Valentine's Day in Japan...a case study of marketing genius

Valentine's Day is for lovers, right?  This approach makes the day special but certainly limits the buyers of Valentine's chocolate to people with a sweetheart.  And in America, it's primarily the men who buy the chocolate, right?  So, you've got men with a sweetheart as potential Valentine chocolate buyers...a good-sized group but limited.  In Japanese this problem has been overcome in several ways.  One, Valentine's Day is the day WOMEN buy chocolate.  It's a rule.  And they not only buy chocolate for their sweetheart, if they have one, but they must buy it for all kinds of men they know, bosses, colleagues, friends, sons, customers, etc.  So, already the number of chocolate buyers is greatly expanded, all of whom must make multiples purchases.  Further, one month after Valentine's Day, March 14th, is "White Day," and this is the day that MEN have to buy chocolate for all the women who gave them chocolate on Valentine's Day.  Now, if you're a chocolate maker, there could be nothing better than having half the population feeling obligated to buy chocolate for multiple members of the other half of the population in a culture where obligation is serious business.  So, anyway, I'm not sure that you have much hope competing with this kind of marketing savvy, but if you want to try, contact us at www.noah-digital.co.jp/english/  Now, I'm off to buy chocolate...after all, White Day is coming...