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Tired of the doom and gloom in the news cycle? Perhaps a brand can interest you in a romantic distraction.<\/p>\n
As romance shows like The Summer I Turned Pretty <\/em>take social media by storm, as brands like Audible, Neutrogena, Vera Bradley, and even Doritos have rolled out campaigns that are meant to not only appeal to romance fans but also celebrate the genre\u2014all while, potentially, providing some light entertainment.<\/p>\n \u201cThe world is on fire for all of us,\u201d Nic Climer, executive creative director of the marketing agency Rapp, said. \u201cSo I think the thing we are all trying to do right now, and we\u2019re all trying to attach to, is to feel something real.\u201d<\/p>\n It\u2019s not just a matter of making consumers feel something; brands are aiming to give them something to feel good about in a time where positive feelings can be hard to come by. \u201cThe rise of romance in pop culture is about escapism and joy, two things people are craving right now,\u201d Neha Minj, senior marketing director for face care at Neutrogena, told Marketing Brew in an email. \u201cFor brands, it is an opportunity to meet consumers where they are and connect through creativity and shared experiences, rather than just transactions.\u201d<\/p>\n Leaning into stories with a romantic bent to them is almost a cheat code to making people feel something, which is why some marketers see the trend as having legs.<\/p>\n \u201cRomance is having its moment,\u201d James Finn, SVP, global head of brand and content marketing at Audible, told Marketing Brew. \u201cThere\u2019s highly, highly engaged conversations [and] brands are seeing that, and with streaming content, movies, and TV shows, it\u2019s a category that continues to grow.\u201d<\/p>\n Part of brands\u2019 interest in the trend can be chalked up to changing cultural sentiment around the genre. \u201cI feel like in North America, romance has been looked down on for so long, especially the last 20 years of media and culture,\u201d Megha Parikh, executive strategy director at VML, said. \u201cI think that [the] tide is turning. If you look at what people are buying in terms of books and the stories that they\u2019re watching and TikTok and things, it\u2019s okay to have just pure romance and enjoy that for the sake of that romance.\u201d<\/p>\n For a brand like Audible, tracking what\u2019s trending for readers comes with the territory of promoting and selling audiobooks, and while the company focuses on various genres each quarter, the company has found that romance is one of the \u201cmost engaged genres on the service, outpacing every other one significantly,\u201d Finn noted. \u201cAnd [the] audience is a really passionate audience.\u201d (That fervor mirrors traditional book sales, where sales of romance, long a powerhouse genre, are on the rise.)<\/p>\n Marketing Brew informs marketing pros of the latest on brand strategy, social media, and ad tech via our weekday newsletter, virtual events, marketing conferences, and digital guides.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n Audible aims to reflect that passion in its campaigns with efforts celebrating the genre. Last Friday, as part of its romance marketing efforts, Audible hosted a \u201cRomance Rowboat Experience\u201d in Central Park.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re bringing fans, and we\u2019re having actors there, and basically re-creating that whole concept of audio storytelling with rowboats kind of lean[ing] into different types of romance genres,\u201d Finn said.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Neutrogena\u2019s entry into the romance marketing trend has also aimed to recognize the passion of the genre\u2019s fans. Last month, the brand partnered with influencer Serena Kerrigan on two \u201csteamy\u201d short stories that are available on Wattpad, a site known for fan fiction, as a way to target millennials and zillennials on BookTok.<\/p>\n Brands have been going beyond romance to stories of lust and desire. In addition to Neutrogena, Doritos recently featured actor Walton Goggins in a spot that used the tagline \u201cspicy but not too spicy\u201d as part of a throwback parody more akin to a late-night Skinemax movie than traditional romance.<\/p>\n Pushing into different niches is a way for brands to not only test the boundaries of what stories brands can tell but also look to stand out in a fragmented media landscape.<\/p>\n \u201cI think actually [it\u2019s] not so much that they\u2019re willing to test the boundaries, but more that they are desperate enough to [do so to] win attention,\u201d Parikh said. \u201cIf you look at the Doritos, the reason it\u2019s wild and smutty is that it\u2019s wild and smutty for a brand, but it\u2019s not wild and smutty for TikTok.\u201d<\/p>\n Even if brand marketers are more willing to roll with more risqu\u00e9 content, it all comes down to making those consumer connections.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you think about how brands are trying to evolve and how they\u2019re trying to connect, I think what we\u2019re trying to do as marketers is be more layered and more nuanced,\u201d Climer said. \u201cRomance is a part of that.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\nRevving up readers<\/strong><\/h2>\n
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