Planning a campaign around such annual celebrations is both easy and challenging. Easy because the idea is relatable and with the right content your brand reach explodes. Challenging because your competitors are also joining the race and so there’s a lot of noise to cut through and be heard. 

However, creativity and sensitivity are the two secret ingredients you need to stand out from the rest. They get your brand closer to your consumers and help establish that emotional connection we were talking about. 

So, are you ready to tug your customers’ heartstrings this Mother’s Day? Then hop on board and we’ll take you through some of the best Mother’s Day ads from brands around the world. We’re sure you’ll get your spark of creativity, your ideal campaign idea halfway through the list. 

Before we get to our Mother’s Day ads, let’s quickly look at the story behind the celebration and why brands benefit from a strong Mother’s Day marketing strategy. 

The Mother’s Day backstory 

More than a century ago, on May 12, 1907, Anna Jarvis hosted a memorial service for her mother who was known for the many women’s groups she organized. These women’s groups were meant to honor and celebrate women and their friendships. The trend quickly caught up and in 1914, a proclamation was signed by President Woodrow Wilson declaring the second Sunday of May as Mother’s Day. 

Earlier, it was about women’s groups gathering and celebrating women, mothers in particular. There were interesting traditions like wearing a white carnation to the event in memory of a deceased mother or wearing a pink or red one for a living mother. The groups then became more inclusive and celebrated more female relationships like grandmothers and aunts. 

The power of Mother’s Day marketing for brands 

As mother’s day spread to several countries, people started finding their own creative ways to celebrate it. And one common element that was part of the celebration in most places was “gifting”. After all, what better way to express love than with a gift, right? 

By 2022, the total expected spending on account of Mother’s Day was $31.7 billion. 

When there’s a sudden spike in consumer spending, brands are naturally curious to leverage the occasion to boost their sales and build stronger customer connections. That’s exactly what paved the way for the growing focus on Mother’s Day marketing. 

While consumers are eager to choose gifts and pamper their mothers on the occasion, they appreciate it when brands help them save a little while shopping. 63% of consumers reportedly expect brands to run deals and discounts to make it easier and cost-effective for Mother’s Day shoppers. 

All of these indicate that planning a strong Mother’s Day campaign is quite important for brands. 

Do all brands have to run Mother’s Day ads? 

If you look at the major places where the expenses go during Mother’s Day, flowers, chocolates, and gift cards are often on the top of the list. So are these the only brands that should worry about a Mother’s Day campaign? Not at all! 

The fact that celebrations for Mother’s Day go beyond gifting means that diverse kinds of brands can benefit from the occasion and from the increase in shopping. So, what kinds of brands can leverage Mother’s Day marketing? Almost all B2C brands fall into this group but here are a few that have stronger ties to the occasion than others: 

• Restaurants, coffee shops, and other businesses in the food and beverage industry. According to the National Retail Federation, about 57% of consumers reported gifting a brunch or dinner for Mother’s Day. After all, time is the most precious gift for the occasion. 
• Businesses dealing with home decor and household appliances. Because practical gifts are often the most popular choice. 
• Skincare and beauty brands. These make the perfect choice for pampering mothers and making them feel special and ready for the occasion. This also includes beauty salons and other service businesses in this category because a spa day for mom sounds like the perfect gift! 

So, if your business belongs to one of these categories, it’s time to gear up for a powerful Mother’s Day campaign for your brand. 

Having set the stage, let’s now get to our list of the most inspirational Mother’s Day ads and grab some marketing lessons from them. 

Mother’s Day: 6 ads to inspire your campaign 

1. Simple can be stunning – DDB print ad for Mother’s Day 

Sometimes, the simplest concepts touch your customer’s hearts. The below image shows a print ad created by the creative agency DDB. The ad features the brand’s logo modified to represent a pregnant woman.

A few quick ideas to grasp from this ad besides the power of simplicity:

• Symbolism can be your biggest strength in marketing. When there’s a special occasion coming up, know the most popular symbols associated with the occasion and what they mean. Use them in your design to effectively customize your ad for the occasion. 
• A minimalistic design often makes the most impact. In the above design. There’s nothing other than the silhouette in focus. As a result, all eyes are on the modified logo. So, customers pay close attention to the ad, and the core message is effectively delivered as well. 

2. Mother New York’s witty billboard ad 

The above Mother’s Day ad from the creative company Mother New York is not just a reminder of the need for outdoor ads but also an example of out-of-the-box thinking. 

Most ads for the occasion are sentimental and with a serious note. But this brand takes a step back and adds a sassy twist to traditional Mother’s Day advertising trends. Concepts like these don’t just grab the eyeballs of passers-by but also increase the chance of your billboard getting photographed and shared on social media. You advertise outdoors but get free advertising on social media as well! That’s a big win, don’t you think? 

Speaking of a big win, when you have such great copy, you also need a design that justifies the witty copy you come up with. Don’t know how to create that design? Leave it to the Kimp team. 

3. Sephora celebrates all moms – inclusivity at its finest 

Inclusivity is becoming a requisite in branding, especially with brands looking for ways to represent their diverse cultures and consumers expecting brands to be more open in their approach. The below Mother’s Day ad from Sephora is a good example of incorporating the element of inclusivity. 

While most ads show traditional mother-daughter or mother-son relationships this ad celebrates all kinds of mothers. 

Concepts like these are unique and hard to ignore. These are the kinds of ads that people talk about on social media. These are the kinds of concepts that help strengthen the brand image and build memorability for the brand. 

4. Every Mother Counts – building awareness 

You can never go wrong with an awareness-building campaign as long as the idea is relevant to the occasion and is sensitively executed. Every Mother Counts, a non-profit focused on protecting women during childbirth came up with a beautiful message for Mother’s Day. 

Almost a decade old, but the idea is evergreen. 

There are many such pressing topics that are often not discussed as much as they should be. Find out such topics relevant to Mother’s Day and create a thought-provoking ad around this idea. With ads like these you initiate conversations, you raise awareness around important topics and therefore you make a difference. 

Kimp Tip: Hard-hitting facts like these seem difficult to present. You have to be highlighting the facts and numbers without making the post boring or cliched. Otherwise, the message is lost. So, you need strong creatives either in the form of videos with clear narratives or images with clear copies. When your idea is clear, delivering them to your customers in the most convincing manner is what influences the outcome. 

5. THE ICONIC – To Those Who Mother 

The key to your customer’s heart is authenticity. Ads that feel honest and close to the real-life scenario work much better than those that look sophisticated and choreographed. The below Mother’s Day ad from fashion retailer The Iconic shows how this can be done. 

Notice that the brand takes the backseat in this ad. The concept and the occasion appear front and center and emotions drive them toward a customer’s heart. 

The fact that the ad captures the raw emotions of motherhood and the kind of rollercoaster ride it can be makes the ad a memorable one. Concepts that connect with mothers easily are warm and are welcomed by customers. As you can see, for emotional ads like these, video is the best format. With videos, you can easily tell a story and convey strong emotions.

That comes as a reminder to start including more videos in your marketing strategy.

6. Allswell Home – Ban The Brunch 

Marketing is a mix of different content formats. We have seen ads for print, outdoor ads as well as traditional video ads so far, now let’s also look at one that’s a static digital design in the form of a social media post. 

The below campaign from Allswell Home for Mother’s Day shows the kind of impact a social media post can make. 

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A post shared by Allswell (@allswellhome)

This campaign captures the little things that a mother truly appreciates. Like sleeping in, for example. Let’s face it, once a baby arrives, sleeping in becomes history and almost every mother out there can relate to this. That’s the kind of relatable emotion you need to capture in your ad and that’s exactly what Allswell Home did with the above campaign. 

Another noteworthy aspect of this campaign is its idea of encouraging user content. That’s one of the best use of social media for brands.  

Mother’s Day is a great occasion to nurture customer engagement, especially on social media. After all, 55% of consumers engage more with a brand on social media when incentivized. This comes in the form of giveaway posts where users stand a chance to win prizes for tagging a friend or sharing a post or even sharing a photo as in the above case. 

Kimp Tip: When you come up with social media contests for occasions like these, you need to have a solid plan of action. Social media contest is a very common idea and you do not want your contest to get lost in the crowd. A clear hashtag strategy, a consistent aesthetic for all the promotional graphics for your contest, everything counts. 

Design your campaign graphics with Kimp

Visuals lie at the crux of most marketing campaigns these days. Because visuals, as you can see from the above examples, have the power to humanize your brand and engage your audience. When occasions like these call for strong emotions, again, visuals are your best friends. If you think a consistent flow of visuals for marketing is a difficult job to tackle, think again. Think unlimited design subscriptions. A flat monthly fee is all it takes to gain access to unlimited visuals for your brand and that too all kinds of designs for both print and digital media.

So, what are you waiting for? Sign up for a free 7-day trial of a Kimp subscription and transform the way you approach topical marketing campaigns like these.