Did you know Mother’s Day ranks as one of the top 10 consumer spending events? Spending for the holiday has been on the rise in past years, 2020 included, in spite of COVID-19 and even because of the pandemic.
For Mother’s Day 2020, many communities were under stay-at-home orders making traditional in-person celebrations impossible. Gift-giving always offers consumers a feeling of connectedness with loved ones, and we’ve seen this emotional need amplified as the pandemic continued. For example, Pinterest searches for “personalized Christmas gift ideas” increased 46% and searches for “sentimental gifts for best friend” doubled in October compared to the same time in the prior year. (Source: CNBC.com). According to the NRF, 41% of consumers say finding a gift that creates a special memory is important to Mother’s Day gift shoppers.
How can these stats guide creative executions? They tell us that appealing to emotions and sentimentality will resonate with consumers.
Another insight to act on: gift card purchases exploded in Q2 2020. Many communities were under stay-at-home orders making traditional in-person celebrations impossible. Many consumers gravitated to giving gift cards fearing shipping delays stemming from glitches in global supply chains experienced early in the COVID-19 outbreak. Regardless of the reason for the boom in gift cards, mentioning them is a worthy use of Mother’s Day marketing real estate, especially if communicated with an emotional twist.
As always, a look back can inspire the future. Following are examples of Mother’s Day 2020 marketing efforts.
The occasion warranted full-size direct mail catalogs.
Apparel brands make a strong and simple Mother’s Day statement on landing pages.
And they devote blog space to the topic.
Gift guides are a great source of inspiration for consumers. Here are a few examples of Mother’s Day landing pages with gift ideas by recipient and price.
On social, Coach and Pandora tapped celebrities to honor mothers.
To summarize creative recommendations for Mother’s Day 2021:
- Tap into memories with imagery and copy
- Suggest new memory-making moments with imagery and copy
- Feature unique products. Be sure to highlight why the products are special. If the products are exclusive to your brand, make that point clear
- Feature personalized products
- Make gift cards easy to purchase and give
