How smart brands use empathy marketing: 5 Valentine’s Day campaigns that got it right

Not everyone is in a relationship. 

40% of UK adults are single, and around 46% of US adults are too. So let’s just assume that roughly half your audience is not in a relationship. 

Imagine creating a campaign that only considered one half of your audience, and ostracized the other half.

You’d probably pull that campaign instantly - but interestingly, that’s exactly what most Valentine’s Day campaigns do when they focus solely on couples, leaving out the entire single audience.

Luckily, some brands have recognized this and have gone beyond traditional Valentine’s Day marketing to honor and engage single people in their campaigns - and we love them for it.

This approach is called empathy marketing - putting yourself in your customer’s shoes and considering how they will feel when they receive your message. For example, “How will my single customers feel when they open an ad filled with couples madly in love?”

Rather than excluding half their audience, these brands found creative ways to make everyone feel seen on Valentine’s Day.

Here are five brands that nailed empathy marketing, proving that this holiday isn’t just for couples.

5 brands that celebrate singles on Valentine’s Day (takes notes, people)

Etsy 

Etsy lets people “opt-out” of Valentine's Day if you will. 

So they’ve still committed to running their Valentine’s Day email marketing campaigns but they give their audience the option of whether or not they want to see them. 

Their email reads “We understand that Valentine’s Day can be difficult. To opt out of Valentine’s Day emails, simply click below. 

They’ve been doing this since 2021, and they offer this option during Mother’s Day and Father’s Day as well, knowing that not everyone is in the position to “celebrate” or even wants to be reminded of those holidays. 

So if you aren’t ready to kybosh your Valentine's Day communications entirely, then this compromise might be the right strategy for you. It says to customers “Hey we are considering that not everyone is in a relationship, and so not everyone will want to see this messaging”. 

This approach still allows them to post their regular Valentine's Day content on Instagram like you see above, so although users don’t have control over what Etsy posts to their social feed, it does give consumers control over what they see in their inboxes and we think that’s pretty awesome. 

Why we love this approach: 

✅ It gives customers control over what they see or don’t see -  Allowing people to opt out of Valentine's Day emails gives them the power to choose what they want to engage with, reducing the risk of frustrating or alienating customers.

✅ It acknowledges people’s different emotions - Instead of assuming everyone wants to celebrate this holiday, Etsy recognizes that Valentine’s Day can actually be quite difficult for some people. This empathetic approach they’ve taken builds respect and trust from their  customers who feel like Etsy has put themselves in their shoes. 

✅ It aligns with Etsy’s own brand values - As a marketplace for thoughtful and personalized gifts, Etsy promotes this idea of individuality and inclusivity, so by offering an opt-out option, it reinforces their belief that every customer has their own individual experience with holidays. 

✅ It still allows Etsy to run their Valentine’s Day campaign - The opt-out feature means they don’t have to squash their entire campaign. Instead, they ensure their messaging reaches only those who want to receive it (like people in a happy relationship).

Pizza Hut 

Last year Pizza Hut did their research and found that there’s a misconception that people don’t break up on or near Valentine's Day. The truth is that this holiday involves the most heartbreak, and studies show that 45% of people think it's better to break up right before the holiday comes if you’re already planning on breaking up.

There is a term called “Red Tuesday” which is actually the name for the day right before Valentine's Day because that’s when most people “break up” (as compared to the rest of the year). Yikes. 

So knowing this, instead of celebrating love, Pizza Hut decided to celebrate breakups or at least tried making them easier. 

They offered their customers “Goodbye Pies” which were pizzas people could send to someone who they wanted to break up with (hilarious). All customers had to do was submit the request at GoodbyePies.com, a link that was active last year, and if they were selected Pizza Hut would send their significant other a pizza with a personalized note to break the bad news. 

So instead of acknowledging the singles, they acknowledged the people in relationships who wished to be single. 

This was a funny and very creative way for Pizza Hut to connect with their consumers around this holiday, focusing on hard truths and the not so fun side of Valentine's Day. 

Why we love this approach: 

✅ It flips the narrative around Valentine’s Day: Instead of focusing on love and romance, Pizza Hut tapped into a real but ugly part of the holiday - breakups. This makes the campaign relatable and it stands out among all the other Valentines day ads that just talk about the romantic stuff. 

✅ It uses humor and virality: The idea of sending a pizza as a breakup message is different, bold, funny, and it makes people want to share it on social media, making it go viral. 

P.F. Changs 

So we’ve got the people who want to break up on Valentine's Day covered (aka the Dumpers), but what about the people on the other side of that break up - the Dumpee’s. 

Brands like P.F. Changs were thinking of those people when they came up with their V-Day marketing strategy last year. 

They created a campaign where people who had been dumped could text their breakup story to a certain number, and then P.F. Chang’s would send them a coupon to redeem 6 free dumplings. 

At the time, their Director of Brand Marketing, Elisa Cordova, said their “DUMPlings program is more than just a promotion; it’s a testament to our commitment to surprising and delighting our guests who aren’t feeling the love this season. We wanted to launch a fun, light-hearted program that reminds those finding themselves single, during a month that shines a spotlight on couples, that breakups may suck, but at least our dumplings don’t.”

Not only did they think about the people who were single but they were thinking of the people who were newly single and heartbroken, those hurting the most around Valentine’s Day. And for that, we give them kudos. 

Why we love this approach: 

✅ It turns a negative into a positive - Breakups can be painful, but P.F. Chang’s found a way to soften the blow by offering some comfort food. This takes a negative moment and turns it into a positive and memorable brand interaction.

✅ It feels personal - Instead of a generic promotion, P.F. Chang’s made the campaign interactive by inviting people to share their breakup stories. This not only encouraged their audience to participate but it also made the experience feel human.

✅ It aligns with their product in a clever way - Offering DUMPlings was a lighthearted nod to getting “dumped”. It made the campaign smart, shareable and fun while delivering real value to their customers.

✅ It stands out from other traditional Valentine’s Day campaigns - Most brands focus on romantic dinners and couples in love, but P.F. Chang’s acknowledged those who aren’t celebrating but hurting - which made them feel seen.

Shake Shack 

Now this example is an older one, and since then Shake Shack has taken a different approach, but the idea was too good we had to share. 

A couple of years back, Shake Shack teamed up with a band called the B-52’s, the singers of the song “Love Shack”, to create what they called the “Love Shack Shake”. That’s all good and fine but what was really special was that the proceeds from this shake went to “Give a Dog a Job”.

Give a Dog a Job is an organization that provides highly trained service dogs to people with disabilities, for free ultimately creating a “loving and life-changing match” between the person with disabilities and the dog (brb crying). 

How cute is that campaign? It changes the idea that Valentine's Day is only meant for romantic love, and can instead be looked at as a day of just love, between a person and their dog. 

Last year Shake Shacks Valentine's Day campaign (in our opinion) didn’t have this same “empathetic theme”, and in our opinion it fell short. 

Back in February 2024, they offered consumers a $80 prefix menu “date night” at their “love shack” calling it a “Swicy Date Night”, and the creative for the campaign was very “couples” oriented, not really mentioning or offering a dining option for those who didn’t have a partner. 

If you want to appeal to all your customers this Valentine's Day, we suggest trying Shake Shack’s “Give a Dog a Job” approach. 

There are many organizations that your brand can choose to support this Valentine's Day in lieu of a romantic campaign, showing that you can spread the love, but you aren’t leaving anyone feeling sad or left out.  

Why we love this approach: 

✅It takes the definition of love beyond just romance - Instead of focusing solely on couples, Shake Shack’s campaign celebrated love in a different sense, including friendships, pets, and giving back to those who need it most - and this message resonated with a wider audience.

✅It brings a meaningful cause to light -  By partnering with Give a Dog a Job, Shake Shack showed that their campaign was about more than just getting sales. By linking Valentine’s Day to a charitable initiative, they showed that love isn’t just about relationships - it’s about spreading the love to those who need it. 

✅It creates a feel-good moment - Supporting people with disabilities is something everyone can find heartwarming, making the campaign reach people emotionally and want to share this positive story with their friends and followers. This helped Shake Shack generate buzz on social media and it left people feeling positive about their brand. 

Cadbury  

What if instead of celebrating Valentine’s Day with your customers, you erased the day completely? 

That was the concept and name of Cadbury's 2024 Valentine’s Day campaign; Erase Valentine's Day. 

Cadbury 5 Star’s created a commercial that showed a time travel vessel that users can get on to essentially skip the holiday all together, while the science behind it was explained by Space Scientist, Nambi Narayanan. 

The ad was a complete success and their audience showed 99% positive sentiment when they discussed it online. 

We love this idea because Cadbury (chocolate) is usually associated with the gift you give or receive on Valentine’s Day by your loved ones, but this ad takes the exact opposite approach to that idea. 

They listened to their audience and created the idea that not only should the day not be celebrated but it shouldn’t even exist. 

Why we love this approach: 

✅ It taps into real feelings - Not everyone loves Valentine’s Day, in fact some hate it, and Cadbury acknowledges this in their campaign. By recognizing that some people would rather skip the holiday entirely, they make a connection with an audience that otherwise feels ignored on this holiday. 

✅ It uses humor -  The time-travel concept is a fun, creative way to let people imagine a world where there is no Valentine’s Day, making the campaign different, and something people wanted to share on social. 

✅ It flips the script for a chocolate brand - Since chocolate is a Valentine’s Day staple, audiences would expect Cadbury to lean into the romance side of things - but instead, they did the complete opposite. This approach made the campaign stand on the “chocolate” side of things.

✅ It was approved by their audience -  With 99% positive reactions, Cadbury’s campaign proved that listening to your audience, and making something entirely different, can create a super successful holiday campaign. 

What should your own Valentine's Day campaign look like? 

Before crafting your own Valentine's day campaign, it’s crucial to understand what your audience hopes to see. Are most of them in happy relationships and would appreciate the spread of this romantic narrative? Or are half single and hate the holiday all together? A quick audience analysis can tell you. 

Campaign idea: give back to a cause that matters to them 

For example, let’s take a look at skincare brand CeraVe’s audience:

You can view the entire CeraVe report here. 

While the majority of CeraVe’s audience is married, engaged, or in a relationship, a significant portion is also single. But instead of separating them based on their relationship status, CeraVe could focus on what brings them together - like what interests and values they share, or which causes they all care about. 

For instance, instead of running a traditional Valentine’s day campaign, they could support a cause that their entire audience can get behind, like the Save the Children organization. This allows them to treat Valentine’s Day in a more inclusive way, strengthening an emotional connection with all their customers, regardless of their relationship status.

This is just one example, but there are a myriad of ways you can incorporate audience insights into creating campaigns that don’t revolve around romantic love. 

Campaign idea: get your audience together to do something they love 

Take Celsius’s audience for example. Their largest segment of customers are people who are interested in health and fitness:

Diving deeper into the audience you can discover some basic personality traits that can be incorporated into a campaign: they are active and they enjoy being in the company of others. 

The majority of this audience resides in LA and Miami, and we can see that they workout at gyms like “World Gym” and enjoy “CrossFit”. 

To recap, we know this audience likes to workout and we know they love being in the company of others, so why not keep things simple and promote a Valentine’s day workout class hosted and sponsored by Celsius, at their favourite gym in Miami or LA. The campaign could be “Love your workout with Celsius”. 

Essentially you’re turning a day traditionally centered around romantic love, to now be about an activity they love - working out. This is inclusive and brings their audience together to celebrate a shared interest. 

Campaign idea: get your audience engaged on social 

A quick analysis of Subway’s audience shows that their purchases are heavily influenced by social media and the majority spend their time on TikTok as compared to the other social channels. 

Their largest audience segment also has a shared interest in Hip Hop. 

Knowing this, Subway could work with some top Hip Hop and Rap influencers for this audience like any of the ones listed below: 

And they could create TikTok’s where these Hip Hop artists are rapping about their favourite Subway sandwich order. They could then encourage their audience to create their own TikTok rapping about their personal favorite Subway order, and pick 5 winners who Subway could give a year's worth of free subs to (or something to that effect). 

The campaign slogan could be “Don’t write a poem for those you love, write a poem (or rap) about the Subway sandwich you love.” 

This takes the focus again off romantic love, and places it on their customers' love for their own personalized Subway order. It’s inclusive, and it also gets their entire audience engaged on social media, spreading their own videos and promoting Subway while they do it - and we know how influenced their audience is by social media. 

Be different this Valentines day

In the end, Empathy marketing isn’t just about avoiding pissing off one group or excluding another - it’s about creating moments that feel meaningful and memorable to your entire audience.

Be like the brands we’ve highlighted and craft a campaign that surprises and connects with your own audience this Valentine’s Day.

Want to uncover more insights like these? Try Audiense to analyze your audience and create content that speaks to them on an emotional level.