With Mother’s Day this weekend, we found it apropos to focus on how brands capitalize on this holiday to generate buzz and attention.

 

First off, a little history about Mother’s Day: 150 years ago, Anna Jarvis, an Appalachian homemaker, organized a day to raise awareness of the poor health conditions in her community, a cause she believed would be best advocated by moms. When she passed away, her daughter began a campaign to memorialize the work of her mom and lobbied prominent businessmen and politicians to create a special day to honor mothers. Nine years later, Woodrow Wilson signed a bill recognizing Mother’s Day as a national holiday.

 

From its humble beginnings, Mother’s Day has grown into a commercialized, branding free-for-all, and it has become the second most popular holiday for gift-giving, following Christmas. With 85 million moms in the U.S., this influx of gift-giving equals huge market potential and exposure for brands.

 

So, how are brands leveraging Mother’s Day? Well, most obviously, the sheer amount of promotions, giveaways, deals and sweepstakes being offered this week by florists, jewelers, greeting card companies and restaurants is staggering. But what’s really fun to see are brands joining the conversation in creative ways:

 

 

Finally, we love when companies effectively use nostalgia to tell a story – and Mother’s Day is the perfect occasion. These examples show exactly what we mean, and make us love their brands even more. Enjoy!

 

 

Sources
Hallmark, U.S. Census Bureau