Easter Symbolism: 5 Easter Symbols + A Basket Full of Marketing Ideas
Everything changes when the festive mood sets in. Easter is just a bunny hop away. People are busy stocking up on chocolates and planning their Easter egg hunts. They are also busy shopping for gifts to pamper their loved ones.
What does this mean for your brand? A good opportunity to nurture customer relationships. A chance to foster customer loyalty and get closer to your audience by taking part in the celebrations with them.
Whether you are planning an elaborate event for the occasion or a social media giveaway, an irresistible sale, or a simple social media post, there’s one thing you need to get right – the Easter vibes. Now how do you do that? Most people think of Easter bunnies and Easter eggs. Yes, we get it. These are the most recognizable and most commonly used Easter symbols. But are they the only ones you can use? Not at all.
From baby chicks to lambs and lilies, there is much more to Easter symbolism. Using them in your communication and marketing materials only shows customers how much you value the tradition. And to do this flawlessly, you need to know the stories behind these Easter symbols and how to relate these stories to your brand and to your Easter marketing campaigns. Shall we begin?
Easter symbolism – the story behind the 5 most popular Easter symbols
1. Easter Bunny
Of course, we had to start the list with the much-loved and well-recognized Easter symbolism – the Easter Bunny. What’s the story behind this mythical bunny who is believed to hop from house to house leaving Easter baskets at doorsteps?
There are many theories behind the Easter symbolism of the bunny.
One theory connects back to the spring goddess Ēostre/Ostara. Legend has it that Ostara who brings spring every year gave a dying bird a new life and turned it into a hare. And the hare is believed to have received the power to lay eggs daily and give those eggs away one day, which is now Easter day.
The widespread use of the Easter Bunny originated before the 17th century in Germany and is believed to have been brought to America through German immigrants.
Using Easter Bunny in your designs
An Easter symbolism this old is definitely a good choice to capture the festive spirit. So a simple digital card featuring an Easter Bunny will make a great choice when you want to wish your customers on the special day. This can be either through emails or social media or even in the form of direct postcards mailed to your customers.
The below McDonald’s ad creatively blends its brand identity with Easter symbolism to create a memorable design.
The below commercial, for example, leverages the Easter Bunny symbolism while also reflecting the buzz of Easter shopping.
If you wish to experiment with all these media and need a reliable team to execute your design consistently for all these, choose a KIMP subscription.
2. Easter Eggs
Like the Bunny, dyed eggs are the next more popular Easter symbolism most people recognize instantly. A basket filled with colorful eggs and egg hunt are perhaps the most common things that people recall when we talk about Easter.
Eggs have always been seen as a symbol of new life. The process of an eggshell breaking and new life emerging was seen as a representation of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.
While that’s one theory, another connection between eggs and Easter comes from the Lent traditions observed in the 40 days preceding Easter. During this period eggs were forbidden from the diet. So, to break the egg fast the Easter breakfast consisted of eggs.
Well, that explains the eggs but what about dyeing them? That’s based on a Persian Nowruz tradition of dyeing eggs red to symbolize the blood of Jesus Christ. Orthodox traditions carried this practice forward and the dyeing of eggs during Easter became part of the Easter celebrations.
As with the egg hunt traditions, it is believed that this comes from a 16th-century German practice where men hid eggs in different locations and women and children hunted for them.
Using Easter eggs in your designs
There are many ways to do this. Creatively blending your brand identity into an Easter egg is one way to do it. The Mercedes Benz Easter Egg is an example of a cool way to do this.
Subtle, relevant to the occasion, and yet not the slightest deviation from the brand identity! That’s brilliant ad design for the festive season.
Another way to use this symbol is to add a colorful basket of eggs to create warm Easter wishes for your customers.
Or if you wish to integrate the symbol into a memorable story, something more engaging like the below M&M’s commercial.
3. Baby chick
This adorable Easter symbolism is closely connected with the association of eggs with Easter. Just like the cracking of the eggs symbolizes resurrection, the baby chick represents the new life that comes after. In addition to this, the connection between chicks and spring is another possible theory behind baby chicks becoming Easter mascots.
Using baby chicks in your designs
Illustrations and photos of baby chicks make adorable additions to your Easter designs. If you want to design flyers or even digital ads but do not want the commonly used Easter symbols of bunnies and eggs, baby chicks set the stage. They also make a lovely choice for visual themes when you organize an Easter event.
4. Lamb
The religious stories featuring lambs and the story of Easter have a deep-rooted similarity. Lambs are associated with the idea of “sacrifice” and are often seen as symbols of purity. So, for a festival that commemorates the sacrifice made by Jesus Christ, the symbol of sacrifice, a lamb, became a popular association.
Another theory comes from the lambing season. Since traditionally most lambs are born in spring, its connection with the ancient springtime festival continues.
Roast lamb is also part of the Easter meal in several traditions.
Using lambs in your designs
Lamb themed-packaging, and illustrated lambs to adorn your ads are just some ways to use this Easter symbolism.
Lindt Mini Lambs shows how brands offering desserts and confectionery items can easily customize their treats for Easter in the lamb theme. The brand also has a collection of gold bunnies, mini Easter eggs, and more in its Easter candy collection.
In addition to these Easter-themed treats, the brand also launched large Easter eggs a couple of years ago. The highlight was the lamb-themed packaging that could be cut out into face masks. These are great ideas to get inspired from.
5. Lily
Bunnies surrounded by white lilies or a basket of Easter eggs with white lilies in the background are very common in Easter aesthetics. White lilies have been associated with purity, peace and joy and therefore make a fitting choice for Easter celebrations.
There are also various stories connecting the lily to Mary and associating the flower with motherhood.
Using white lilies in your designs
Flowers are timeless decor elements to enhance your design. And white lilies with their versatility are easy to incorporate as well. You can use them to create floral borders or accents in your Easter-themed social media posts or even in flyers announcing an upcoming Easter event.
KIMP Tip: Some symbols are interpreted differently in different regions. For example, in the Irish tradition, people wear Easter Lily badges in honor of the Irish republican combatants who lost their lives in the Easter Rising of 1916. So, Easter Lily strikes differently if your campaigns are for Ireland. That’s a reminder to understand the interpretations of the common symbols in different regions before freezing your campaign idea.
Brand campaigns that brought Easter symbols to life
Creating a single email or social media graphic incorporating these symbols is one way to celebrate the occasion. But when you wish to make the most of the festival and really engage your users in a way they would remember your brand for a long time, then the below campaigns are great sources of inspiration.
1. Cadbury Worldwide Hide
Taking the Easter egg-hunt tradition to a whole new level, Cadbury introduced the Cadbury Worldwide Hide in 2021. The below image shows their virtual version of the egg-hunt tradition planned for 2024.
The campaign lets users hide easter eggs in virtual locations for their loved ones to hunt for them. The brand is incorporating a series of OOH campaigns throughout the UK and Ireland. There are also campaigns planned for social media, TV, and other channels.
KIMP Tip: Omnichannel campaigns like these are interactive and leave a lasting impression on your brand. These are the kinds of campaigns that increase social media conversations about your brand. Therefore they are the ones that help widen your brand reach.
Want to be sure that your campaign graphics look consistent and connected in all these channels where your campaign is spread across? Get a KIMP subscription today.
2. Pillsbury ready to bake cookie dough Easter edition
For the past few years, just around Easter, Pillsbury has been releasing its limited edition ready-to-bake pre-cut cookie dough collection. This includes Easter shapes like bunny, eggs and chicks. These are right on theme and they make it easier for customers to prepare their Easter treats.
Limited edition products like these are great ways to quickly boost your revenue. And when they are an annual occurrence as in the case of the Pillsbury cookie dough, people anticipate the launch of the product every year. This encourages repeat business and therefore strengthens customer loyalty.
If you cannot modify your product design too much, you can always make changes to the packaging design for such occasions. And when you have a dedicated design team to work on your marketing graphics, changing your packaging for a limited edition product is not going to be a problem.
3. IKEA – VÅRKÄNSLA chocolate bunny
Launching a limited edition product is perhaps one of the most effective ideas that brands go with. Given the many easy Easter symbols you can come up with an adorable Easter-themed product as IKEA does. Every year close to Easter IKEA brings its milk chocolate, VÅRKÄNSLA. This comes in signature flatpack format as with other IKEA products but goes accurately well with the theme.
4. Lush Cosmetics Easter-themed products
Lush Cosmetics North America introduced an Easter-themed collection that features bath bombs, shower jelly, and other products. They are shaped like bunnies, carrots, and other designs that capture the spirit of Easter. That’s one way to create festive collections without deviating from your brand.
In this case, people associate Easter with treats and desserts and therefore they are the most common gifts for the occasion. But the Lush Cosmetics Easter treat collection changes this perspective and encourages customers to pick a different gift.
5. A noteworthy logo redesign by Kölner Zoo
Kölner Zoo Germany has a very interesting logo which is an exemplary design when it comes to the wise use of negative space. Kölner Zoo is known for its creative Easter campaigns like the one below featuring photos of various animals incorporating the Easter symbolism of egg creatively.
Another one is where Kölner Zoo transformed its logo to celebrate Easter. The brilliant design is only a subtle variation of the original logo and shows how the smallest design changes executed with a clear purpose can make the most impact.
6. Deliveroo – eggs with a twist
If you notice all the above campaigns you might notice that ‘egg’ happens to be the most commonly used Easter symbolism. So, if you plan to use this symbol for the sake of simplicity and for the easy communication of the idea then you need to get really creative. Year after year Deliveroo comes up with the most creative way to use “eggs” in its Easter campaigns.
In 2019, this British online food delivery company came up with GOT eggs as Easter was close to the launch of the final season of Game of Thrones. The brand hopped on to a popular trend to connect with a larger group of audience, (the Game of Thrones fans). Fans could purchase these mystical eggs through the app.
In 2021, Deliveroo got even more creative. Collaborating with Mystic Meg, the brand came up with “Mystic Eggs”. These were fortune-telling crystal ball eggs which were available for a limited period on the app.
Creativity during festive seasons definitely scores some extra credits. Because people are bombarded with Easter campaign ideas that are old hats. So, anything exciting is sure to make them stop scrolling and start interacting with your brand.
7. HARIBO – Double Yolkers
Gamification, the use of contests, and other engaging ideas in marketing can benefit brands a great deal. Because you are making the experience more thrilling for your customers. You are giving them plenty of reasons to engage with your brand. This idea works during competitive times like Easter. That’s why Haribo came up with its Double Yolker campaign.
For this, the brand picked Britain’s favorite sweet, Starmix. Double-yolk-shaped treats were hidden in 20 packs and customers who found them could take part in the contest and stand a chance to win a holiday.
With ideas like these, you are increasing sales. This includes bringing in new customers who might try your brand for the excitement the contest brings. You are creating repeat purchases from existing customers who wish to try their luck by purchasing more packs. And finally, at the base of it all, you are delivering a fun experience. All of these positively impact your brand.
8. Access Self Storage – Easter Appeal
Easter is a time of renewal, of hope! Therefore, it is a fantastic opportunity to run charity-focused marketing campaigns that combine festive spirit with giving back to the community. The popular self-storage rental company, Access Self Storage, is running a campaign titled Easter Appeal. This annual campaign focuses on filling a storage unit to donate to charity!
🐰Access Self Storage is thrilled to kick off our Easter Campaign with our national partner,@felixprojectuk! We're collecting Easter egg donations for those in need of a sweet treat. 🐣 Click to learn more! https://t.co/7Vv53QC6Bz #EasterCampaign #DonateEasterEggs 📷 ✨ pic.twitter.com/uwTWHjc2su
— Access Self Storage (@access4news) February 28, 2024
A Few Quick Tips To Takeaway
With the Easter symbols sorted, and some campaigns and designs to inspire you, let’s take a look at some quick tips to execute these ideas for a brilliant Easter campaign design.
- To make the Easter symbols appear more relevant and your ad design more memorable, craft a relevant story.
- Stay updated with the trends of the year. While integrating the symbols, you can always infuse the design trends of the season to stay relevant to your audience as well.
- Find creative ways to incorporate symbolism rather than just adding Easter-themed icons that do not fit well into the design. You can also tap into the strength of AI design tools for inspiration. You can leverage AI tools to transfer styles or creatively manipulate your designs. For example, if there is an ancient artwork you think will be relevant to Easter, you can impose the style of the artwork into a poster you are designing for your Easter event. Or you could use tools like DALL.E to see what your brand mascot looks like in an Easter Bunny costume.
These are just a few simple ideas to explore. For more exciting options, work with an experienced team of designers who can transform your Easter campaigns.
Integrate Easter Symbolism for Some Egg-citing Campaigns for Your Brand
As you can see, there are so many creative ways to use Easter symbolism to initiate conversations and increase sales during the festival. Are you ready to execute your favorite Easter campaign idea this year?
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