Love is in the air; How marketers are leveraging the emotions...

Well, today is that time of the year when it’s love everywhere. All gift shops turn red in color of love. Huge teddies, lots of fresh flowers and heart shaped balloons and toys are seen around every corner. With Love being the dominant emotion of the spring season; beaconing the love-dipped ambience of February, all the brands and radio stations, movie channels would help experiencing love.

Seven, the all day dining restaurant at Shangri-La Hotel, Mumbai, welcomes guests to experience their special Valentine’s Day menu with their loved one. The menu, with diverse options ranging from seafood to charcuterie to dim-sums will delight food-lovers.

Couples can indulge in sumptuous goodies available at Seven, from the 8th - 14th February, 2013. Lebanese, Chinese and Indian are some of the diverse cuisines that will be available as part of this special Valentine menu.

To make the occasion even more special, Shangri-La Hotel, Mumbai has announced a lucky draw where couples could win a two nights stay at Shangri-La Boracay Resort and Spa Philippines.

On Valentine’s Day this year, Hilton Mumbai International Airport will offer a choice of memorable dining experiences at its popular restaurants -The Brasserie, Imperial China and Flames.

The Brasserie all-day restaurant will offer a special candle-light dinner, with unlimited beverages, priced at Rs. 2,000 plus taxes per person. This multi-cuisine dinner buffet will be ideal for celebrations with family and loved ones, and will include a wide selection of International cuisines.

The Chinese specialty restaurant, Imperial China, will present an elaborate three-course Szechwan set dinner menu with unlimited beverages at Rs. 2,000 plus taxes per person. Served against the backdrop of red roses and live piano music, the romantic setting will be perfect for an intimate proposal.

Red Mango - the country’s first 100% natural, low fat, kosher and gluten-free frozen yogurt brand brings in a celebration of adore’ by introducing Raspberry as the ‘Flavour of the Healthy Valentine Season’.

Available all across the existing four outlets of the health food brand in Delhi-NCR along with the about-to-be-launched Select Citywalk Store, Raspberry will bring alive the mush which being the underlying emotion of the season, will drip from every scoop of frozen Yogurts or ‘Froyos’in heavenly red flavour.

spokesperson from Red Mango says, “Red  Mango, a fat frozen yogurt and smoothies cha launches its love special “Red Mango Raspberry” flavour with all the tanginess & sweetness  this Valentine.  Special offers & Love T shirts at Select CityWalk store. All our stores have been decorated and we’ve made sure the brand celebrates love with all the initiatives taken. Sales have been rocketing since month 1 of store opening, In the frozen Yogurt segment we have the highest average revenue per store as compared to any other frozen yogurt player nationwide.” 

Celebrate this Valentine’s Day with your loved ones by nudging them for a gift. Badhai, An online gifting company, has launched ‘Nudge for a Gift’, a light hearted fun-filled application wherein users will be able to nudge their friends and family members for a gift. Friends who have been nudged can then make a selection from an exciting choice of 21 gifts and promise one to the sender.

Ajay Pandey, CEO and Founder, Badhai.in said, “Valentine’s Day is second only to New Year’s eve with people across the world celebrating the festival of love. In India too, it is becoming increasingly popular, more so over the last decade. While sending flowers, cards, chocolates and gifts is traditional, Badhai.in brings in an entirely new option to gift not only to the special one but also to close friends and family members, even parents. It re-iterates our commitment to provide the freedom of choice to the gift recipients; giving them the liberty to choose the gift, the amount they wish to spend as well as the brand they want to indulge in”.

When brands are showering love how can radio and movie channels stay behind?

This Valentine’s Day, 92.7 BIG FM has announced the launch of a special campaign to rekindle romance among married couples. The campaign, aptly named ‘Phir Pyaar Ho Gaya’, celebrates the season of love dedicated to the married couples who lost the spark in their marriage amidst responsibilities like work, children, chores, etc. The campaign will run through the week and culminate on 19th February, and will see interesting on ground amplifications.

To be conducted across all 45 stations of the network, ‘Phir Pyaar Ho Gaya’ involves a series of activations that target married couples. With Love Dub meters, Know Your Partner Contests and Song Dedications aiming to rekindle love among couples, 92.7 BIG FM will present listeners with multiple opportunities, through gifts and prizes for two, to revive the feelings which have taken a backseat as life took over. On-ground activations for the campaign will involve RJs across all 45 cities visiting popular locations in their respective cities and play special contests with couples while lending a helping hand in recreating those love-filled moments.

MOVIES NOW, English Movie Channel, celebrates love with loads of happily-ever-after movies. From February 11th to 14th, ‘Love Boat’, anchors away all week long only on MOVIES NOW. It doesn’t matter if you’re in love, out of love, in rebound love or just about any other kind of love, MOVIES NOW promises adorable, heart-warming love throughout the week with Hollywood favourites lighting up the small screen.

Radio City 91.1 FM launches an exclusive line of ‘Love Guru’ t-shirts exclusively on www.captainkyso.com. Radio City ‘Love Guru’ has been around for more than 10 years now and has established a reputation for itself in the FM radio space. As a part of its brand extension Radio City introduces a funky collection of ‘Love Guru' T-shirts for girls & guys.

The message on the t-shirts range from romantic to whacky! Also available are couple t-shirts with co-related quotes. High on coolness quotient with funky love quotes and messages these t-shirts not only make for awesome gifts but can make one look one’s casual best anytime, anywhere! Such an initiative has been taken by Radio City for the first time. We have been a pioneer in many things in the past be it starting the first private FM radio station or the first reality show on radio. This initiative further consolidates our stance of being a first mover in the industry. Taking the much loved ‘Love Guru’ on ground, has been a long standing dream. This effort is sure to be appreciated by our listeners.

9XO the International English Music Channel by 9X Media, is all set to air a series of romantic songs based on the various relationship categories in a special programming block titled - 9XO Love-O-thon. Featuring some of the best and the most memorable songs across various music genres, 9XO Love-O-thon is an hour-long special programming block airing daily at 9 am from 10th February till 14th February 2013.

9XO Love-O-thon playlist boasts of the greatest love songs of Bryan Adams - Please Forgive Me, Peter Andre's - Mysterious Girl, Righteous Brothers - Unchained Melody to Natalie Imbruglia's - Torn.

Luke Kenny, Programming Head for 9XO said “9XO Love-O-thon has an eclectic mix of the popular love songs depicting the various stages of a relationship. We have one hour of music dedicated for each status on 9XO Love-O-thon. The line-up includes the most popular love tracks by Michael Jackson, Rianna, Justin Bibber, Shania Twain, Peter Andre, MLTR, Madonna, Lionel Richie, etc which will definitely resonate well with our viewers. So keep watching 9XO.”

For this Valentine’s Day, Myntra.com is running a contest called the ‘Love Connection contest’ across various social media platforms (Myntra.com website, Facebook page and Twitter). Myntra spokesperson said, “the contest is starting a week before Valentine’s Day, super model and actress Lisa Haydon will ask a daily question about love across these social platforms. Participants will be encouraged to share their responses via email, Facebook or Twitter. Every day, the best answer will be picked by Lisa Haydon and the winner will be rewarded with a Samsung Duos phone.”

Today where youth of our nation is busy in preparing for upcoming valentine day, the elders of society are not far behind. To make this beautiful day come real and to celebrate the Valentine’s Day, the day of love and affection, India Media Link & Events Management by Mr K. Ravi will organize a day out for around 100 senior citizen couples.

K Ravi, Director, India Media Link & Events Management said, "We decided to celebrate Valentine's Day differently with a view to honour and recognize the countless contributions and sacrifices senior citizens have made throughout their lives to families, communities and the nation. This initiative is our small positive contribution for them. There are several parents who are left alone by their children; our idea is especially to give them their best moments and revive their beautiful memories. I am very happy and grateful to see that film veterans and dignitaries are taking interest in our activities and supporting us.”

India Media Link & Events Management will organize a day activity for the senior citizen couples, where each couple will get an opportunity to express their love in the air. With the positive support of Pawan Hans, each couple will fly in helicopter and have an aerial view of Mumbai for around 15-20 minutes.

Adding further Mr K Ravi said, “This unique way of celebrating love will rejuvenate them and create strong bonding between the couples. We are giving them an opportunity to be together on this day of love, making it a day they cherish forever.”

Men spend many a restless nights thinking about which gift would bring a smile on their girlfriends’ face, especially when the present–day sweethearts have become so choosy! 

Expressing one’s love in form of unique presents hence becomes a task that is really challenging.  Moreover, when the occasion is Valentine’s Day guys will not hesitate in going that extra mile to please their gal.

Flowers, chocolates, cuddly teddies are all a tad too conventional items. Girls these days expect something which truly fulfills their heart’s desire. So, what is the latest trend in terms of gifting options? Believe it or not it’s a jab of beauty!

Young or middle-aged alike, women want to look their best throughout the year. Occasions like Valentine’s Day highlight this pressing ‘need’ even more. Men also understand this need of their partner / girlfriend.  More and more men are now gifting quick-fix beauty treatments like Juvederm dermal fillers and Botox to enhance the beauty of their soulmate’s appeal.

Dr. Simal Soin, Dermatologist, New Delhi, said, “Earlier the options were limited. People wanting to go for cosmetic treatments had to opt for surgical procedures only. But now we have non-surgical and injectable treatments that give good results. Apart from Botox, another injectable which is very popular among young and middle-aged women is Juvederm.  Essentially it is filler that is used to treat deep wrinkles, folds and plump up hollow cheeks or increase lip volume.”

This Valentine’s Day, recreate romance and redefine the magic of love with Ferns N Petals (FNP). Supermodel Lakshmi Rana in association with Ferns N Petals, the largest chain of floral boutiques in India today unveils a ‘Magical Love Garden’ for the people of Delhi exclusively at the Atrium, Select City Walk mall, Saket.

Also, experience today the finest ride of the season by FNP to charm your loved ones – ‘Love Buggy’ only at the Plaza, Select City Walk mall, Saket. Replace your swanky cars with the mystical love buggy to create everlasting memories.

Vikaas Gutgutia, Founder and MD, Ferns N Petals Pvt. Ltd, said, “Valentine’s Day is the festival of Love at FNP. We are delighted to celebrate this day of love by creating concepts never experienced before and hence this time we have created the Magical Love Garden and the Love Buggy for the people of Delhi to feel the exquisiteness of the historical era amidst mother nature”.

Last but not the least Diamonds are women’s best friends so Tara’s line of jewellery for Valentine’s Day Celebrations brings to you a chic look to the timeless heart-shaped pendants, studded with sparkling diamonds. This line of jewellery for Valentine’s Day Celebrations is for that special someone and is a perfect gift for the one you love. With classic designs at affordable prices, this line of jewellery will compliment the everyday wear to the perfect dress on your Valentine date!

Vikram Raizada, Executive Director and CEO (Retail) of Tara Jewellers said “As diamonds have always been used as an expression of everlasting relationship, this season we are offering a host of timeless jewellery pieces studded with sparkling diamonds. It is an opportunity to express yourself and make a style statement at an affordable price range.”