May Flowering Trees

Across the world, there are many festivities which are associated with various types of consumption. Some of the examples include, Christmas with Turkey, Diwali with fire crackers, Easter with Easter eggs and so on. Valentine's Day, according to me, is one of the most under-valued and under-marketed global festivals. Valentine's Day provides a unique opportunity for marketers to target a very vibrant and highly consumption oriented group, the youth or what we call the young adults.

Let me highlight some of the distinctly unique characteristics of Valentine's Day:

1. It is a seriously global phenomenon involving youth across the world.

2. The target market for the Valentine's Day is uniquely similar because of the need it caters to.

3. The consumption behaviour pattern is quite predictable across the globe.

4. The consumer need and wants are quite structured for this specific event.

The above four points, according to me, makes Valentine's Day a unique marketing opportunity.

In marketing, managers are always looking for 'forward looking' consumers. In simple words, managers are always interested in finding out how will consumers behave in future which in turn provides managers higher level of prediction for futuristic consumption patterns. Valentine's Day in that perspective provides a great understanding relating to forward-looking customers.

When such behaviour can be predicted (and that too at a global scale) marketing managers can take ample advantage. An example of the same is that the U.S. Greeting Card Association estimates that approximately one billion valentines cards are sent each year worldwide, making the day the second largest card-sending holiday of the year behind Christmas. The association estimates that women purchase approximately 85 percent of all valentines. Similar trends might be observed in other parts of the world.

The other important aspect as I mentioned above is the similarity in consumption pattern globally relating to Valentine's Day. While Christmas may be celebrated around the world for the same reason, the celebratory styles and the events involved are quite different (it's not always the Turkey you see!). With Valentine's Day the consumption pattern across the world remains fairly similar (i.e. cards and flowers leading to a dinner).

In my opinion, there is a great opportunity here for marketers beyond cards, flowers and food industry to utilize this global phenomenon. I am amazed that why other marketers else than the card and flower firms have not yet exploited this window of opportunity in full. A bit of creativity in nudging the youth to start a new trend for Valentine's Day can go much further than one can imagine. Happy Marketing.

Source:

Dr. Paurav Shukla () is a global academic, researcher and management consultant in the field of marketing, international marketing and entrepreneurship. He is well-known for his research on consumer decision-making and consumption experiences.