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Valentine’s Day in Japan – marketing opportunities
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Valentine’s Day in Japan is celebrated on February 14th, just like in many Western countries. However, the tradition of gift-giving is slightly different. In Japan, it is customary for women to give chocolates to men they admire or are interested in. Men’s fashion & accessories are also very popular around this time.
White Day, celebrated on March 14th, is a holiday where men return the favour by giving gifts to the women who gave them chocolates on Valentine’s Day. Common White Day gifts include sweets, flowers, and white accessories like handbags, lingerie, or jewellery.
In recent years, the tradition of White Day has also evolved to include gifts for friends and family members. This has led to a wider variety of gifts, from chocolates and candies to accessories and electronics.
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💡 Limited Edition Products: Many brands release special Valentine’s Day and White Day products. These limited-edition items create a sense of urgency and exclusivity.
💡Promotional Campaigns: Brands often run promotional campaigns during these holidays, offering discounts, giveaways, or special offers. This can help increase sales and brand awareness.
💡Social Media Marketing: Brands use social media platforms to create engaging content related to Valentine’s Day and White Day. This can include behind-the-scenes footage, customer testimonials, or contests.
💡Influencer Partnerships: Collaborations with popular influencers can help brands reach a wider audience and generate buzz around their products.
💡In-Store Promotions: Many retailers create festive displays and offer special services during these holidays. This can attract customers and encourage impulse purchases.
Using the keywords “Valentine’s Day” and “Valentine’s Chocolate,” let’s analyse search trends from January to February 2024.
❤️ “Valentine’s Day” searches gradually increased from around January 6th, peaking on February 14th. Even after Valentine’s Day, there were still a significant number of searches.
🍫 “Valentine’s Chocolate” searches showed multiple peaks from mid-January, with the highest peak on February 1st. This suggests that people started planning their Valentine’s gifts early, as the keyword is more specific.
Source: LY
What keywords are people searching for around this time? Based on Yahoo! JAPAN’s 2024 search trend data, we can understand:
🔍 Top 20 keywords for “Valentine’s Day” in January and February showed no significant differences. Interestingly, keywords combining “year” and “Valentine’s Day” were popular, suggesting users were checking the date or looking for trends.
🔍 In February, keywords related to “handmade” became more frequent, indicating a last-minute rush.
Source: LY
As we already learned, it is a custom in Japan for women to gift men chocolate on Valentine’s. It’s also reflected in search trends.
🍫 Keywords like “giri-choco” (obligation chocolate), “tomo-choco” (friend chocolate), and “honmei-choco” (love chocolate) were very popular, reflecting the custom of exchanging chocolates among friends and colleagues.
🍫 Recipe-related searches were also high, showing that many people made their own treats.
Based on Yahoo! JAPAN’s search data trends from 2024, we can see:
🙍🏻♀️ The majority of searches were from women, especially for “handmade Valentine’s”.
💖 While there was no significant difference in age for general “Valentine’s Day” searches, the 40s age group dominated searches for “handmade Valentine’s”.
Source: LY
After searching for “Valentine’s Day,” users often searched for baking, fashion, and even White Day (a reciprocal gift-giving day in Japan).
💡Early Planning: Many people started planning their Valentine’s gifts well in advance.
💡Handmade Popularity: There was a significant interest in making homemade treats.
💡Diverse Chocolate Types: People were searching for various types of chocolates, including those for specific relationships.
💡Post-Valentine Interest: There was continued interest even after Valentine’s Day, particularly for White Day.
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