A remarkable feature of what could be called the “holiday economy” in China is the high number of festivals that during the years have been turned into some sort of alternative versions of the more classic "Valentine's Day". In fact, in China there are three widely recognized festivals which are celebrated as Valentine's Day: Valentine's Day (14.2), Chinese Valentine's Day (7.7 in the lunar calendar, called Qixi) and May 20th due to the pronunciation of 520 sounding similar to “I love you” in Chinese.

中国的节假日市场有一个显著的特征，就是喜欢把节日过成“情人节”——事实上在中国，被广泛承认的情人节就已经有西方情人节、七夕和“5·20”（“520”谐音为“我爱你”）三个。

Although this can also be said to be a special ritual between lovers, from a marketing point of view, the atmosphere of Valentine's Day is both encouraged and exploited by brands aiming to stimulate consumption in all kinds of industries – from fashion to hospitality and food & beverage, just to name a few -, which explains why Valentine's Day is always accompanied by a strong culture of "gifts".

虽然这也可以说是情侣间一种特殊的仪式感，但从市场来看，情人节日的氛围更多是商家为了刺激消费所宣传营造出来的，这也就解释了为什么情人节总是伴随着“礼物”出现。

However, it is undeniable that these numerous Valentine's Days are still important marketing nodes, especially the widely recognized Chinese Valentine's Day, which is on the 7th day of the seventh lunar month, as it is related to a pair of well-known lovers in traditional Chinese stories, cowherd and weaver girl (Chinese name of Altair and Vega) – which is about a couple that was separated due to ancient fairy tale regulations governing relations between heaven and earth only allowing the two to be together on Chinese Valentine's day every year, which gives the festival a mysterious and romantic atmosphere, and shows a more intimate side than the others.

尽管如此，不可否认的是，这些众多的情人节仍然是非常重要的营销节点，特别是广受认可的“七夕”情人节（农历七月初七），因为它与中国传统故事中一对家喻户晓的情侣牛郎和织女有关——这对情侣因为遭遇一些阻碍不得不长时间分开，每年只能在七夕这一天相聚，使得它在中国传统文化的裹挟中覆盖上了一层神秘浪漫的色彩，比一般的节日显得更为亲近一些，它也因此成为许多品牌在中国营销市场重点关注的节日。

Generally speaking, the first ideas that come to our mind are some special gifts for couples to consume, such as discounts for dinner or coupons for purchasing goods, or special markets adapted with some extra-romantic concepts and activities for couples to visit. However, most of these type of activities are based on experiences achievable at shopping malls or specific shops. After all, it’s important to keep in mind that the cost of holding these kind of activities completely changes among China’s different regions and stores, which also means that brands should put more of an effort in localizing their campaigns and marketing strategies based on specific areas.

一般提到情人节活动，首先会想到的是一些专属于情侣消费的福利，例如情侣用餐可以获得折扣、购买商品可以获得赠品或一些吸引情侣去游玩的特别概念集市等。但这种类型的活动大部分以商场或商店为单位，品牌方较少直接设置一个情侣福利，毕竟在不同地区和门店举行活动耗费的成本不尽相同。

Another similar marketing approach is co-branded products, which means two brands (not necessarily from the same industry) jointly launch a unique series of products. For example, the fashion brand Zara and Jo Malone jointly launched a series of fragrances and candles, or the ice cream gift box launched by Hershey’s and the famous RPG mobile game Onmyoji. These co-branded products can not only superimpose the influence of the two brands, but also have a cross-border impact, attracting fans of different levels.

另外一种相似的营销手段是联名产品。通常是两个品牌联合推出独特的系列产品，如今年快时尚品牌Zara和祖玛珑联合推出了七夕系列香氛及同香蜡烛、或是好时巧克力与阴阳师推出的联名冰淇淋礼盒，这种联名商品不仅能叠加两个品牌的影响力，通常还会带点跨界性质，吸引不同层次的粉丝。

In addition, there is a concept of creative marketing that combines cultural connotation with products. For example, last year, Maserati launched an activity on Chinese Valentine's Day by  designing WeChat posts that made viewers to feel as if they were looking at the starry sky from a Maserati car with a large panoramic skylight, which interestingly connects the brand with the story of Altair and Vega in the Chinese Valentine's Day, so as to endow the product with a more romantic flavor.

另外还有一种具有创意的营销，是将文化内涵和产品相结合，例如去年玛莎拉蒂在七夕节推出的活动，将推送设计成从一辆拥有大面积电动全景天窗的车中遥看星空，与七夕牵牛星和织女星遥相呼应的故事相连接，为产品赋予浪漫气息。