Valentine’s Day – what’s your PR plan?

10 Jan Valentine’s Day – what’s your PR plan?

No, we’re not talking about where you’re taking your loved one. We want to get your brains thinking about ingenious ways to secure precious press coverage for your business all in the name of love, well… sales and SEO if we’re being frank.

Valentine’s Day is a story most mainstream media outlets will cover in some capacity from date and gift ideas to anti-Valentine’s Day celebrations. Could you play a part in their features? With the most romantic day of the year, just around the corner, here’s our round-up of our five favourite PR stunts of all time to inspire you to do something.

Our first example, is this free cot from Ikea, which was offered to any babies born exactly nine months after Valentine’s Day.

British brand Mr Kipling, known for their exceedingly good cakes, devised an exceedingly beautiful bouquet for a Valentine’s Day PR stunt a few years ago. Prominently featuring their famous Cherry Bakewell delights, these limited edition floral arrangements were available from a small floristry partner and quite literally, went down a treat. The media lapped the story up and unsurprisingly lots of coverage followed.

In our third throwback, McAfee commissioned a survey to examine the pitfalls of sharing personal data in relationships and brought their findings to life in this infographic. And who says data isn’t sexy?

You can do it when you B&Q it.
To coincide with the Valentine’s Day release of 50 Shades of Grey, UK hardware retailer B&Q leaked an internal memo which advised staff “to be prepared for an increase in demand for rope, cable ties and tape.” A scene in the film shows the raunchy couple going to buy these products and expected customers to be inspired by what they had seen and to do the same. The brand said, “customer satisfaction was their number one priority!”

In 2016, Digital agency Maynard Malone used Valentine’s Day as a B2B PR opportunity, to position themselves as experts in digital strategy. Presenting interesting facts and stats in a mediafriendly infographic, they showed people now spend more time looking at their smartphone than their partner and explained how brands can win customer love through social media.