Valentine’s Day 2021.

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While romance was on hold for many this Valentine’s Day, All Bar One encouraged social media followers to celebrate anyway and embrace ‘Galentine’s Day’ instead. DIGITAL ACTIVITY

This was promoted through a series of giveaways on the brand’s social media channels aimed at followers and their best friends, accompanied by bright, poppy imagery. “By pushing external events to its followers on social media, All Bar One All Bar One added value for loyal showed an astute knowledge of its core followers by promoting other events demographic and what interests them.” that they may be interested in. Jess Hyland Business Unit Director DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY

Working hard to provide content for its followers despite being closed on Valentine’s Day, ASK Italian used its Instagram story to create a ‘Virtual Dating’ game, engaging customers DIGITAL ACTIVITY whilst promoting its dishes.

For those struggling for ideas during the pandemic, ASK also provided ‘5 Valentines Date Ideas In Lockdown’ to help see them through. DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY

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The centrepiece of Bistrot Pierre’s Valentine’s Day campaign was the introduction of the ‘Valentine’s Bistrot Box’, a four-course meal for two that could be collected from its locations DIGITAL ACTIVITY for £50, enabling customers to enjoy its food despite being unable to inside.

This was pushed with tempting imagery of the dishes on its social “Bistrot Pierre’s ‘Bistrot Box’ was media and website where the brand a brilliant way to keep customers included a helpful four-step guide to engaged with the brand over ordering and collecting the box and Valentine’s, going above and beyond outlined the contents in greater detail. to provide them with a memorable experience.”

Robin Jung Business Unit Director DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY

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Browns gave followers on social media the chance to win two date night treats for Valentine’s Day, pushing its gift cards and experiences as the ‘perfect IOU’ with restaurants DIGITAL ACTIVITY still shut due to Covid-19.

The key to its campaign was the live piano session with Fraser Urquhart, hosted on the brand’s Facebook page, which helped to bring the Browns “Hosting a live, virtual piano session experience into customers’ homes. on social media was a brilliant example of responsive marketing from Browns Encouraging followers to tune in that gave customers something a little and set the romantic scene for their extra on Valentine’s Day.” evening, Browns also asked them to send in song requests for an even Chris Perks Managing Director of Digital Services more special experience. DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY

The primary aim of Caffè Concerto’s social media activity around Valentine’s Day was to push its delivery service for romantic cakes and other gifts, with free delivery in DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY certain cases.

The brand also advertised its collaboration with Uber Eats, where customers could order a full three- course meal for two and enjoy a ‘traditional Italian experience at home’. DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY

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Calavera skulls were a key feature of ’s Valentine’s Day activity on its website and social media pages, showcasing the brand’s Mexican theme while the heart-shaped eyes DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY gave a nod to the romance of the occasion.

Chiquito looked to engage followers with playful questions on Instagram, all whilst promoting its dishes with tempting imagery and descriptions themed around the Valentine’s celebrations. DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY

Central to Costa’s Valentine’s Day campaign was the release of a limited-edition, reusable travel mug, using playful imagery of the heart and glitter design with snappy messaging DIGITAL ACTIVITY on social media.

Elsewhere, it promoted the new Heinz Beanz & Cheese toastie, encouraging customers to order theirs via Uber Eats where it would arrive at their “Seasonal coffee cups are a big social door in a ‘special love-themed sharing media draw and Costa latched onto box’ – a great way to spread a little that by launching a Valentine’s-themed fun despite the difficulties of the version of its reusable travel mug.” pandemic. James Cannell Chief Creative Officer DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY

Greggs’ simple charm was on full show over Valentine’s Day as the brand drew customers’ attention to classic items, such as its pizzas and sausage rolls, for delivery. The latter DIGITAL ACTIVITY was presented on social media on a bed of rose petals, a tongue-in-cheek nod to classic romantic tropes.

If customers were in the mood for love, then was there to set the “Greggs leaned on its well-established scene with its own Valentine’s playlist sense of humour for Valentine’s Day, on Spotify, even asking customers poking fun at overused romantic which love-themed tune they’d clichés while playing on the strong dedicate to one of its menu items. sense of loyalty it shares with its customers.”

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Launching a special Valentine’s version of its ‘Hot Seat’ quiz on Instagram, KFC gave customers the chance to design their own perfect evening by choosing who they’d DIGITAL ACTIVITY spend it with, the meal they’d enjoy and the lockdown-style date.

The brand also gave followers the chance to win a virtual KFC date with a famous face, whereby they had to “Always quick to mix things up, the go onto its website and explain why celebrity date was a fantastic way of they deserved the date for a chance driving website traffic and engagement to win. with the brand, with the bonus of the charity element on top.” For every eligible entry, the brand donated £1 to Comic Relief, a great Jon Aston Digital Director way to raise money for a good cause. DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY

Pizza Express delivered an innovative Valentine’s Day campaign in 2021, crowned by its 48-hour singles takeover, which paired single entrants together for a virtual date that tested DIGITAL ACTIVITY their pizza-making skills.

The overall theme was simple yet striking, with web pages and social media channels sticking to a black “The singles takeover cleverly background, white lettering with negotiated the Valentine’s theme in splashes of red and a heart-shaped lockdown, putting followers in charge graphic. of generating relevant social media content for Pizza Express, which in turn created additional engagement through organic growth.”

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Splitting the event into two distinct days, Slug & Lettuce encouraged social media followers to celebrate Galentine’s Day on February 13th, followed by Valentine’s the next day. DIGITAL ACTIVITY

There were two separate tones for each post – Galentine’s had more of a playful, slightly cheeky feel in both the copy and imagery, while Valentine’s kept things simpler, with both pushing the brand’s gift cards. DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY

With its locations shut due to the pandemic this Valentine’s Day, went all out to keep customers engaged through social media. DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY The chain posted a ‘Love Martini’ cocktail recipe, accompanied by a romantically themed image, as well as a kids’ treasure hunt idea that harnessed its core family values.

Table Table also asked customers to send in what they loved most about their partners, giving them the chance to win £100 in vouchers for when it reopened.

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On Valentine’s Day itself, Turtle Bay kept things positive with an inspirational message, along with a Jamaican-themed image, on social media, that encouraged customers DIGITAL ACTIVITY to stay strong through the latest lockdown.

It also kept followers engaged by running through five steps to throwing a Turtle Bay Valentine’s event at home and looked to get them back through its doors in the future with the chance to win a date night by sharing their Turtle Bay love stories.

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WW had some great content on social media over Valentine’s, promoting recipe ideas with delightfully tempting imagery and short, playful messaging. DIGITAL ACTIVITY The brand also posted some more light-hearted material, including its list of ‘Food pairings that shouldn’t work, but totally do’, designed to spark debate in the comments. “Social media activity for WW tends to combine a sense of fun with helpful health and wellbeing tips, and that was certainly the case for Valentine’s, getting the balance right and staying perfectly on-brand.”

Jo Wilby Group Creative Director DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY

Partnered with the Mental Health Foundation, sent followers a reassuring message on social media this Valentine’s and encouraged them to take care of themselves and each DIGITAL ACTIVITY DIGITAL ACTIVITY other not just on the day itself, but every day.

Plus, the brand highlighted delivery services such as Deliveroo and Uber Eats for customers looking for a romantic meal in lockdown, setting out the contents of its ‘Valentine’s Day Exclusive Bundle’ with simple imagery. Valentine’s Day 2021.

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*Information and images within this report are gathered from ITG research, third party resources and materials available in the public domain.