A Viral Valentine’s

Valentine’s Day, loved by some, despised by most, is a ‘holiday’ that we can often overlook in regards to marketing efforts. “Stick some hearts on an Instagram post and call it a day” is usually how it goes for many businesses.

The thing about occasions like Valentine’s Day is that it is quite easy to do something about it. Most businesses will have made some sort of reference to it, as well as most of the general public, whether that be through sharing content of a loved one or going out on a ‘Galentine’s’ night out. This means there is a lot of noise to cut through, so a brand message has to be loud and authentic above all else in order to get to the front of the customer's mind.

The Client: Mackles Ice Cream

For Mackles Ice Cream, they knew they had an opportunity to connect with their young, Gen Z female audience, but had to do something big to grab their attention. This is where they brought in Billie McCormack, a female influencer who has a huge reach within both Northern Ireland and the Republic, as well as the Sugar Snap team to come up with a social-first video concept to cut through all the Valentine’s Day noise. 

The Inspiration: Your Favourite 2000s Rom-Com

Inspired by rom-coms and Valentine’s tropes, we decided to take Billie around Belfast, Mackles sundaes and matchas in hand, and create some truly loved-up movie scenes. We used some oversized heart-shaped helium balloons, huge bunches of flowers and even a Jane Austen book to romanticise Billie walking through Belfast running some Valentine’s Day errands, all whilst keeping the Mackles brand central to the story. 

The Result: You Probably Know Already

The result was huge. With almost a quarter of a million views across Instagram and TikTok, this one video managed to cut through a huge amount of noise from the Belfast food scene around the Valentine’s occasion, whilst also increasing the brand’s presence within their younger female audience through Billie’s reach across her channels. 

So, is Valentine’s Day worth the marketing effort?

In short, absolutely. Despite being such a saturated occasion on socials, the performance of this content truly showed the importance of knowing your audience, knowing what content they’re going to see from everyone else and going above and beyond their expectations to deliver something special. Billie acted as an authentic protagonist that connected with the brand's young, female-led audience, leading to an irresistibly ‘girly’ content concept. This, combined with great creative execution, resulted in a stunning Valentine’s piece that caught attention across the city, and stood out as a highlight of Valentine’s marketing in the local industry.

You know what the great thing is though? Great creative doesn’t only have to be used on special occasions. It can be used daily, and that’s something that we strive for at Sugar Snap for the whole of the hospitality industry. So if you have a new product to promote, an event to market or just want to celebrate your business, there is always a creative way to do it, and a Sugar Snap team that are eager to help you do it well. If you want to find out more about what we can do for you and your business, please reach out to hello@sugarsnap.agency, and we will be in touch.