This year brands have chosen to mark V-day more discreetly, adjusting their investments to the current economic climate. It’s the gesture that counts. 😊 As love of any kind deserves a chance, brands have not hesitated to use their creativity especially in digital actions through various fresh approaches on the subject. By contrast, in the West they still invest in dedicated executions, including commercials.

Netflix Romania

As always with top-notch communication on Social Media, Netflix once again demonstrates how easily you can insert your product or service into contextual communication: they used stills from the shows they wanted to promote to address the theme of couple love.

In addition to the horoscope series featuring characters from the Romanian film Teambuilding, they promoted a series of mushy-mushy sequences only good for sharing.

And because Netflix and Chill hasn’t been a secret to anyone for long, they’ve also created a series of Netflix and Chill Valentine’s typologies with anyone you want (it can even be you!).

Victoria’s Secret

In one of the most important moments of the year for the brand, Victoria’s Secret launched its Valentine’s collection with a modern message: Love, you! It builds on the modern trend of acceptance, self-love and celebrating the way you look.

You can watch the campaign launch video here, and also here.

Seen as a series of messages of love from you to you, this year’s campaign challenges classic beauty standards and features a range of different models from what you might expect, from +sizes to people of colour.

For the Romanian audience they have developed a component with influencers who recommend different outfits, the first of them being proposed by Rebeca Dragomir, known in the fashion and lifestyle area.

And for those who didn’t have time to prepare gifts, they also had a promotional component: when you bought products worth 700 lei you could receive a blanket for 1 leu.

Electric Castle

One of Romania’s biggest festivals is taking a different approach this year: it’s celebrating Valentine and Valentina with a social media contest. The grand prize? One of 100 double invitations to EC23!

Specsaver UK

Kiss Clash is the campaign in which the British retailer touches on a very sensitive subject for its consumers: how complicated a kiss can become when both people are wearing glasses. The solution comes very simply: choose contact lenses so you can enjoy Valentine’s day the right way!

The gesture really does matter

Despite the economic context and the fact that it is a secondary communication opportunity in Romania, 14 February marked a good opportunity for all brands who understood that they need to give a refresh to the way they approach the subject. Some have successfully managed to build brand closeness with their consumers with minimal investment by initiating direct conversations with them.

Now all that’s left is to indulge in all the 1+1 promotions, you know what I mean? 😁