Comments on: A Marketer's Rant On Valentine's Day

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Tue, 16 Feb 2010 14:23:20 +0000

[...] A Marketer’s Rant On Valentine’s Day (AKA the infamous Valentine’s Day Post) [...]

By: Jared Degnan

Jared Degnan — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 17:06:59 +0000

Great idea, Paige! In fact, my friends are having a pot-luck tonight, ourselves.

I should also mention that the one and only v-day card I do exchange are between my mom and I.

It’s weird – she’s one of the most drama-averse individuals you’ll ever meet but and we hardly make a big deal over the holidays but every v-day like clockwork, I get a card from her. It’s just one of those things .

By: Paige

Paige — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:16:23 +0000

Jared- Awesome stuff. As a fellow single person on Valentine’s day, I’m not angry or bitter about not having someone to share “this day of love” with, I just get nauseous when I see how it’s advertised.

My friend made a great comment about the guy she’s been dating for almost a year: “I don’t want him to spend obscene amounts of money on me for this stupid holiday. I just want to eat a nice dinner at home and have a great conversation. That’s it.” Genius! What’s better than spending time with the people you love instead of having to worry about how much you’re going to spend on each other?

So in honor of simply spending time with people I care about, I’m having a party at my apartment- singles, couples and young marrieds. Chicago-style pizza [which spells love, in my book], sweet treats and plenty of games. Because I can’t think of a better way to spend this “holiday.”

By: Scot Justice

Scot Justice — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 16:14:41 +0000

In my twenties and early thirties, I was focused solely on my career. This is why I didn’t get married until I was in my mid-thirties. My observation during this period was that practically every holiday marketing campaigns can be viewed this way by singles and that it is up to the single person to either cope (negative view of being single) or figure out a way to celebrate yourself and where you are in life (positive view).

While I was single, I was involved in the Nashville Area Junior Chamber of Commerce and church adult singles groups. Both of these groups offered gatherings on holidays for singles so they would feel connected during the holidays. For instance, the NAJCC had a rather large Thanksgiving gathering for singles who didn’t have family to gather with or who couldn’t make it home for the holiday. This is a testimony to how single people want to feel connected.

Unfortunately, there are holiday related marketing campaigns that attempt to leverage the viewers emotion to provoke them to buy. These campaigns can make people not fitting the appropriate “holiday related model” to feel inadequate.

A smart marketer would figure out a way to market to singles during the holidays with campaigns for singles alternatives to married/family holiday standards.

By: Sam

Sam — Sat, 14 Feb 2009 15:32:32 +0000

I like thispost, Jared. I think there’s also the considerationthat it’s easier to get someone to buy something fir someone else, especially under the (sometimes) crushing weight of societal expectations – we’ve turned ourselves into a society that expects large and lavish gestures for Valentine’s Day, proposals, weddings, anniversaries, and Many other “holidays”
that are couched in showing someone how much you appreciate them.

I think you hit it right on the head by saying that the fear of inadequacy is much easier to sell than telling someone they’re OK as they are but perhaps thy should try our new product.