerji reviews the fare on primetime news and in the papers

    Need to relook at aid

    By Ranjona Banerji

     

    In a total break from television, let’s look at today’s newspapers and some thought-provoking opinion pieces. On The Times of India’s edit page, Ramesh Thakur looks at the conundrum of foreign aid which helps the donor more than the recipient. The issue has popped up again with the British media replaying Union finance minister Pranab Mukherjee’s year-old comment that the aid which India gets from Britain is “peanuts”.

     

    Thakur discusses how aid can often be crippling to a country trying to pick itself out of a crisis and what is most required is not handouts but forcing governments to perform. The Africa experience with aid has been much discussed and certainly no continent has suffered as much. Pakistan is also paying the price of too much and not even home-grown development.

     

    When India tried to stop aid from Britain, it was the British agencies which asked for the aid to continue. The call in Britain is to use that money internally, needed in times of cutbacks. It would make good sense perhaps for the governments of India and Britain to relook at aid to India. If we don’t need it and they do, why should we still take it?

     

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    In the Business Standard late last week, Mihir Sharma argued that contrary to popular belief, Indian governments give too many handouts to the rich and middle classes (“Handouts for the well-heeled”). It’s a well-argued piece, bolstered by facts, which should prove a shocker to middle class thinkers and people who usually see the poor as some undeserving, greedy, grasping lot who are a burden to the exchequer.

     

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    Sundeep Sengupta on the Hindu’s edit page puts into perspective how far India has strayed from its earlier stand on climate change and the consequences of conceding so much ground in Durban. Climate change no longer seems to be a hot ticket as far as the Indian media is concerned but that doesn’t make it any less important!
    Another subject which hasn’t perhaps been adequately discussed is the situation in Syria, especially from the Indian point of view. Krishnan Srinivasan, former Indian foreign secretary, has a look at the war-like situation in Syria and examines the role of UN sanctions.

     

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    Since it is Valentine’s Day, the Deccan Chronicle has looked at it seriously. Novelist Charu Nivedita questions whether India can know real love, hampered as it is by convention!

     

    On which note…

     

  • Celebrity love gurus, special sitcom marathons, music, channels have something special lined up for their viewers this Valentine's Day

    Television channels on Valentine mode

    By a Correspondent

     

    It’s Valentines Day today – a day celebrated by many, abhorred by some and perhaps overlooked by others. And some of the television channels, too, have tweaked their content to suit the Valentine mood.

     

    Zee Cafe

    Zee Cafe will broadcast back-to-back episodes of the popular romantic sitcom ‘Better with You’ from 1:30pm to 5pm on February 14. In addition to this, Zee Cafe has designed an application for Valentine’s Day called ‘Which Is Your Cafe Couple’ where users answer questions about their favourite song, ideal date and so on and based on their answers the app shows them which ‘Cafe Couple’ they’re most like. The result then shows up on the users’ wall with a link to the Cafe fan page and app.

     

    zoOm

    Bollywood celebrities Kareena and Imran will play Love Gurus for fans on zoOm. Katrina Kaif will give a style makeover to a lucky fan. Not only that, celebrities like Ritiesh-Genelia, Prateik-Amy Jackson will be a part of the four day lineup to celebrate the Valentine week on zoOm. The channel has lined up many other activities such as a Bollywood celebrity stylist giving tips for the perfect ‘Valentine’s Day Look’. zoOm has also put together a special music selection for Valentine’s Day.

     

    Big CBS Love

    Big CBS Love will broadcast a special series on romance, love and relationships from February 14 to February 17 from 10am to 10 called “Valentine’s Week Special – Crazy in Love”.