• by Aaron Baar , February 14, 2017

Flowers, candy, romantic dinners, and other … endeavors can lead to a pressure-packed Valentine’s Day for many couples. Rather than add to that pressure (particularly in the bedroom), RB (a.k.a. Reckitt Benckiser) brand K-Y is focusing on the other 364 days of the year. 

“When it comes to cookie-cutter holidays like Valentine’s Day, K-Y found that couples felt immense pressure to not only have a supremely romantic evening but also give the performance of a lifetime in the bedroom,” Elyse Altabet, sexual wellbeing senior brand manager, at RB, tells Marketing Daily. “To decrease the pressure, K-Y is encouraging couples to celebrate their relationship and connect with one another on any day of the year.” 

Partnering with online invitation and greeting card site Punchbowl, the brand has developed some digital greeting cards for couples to send to each other on every day other than Valentine’s Day. Messages are typical of those one might see on Valentine’s Day (e.g., “You Rock My World” or “Let’s Make Chemistry”), but are subtly branded by K-Y. (The site also includes a banner ad proclaiming “You Don’t Need a Holiday to Celebrate Each Other.”)

“We loved the idea of tying ‘You Don’t Need a Reason’ to e-cards, since digital greeting cards are so intrinsically tied to a holiday,” Altabet says. “As we thought through the campaign, we realized that it feels so special and genuine when you receive an unexpected love note — when it’s not tied to a holiday.

The cards will be available via a special section on Punchbowl’s site on every day except Valentine’s Day through February 2018. As such, the brand will promote them at different points throughout the year. 

“As the cards are evergreen, we will work with Punchbowl throughout the year to distribute a number of promotional assets,” Altabet says. “We will also launch a digital influencer campaign to bring ‘You Don’t Need a Reason’ to life — our target-relevant personalities will encourage their followers to engage in ‘just because’ moments with their partners.”