2024 Trends: How to Keep Valentine’s Day Relevant

This Valentines Day, brands and retailers are having to work extra hard to ensure their products and messages keep pace with consumer sentiment. It’s crucial to understand the role romance and romantic relationships will play in their customers’ lives to keep Valentines relevant now and in the years to come.  

Seasonal occasions like Valentine’s Day provide an opportunity to connect with customers at a time when they’re actively looking for a little indulgence. Considering the challenges of inflationary economics and sustainability concerns, breaking through stereotypes has become increasingly important. 

In a recent interview with BBC Worklife our Founder and CEO Joanna Feeley explains “We are seeing some of the mainstream corporate companies starting to embrace a wider descriptor of what Valentine’s Day actually means. Valentine’s almost needs a rebrand, but it’s not dead”.  

Modern Love 

The ‘pursuit of pleasure’ defines this rebellious trend for 2024; with celebrations offering the perfect outlet for hedonism. One of the key indicators of this trend was the rise of empathy fatigue and centring of the self. This trend recognises an important shift away from toxic positivity towards a more grounded and honest appreciation of  life’s highs and lows, especially within romantic relationships. Design is inspired by a melting pot of anti-establishment movements, embracing goth and punk aesthetics. Messaging and editorial are not for the faint of heart, with a heavy dose of dark humour and profanity. This clashes with sugary sweet and overtly feminine touches.  

Here are some examples of how brands are activating this rebellious trend. These playful and irreverent brand activations are perfectly primed for audiences who are seeking new and nuanced representations of love.  

Break My Heart  

What we said: 

When we crafted this trend in 2022, we forecast that break-ups would become a source of empowerment, as individuals celebrate the end of bad relationships – from toxic friendships to destructive family ties. Divorce and break-up parties offer a way to gather support networks and celebrate the strength in walking away while breakup boxes focus on indulging in self. 

What we saw: 

This Valentine’s, we’ve seen brands indulging in the joy of singlehood. Some of the more attention-grabbing promotional campaigns celebrate the end of toxic relationships rather than the joy of romance. Ethical FMCG brand, Who Gives a Crap, launched a “flush your ex” campaign, asking followers to send love letters from their exes which they will recycle into toilet paper. Similarly, San Antonio Zoo are giving supporters the chance to name a cockroach after their ex to feed to a resident animal.  

Dark Humour

What we said: 

This trend offers a fresh and contemporary update on editorial for humour ranges or in marketing. Embrace the dark humour and a flippant tone of voice. 

What we saw: 

Embracing the apathetic and cynical mood of the Modern Love trend with a brutally yet appealingly honest portrayal of the pitfalls of modern dating, confectionary brand, Sweethearts Candies launched their love hearts just as “blurry as your situationship”  this month.  

Are you rethinking your 2025 retail occasions? 

If you’re looking ahead to next year, our 2025 Future of Celebration forecast explores how this attitude shift is leading to a re-positioning of the value of romantic love altogether. Our Future of Celebration forecasts will help you plan and execute campaigns and product ranges that will resonate with your future consumers’ needs and expectations. Get actionable direction on trends covering all everyday and seasonal celebrations.