With St Valentine’s Day around the corner it got me thinking, not least because I’m hoping for one of the greatest days of my year (my true love Wales take on England in the RBS 6 Nations).

Back to Valentine’s Day, the landmark of love across the UK and beyond. Each year lovers, husbands, wives, boyfriends, girlfriends and who knows who else will be on our high streets, in hotels, restaurants and card shops hoping they’ve found the perfects gift to exemplify their love and devotion for their special one. Of course, retailers have been capitalising on the opportunity for years, but what is interesting for me is the opportunities that brands exploit.

Take Umbro for example (clip to the left). A very sport focused male brand. No association with the great show of love you’d think? Actually, Umbro have managed to capitalise on St Valentine’s with an old ad that’s currently doing the rounds, pretty amusing to my eyes.

Dating site mysinglefriend.com is running a cute campaign to reclaim Valentine’s Day for singles.  A teddy bear is being held hostage (online) with single people being encouraged to sign a petition to return the bear to its owners, allegedly mysinglefriend.com.  Take a look at the microsite at thebeargetsit.com

Or a more traditional approach from thelondonpaper, with a campaign designed to inject love into commuters’ lives.  A selection of the classic lonely hearts ads from the paper will be reproduced on large outdoor sites across the London tube network to help some lucky readers find love.

Just a few examples from the love train of brands looking for some affection this Valentine’s Day.

Ben x

By Ben Wilkinson on February 12th, 2009

Tags: Brand marketing, Default, Digital marketing, Experiential marketing, Viral Marketing