As people around the world wake up to Valentine's Day, I wanted to share a selection of some of the best social media campaigns this year. Who's spreading the social media goodness in new ways and sharing the love?! If you've spotted any good social media campaigns from regions that I haven't included, let me know in the comments and I'll update the post. As well as covering more mainstream campaigns, I wanted to feature some of the campaigns that aren't receiving as much media coverage to show what's possible without blowing huge budgets.
U.K.
Innocent Smoothies - Label of Love
A really nice campaign from Innocent here, asking people to create personalised logos for that special someone. Rather than just being a competition, this is a campaign that everyone can access. Through the Valentine's website you can customise your own label by selecting a smoothie recipe, adding on a personal message and then print it out to add onto an Innocent bottle to give as a special surprise.
O2's Love Nest In The Clouds
O2 are extending the theme of personalisation with their Valentine's campaign, turning people's Twitter messages into videos, recorded by their very own Cupid Twins. They're hoping to repeat the success of their Christmas campaign, which was run similarly to this and generated over 40,000 Twitter mentions. In a nice twist, they're also going to deliver some of the video messages themselves, so people are left wondering who their secret admirer is. Tweet @o2 with the hashtag #O2Cupid if you want to take part.
Valentine's Chat With Mrs Stephen Fry
An inspired campaign from the Guardian here. Today they held a special webchat with 'Mrs Stephen Fry' - the female alter-ego of Stephen Fry. The paper held the live chat to allow people to ask Edna Fry for advice on affairs of the heart, something which she would be an expert at! You can check out the Q+A here which makes for some pretty funny reading. Great to see a newspaper celebrating with a fun and quirky campaign
Augmented Reality with M&S
M&S are going for something a little bit different this Valentine's Day, with an augmented reality billboard to showcase the gifts on offer at M&S for your loved one. The billboard, in Waterloo Station, works with the Aurasma Lite app which can be downloaded on iPhone, Android and iPad. Passersby simply download the app, hold it up to the billboard and the lovely model Katya comes to life! If you're not over there, you can also check it out for yourself by downloading the app and holding it over the image below to let the magic begin...
U.S.
The Date Decider
You know the saying.. Roses are red, violets are blue, we all love an infographic, so here's one for you! Credit Sesame, an online tool for managing your finances have turned the dating game into an infographic, with a chart to help you decide where you should go for that last minute date. Click on the image below to check it out in full, including of course, a full cost breakdown of the date options :
Augmented Reality from Starbucks
Hoping to repeat the success of their Christmas campaign featuring augmented reality on their cups, Starbucks are back with another taste of love via their magic cups. By downloading their Virtual Valentine's App, you can send gifts to friends and loved ones. They'll receive the message with the cup coming to life to reveal their gift :
Kraft's #VoiceOfLove
A pretty awesome campaign from Kraft here. You may remember Ted Williams from the worldwide phenomenon last year where he was discovered on the streets as an amazing homeless voiceover artist. Well now Kraft have recruited him for their Twitter Valentine's campaign. They've been selecting the best tweets submitted with the hashtag #voiceoflove for Ted Williams to read out. And for some extra goodwill, they're also donating 100 boxes of Macaroni & Cheese in support of Feeding America. Check the campaign out in action below :
Ireland
Sony Ireland
[Disclaimer - this is a Simply Zesty client and campaign]. Sony Ireland are spreading the love all over Ireland with their on-street team delivering Valentine's surprises as they go! The campaign started with a Facebook competition where people were asked to nominate their Valentine and why they deserved to win a special gift : flowers, wine and a brand new Sony Camera. The team will be on the streets all day, spreading happiness like this!
Viagra Yoghurt
No, your eyes do not deceive you. Viagra. Flavoured. Yogurt. Showing that creative Valentine's campaigns can also come from small businesses, the frozen yogurt shop 'Yogism' in Dublin have announced a campaign via their Facebook Page for their brand new Viagra yogurt, which contains natural ingredients including Horny Goat Weed, Korean Ginseng and L'Arginine. To promote the limited edition yogurt, they're running a Karma Spoonra competition on their Page, asking people to name the positions...
Everything you need to know about Valentine's Day
[Disclaimer - this is a Simply Zesty client and video production]
It doesn't get much more romantic than diamonds on Valentine's Day. So Voltaire Diamonds are making the most of it with their video featuring amazing stats about Valentine's Day, that you probably didn't know before. The video was also used to launch their Facebook Competition where people are being asked to submit the 2 friends they would like to see get married, to win a special prize.
Australia
Eharmony - taking it offline
Eharmony in Australia are approaching their social media campaign by taking it offline. They've recognised it's the personal touch that counts, so they're turning people's online messages into hand-written letters that will be written by calligraphers and personally sent out to the lucky recipients. People were asked to submit their messages via the Facebook Page up until February 8th, ready for letters to arrive in the post on the big day. It is a slightly unusual campaign as it's more about celebrating the love you have rather than finding 'the one', given that eharmony is a dating site, but a cute campaign nonetheless!
Ovarian Cancer Australia
I'm always most interested in those Valentine's campaigns that take a different approach to the typical romance and use it as a good excuse to raise awareness. The campaign from Ovarian Cancer Australia does just that, to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of the disease. Instead of focusing on couples, they're asking girls to share the love with their female friends, by sending a Facebook kiss that will leave a post on their wall, educating them about how to spot early signs :
Singapore
Chupa Chups for Two
A nice video campaign here, showing how you can Chupa Chups for two. Chupa Chups in Singapore have put together an instructional video, showing you how you can make your own special double Chup. Very tongue in cheek, and nicely done, showing campaigns don't have to be about spending big money, but that a little bit of humour can go a long way...
Valentine's Shopping via QR Codes
PayPal have launched a promotion for Valentine's Day which will allow people to shop via QR codes displayed at 15 metro stations across the country. Prices for gifts will be specially reduced for Valentine's Day, to strongly promote this new way of shopping.
China
Dove and Qixi
A little bit of a curveball here, as China's equivalent of Valentine's Day is 'Qixi' which this year falls on August 23rd. But chocolate manufacturer Dove didn't want the festival to be left out of today's celebrations, so they embarked on a campaign with a graphics artist to create a special carriage made out of their packaging, which is being released in an online video :
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