Are we all suckers for a good marketing campaign?

Yesterday was Valentines and boy did you know it, prices tripled on flower sales and chocolates, restaurants promoted their ‘dining for two’ menus and even the metro had the obligatory centre section on heart-shaped offerings of love and the likes of.

I’m not a non-romantic, I love a good chick flick and my other half surprising me with flowers but that’s just it, I want it to be a surprise not a perfunctory action because a marketing campaign has told him to.

As a marketer I should be pleased that so many people fall for the campaign and widespread panic amongst men sells goods for businesses, but my hearts just not in it.

It’s too obvious. It feels fake, a marketing campaign should be building a relationship with me not just telling me once a year to buy buy buy. That strikes me a bit of spam and we all know we don’t like that.

We want to be open and honest with our campaigns but the Valentines one has inflated prices as an offering.

And I’ve seen marketers fall for it too, a colleague stated he didn’t believe in it but couldn’t not buy his girlfriend a card for fear of retribution. And he does campaigns for a living!

So here are my takeaways from this year’s Valentines rant:

• Build up your relationship over time and it won’t seem so fake

• Be honest and open with what your offering, beware the thinly veiled pricing

• Surprise your audience with something unexpected and showing you care

• And know the power of others in the decision making of your purchasers

So my rant is over, I can happily go home and know that maybe next week I’ll get a surprise from either my other half or maybe even a cool brand in my inbox.

Ps. If you haven’t had your chocolate fill, you know Sainsburys will have heartshaped boxes going half price now...