Valentine’s isn’t a ‘cute’ moment anymore; it’s a full-scale marketing sprint

New Delhi: Walk down any high street, scroll through Instagram, open a quick commerce app, or glance up at a billboard in Mumbai, and you’ll realise something has shifted. 

In recent years, Valentine’s Day has quietly pivoted from a niche romantic celebration into a full-blown cultural and commercial moment. Brands aren’t treating it like a seasonal footnote. They’re going all in.

From high-production digital films and influencer-led participation to quick commerce integrations and immersive retail experiences, the Valentine’s playbook has evolved into a sophisticated, full-funnel strategy. Emotional storytelling meets performance marketing. Cultural conversation meets conversion. And if there’s one clear takeaway from this year’s marketing momentum, it’s this: Valentine’s is no longer just about love. It’s about cultural relevance led by full-blown marketing campaigns.

It's a 360-degree marketing moment!

Brands across categories, from chocolates and jewellery to beauty and fashion, are approaching Valentine’s as a fully integrated marketing moment.

Nitin Saini, VP-Marketing, Mondelez India, puts it succinctly. He said the campaign for Cadbury Dairy Milk Silk is anchored by a high-production digital film supported by a 360-degree amplification strategy across premium digital video, social storytelling, influencer collaborations, experiential touchpoints, and high-impact OOH in key markets, with the intent to build emotional salience at scale.

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For Cadbury 5 Star, the approach is structurally different but equally expansive. He said the investment is structured around a digital-first, participatory ecosystem powering the interactive idea, creator-led amplification, contextual media, and shareable content formats designed to drive cultural conversation. Across both brands, the focus is not just on seasonal visibility but on strengthening long-term brand equity.

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Jewellery brands are equally calibrated.

“Valentine’s Day is one of the three largest cultural moments for Mia by Tanishq, alongside Diwali and Akshaya Tritiya, making it both a key retail and emotional occasion in their calendar,” said Ajay Maurya, Head of Marketing and Category at Mia by Tanishq.

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Prashant Awasthi, Chief Marketing Officer, KISNA Diamond and Gold Jewellery, underscored the scale of intent. “Valentine’s Day is a strategically important consumption moment for us, and we have committed a strong marketing investment towards building both emotional resonance and retail momentum during the period,” he said.

Their spends have been calibrated to deliver meaningful reach across metros as well as high-potential emerging markets, balanced across social media, outdoor, print, and on-ground retail visibility to drive storytelling as well as conversion.

Brands go digital-first & social-first

Digital isn’t just a channel this season; it’s the engine. Pelki Tshering, Chief Marketing Officer, Tanishq (TATA Group), explained the shift. She said from a media perspective, digital leads their Valentine’s communication, with YouTube, Meta, and CTV driving scale, engagement, and immersive storytelling, supported by print to amplify visibility.

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Similarly, Amandeep Singh Kahlon, Director, Brand Marketing, Zouk, emphasised the platform-first play. “The campaign is being driven primarily through digital and social platforms, with video-led storytelling at the core. Short-form video across social media is expected to be the biggest driver of impact, given its ability to deliver nuanced narratives at scale and resonate strongly with Gen Z and millennial audiences,” he said.

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For The Body Shop, digital-led discovery is fundamental to the occasion. Harmeet Singh, Chief Brand Officer, The Body Shop, Asia South, said the focus for the Valentine’s campaign is largely on digital-first channels, with an emphasis on social media and influencer-led content, as these platforms allow the brand to showcase curated gifting and new launches in a visually engaging and discovery-led manner, particularly relevant for an occasion-driven moment like Valentine’s Day.

Emotional storytelling remains the anchor

For Silk, the strategy leans deeply into storytelling. “The focus is immersive storytelling that enables meaningful expression. Premium digital video, social-first content, and creator collaborations are central to building narrative depth. Contextual integrations and experiential elements help translate emotion into action. Here, the biggest driver of impact is emotionally resonant storytelling through premium digital formats that inspire consumers to create their own authentic expressions of love,” said Saini.

At Tanishq, the narrative moves beyond gifting to symbolism. This Valentine’s Day, they are celebrating love rooted in time, rarity, and shared beginnings through a first-of-its-kind collaboration with De Beers.

Jewellery, by its nature, requires depth. As Awasthi noted, he said jewellery is a high-involvement purchase, and effectiveness comes from the interplay of storytelling at scale and retail proximity on the ground.

Despite digital dominance, physical visibility matters

OOH today isn’t legacy media. It’s an amplification layer for digital ideas. For Silk, high-impact OOH plays a role in amplifying emotion into real-world spaces. For Mia by Tanishq, the outdoors drives cultural presence. 

Maurya said the campaign spans multiple touchpoints nationally and is designed to drive both brand love and strong retail outcomes, with digital building emotional engagement and shareability while high-visibility outdoors ensures scale and cultural presence in key markets.

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KISNA’s strategy includes print and in-store reinforcement. Awasthi said print and in-store communication play a critical role in reinforcing trust and aiding final purchase decisions.

Hershey has taken contextual outdoor to another level.

“Multiple contextual, location-based outdoor hoardings in Mumbai display “Kisses is allowed” in each place during Valentine’s week,” said Kamy Devaguptapu, Director-India & APAC Market, Hershey.

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Quick commerce steps up

Perhaps the most telling evolution this year is the central role of quick commerce. It has effectively become the last-mile media touchpoint.

Mondelez sees it as more than distribution.“Quick commerce plays a critical role, especially given Valentine’s Day’s strong last-minute purchase behaviour, and today it isn’t just a distribution channel but a powerful media and conversion platform, particularly during cultural spikes,” said Saini.

At Mia, it complements retail. “Quick commerce is playing a strong role this season, particularly in addressing last-minute gifting behaviour, allowing the brand to remain relevant in final decision-making windows while ensuring ease of access,” said Maurya.

Zouk has leaned into availability. Kahlon said the Valentine’s collection, including special combos, is available across platforms such as Swiggy Instamart, Blinkit, Zepto, and Myntra MNow to ensure accessibility for last-minute and impulse gifting.

The Body Shop has witnessed behavioural proof points. Harmeet Singh said during the Valentine’s period, gift cards, pre-kitted gift sets and popular SKUs saw strong traction, showing that consumers are increasingly using instant delivery for thoughtful gifting, and that quick commerce is now less about urgency and more about enabling meaningful, well-considered gifting choices in real time.

The participation era of marketing

If Valentine’s has become a cultural moment, creators are its catalysts.

For 5 Star’s ‘Restore V-Day’, “the core mechanic is participation and cultural provocation, making digital and social media the natural launchpad, with influencer collaborations and contextual OOH amplifying humour into real-world spaces, and social remaining the biggest driver of impact because cultural ideas scale through participation, not just reach,” said Saini.

Hershey has integrated creators into platform collaborations. Devaguptapu said influencers are promoting the Hershey x Zepto collaboration, encouraging kisses anytime, anywhere, alongside a Hershey-branded “Kisses Booth” at Zepto’s Valentine’s Prom Night.

Zouk introduced layered collaborations. Kahlon said in addition to the main film, the brand introduced two distinct gifting propositions, a collaboration with GIVA for conventional Valentine’s gifting, and a Paradyes partnership positioned as a playful Galentine’s offering.

Footfall as the final KPI

For jewellery brands especially, store traffic remains pivotal. Maurya said the media journey is designed to drive store walk-ins and participation in the Bee My Valentine, Every Day contest.

Tanishq introduced a digital utility for physical assurance. “ We have introduced a pre-book feature on the website enabling customers to place orders in advance for timely delivery,” said Tshering. KISNA’s emphasis on in-store branding and visual merchandising underscores one reality: romance may begin on Instagram, but the final transaction often happens at the counter.