According to legend, the kindly Bishop Valentine in 3rd century Rome sacrificed his life by performing the secret wedding ceremonies of soldiers in opposition to the strict ban on marriage for young men imposed by mighty emperor Claudius II (aka Claudius "The Cruel"). When Claudius came to learn of these acts, he had Valentine arrested and sentenced to execution. Two centuries later, in 496 AD, a feast day was proclaimed in honor of the bishop by Pope Gelasius and thereafter this became a day for all lovers and Valentine its Patron Saint.
In contemporary times it seems this heartfelt sacrifice is to the pocket, with an estimated $113 billion spent annually for the occasion, and the average U.S. consumer spending about $116.00. Hallmark is popularly credited with inventing the commerical extravaganza of Valentine's Day, so naturally, we couldn't resist taking the sentiment temperature of the brand for this past week using our NetBase social analytics tool.
As the chart below shows, predictably passion ran high the week of February 7-14, although net sentiment bellyflopped in the same week to -5%. The 12-month trend shows 2010 Valentine's Day social net sentiment 18% as compared to this year's 20%.
In Theme Mapping social sound bites to explore root causes for Hallmark U.S.' negative sentiment this Valentine's week, we came across consumer voices objecting to the somewhat pricey cost of a Hallmark card even though they are manufactured cheaply in China. Predictably reflecting today's economic climate, U.S. consumers were cynical, questioning the authenticity of Hallmark card sentiment, even deriding the brand's role in creating holiday hype at the expense of financially struggling customers. Consumers also criticized Hallmark's new Valentine commercials for "sobby emotionalism," "tackiness," even "creepy" and "uncomfortable" feelings they seem to engender.
Quite astonished by Hallmark's plunge in sentiment during Valentine's Day week in the U.S., we ran a NetBase net sentiment chart for the same period, using "Valentine's Day" as the subject. Suprisingly we discovered a less than lukewarm sentiment of 15%. The corresponding NetBase analysis of 1.8 million sound bites for the Febuary 7-14 week reflected empassioned sentiment paralleling Hallmark social insights. Not only scorning the "fake" and "overrated" commercialized perception of the holiday, U.S. consumers held the expense and emotional pressures in disdain, some attributing them to their depression, even self-loathing, awkward and sad feelings.
As we discussed in a previous Hallmark blog, Latinos and Hispanics have questionned the ability of the brand to sell authenticity to 50 million Millenials.
As consumer values shift and spending patterns continue to morph, perhaps it is time for Hallmark-an iconic symbol of Valentine's Day-to take a deeper look into the consumer values of Millenials.