For instance, some stores last month began stocking Valentine’s Day merchandise just days after Christmas. And the issue of Parade that came out last week carried an ad for jewelry that nudged shoppers to order soon “for guaranteed Valentine’s Day delivery.”

In another example of the trend, destinations are encouraging couples to take trips around Feb. 14 for romantic purposes. A case in point is a campaign that seeks to woo visitors to San Antonio.

The campaign, now getting under way, is sponsored by the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau. The budget is estimated at $250,000.

The campaign is centered on a designation of San Antonio as “The City of Yellow Roses” — a mash-up of roses in honor of Valentine’s Day and the symbolic yellow rose of Texas. The focus of the campaign, by an agency in Austin, Tex., named Proof Advertising, is a special Web site, cityofyellowroses.com, which is separate from the bureau’s regular Web site, visitsanantonio.com.

The special Web site offers content that includes video clips, blog posts, “expert advice” on courtship and links to deals, discounts and sales at hotels, restaurants, shops and other attractions in San Antonio.

The campaign includes, in addition to the yellow rose microsite, an ad in Texas Monthly magazine, banner and mobile ads, videos on YouTube, a presence in social media and so-called clings, ads being affixed to doors at the entrances to malls.

There will also be fanciful events, among them trips by flatbed trucks filled with yellow roses through other cities in Texas like Austin, Dallas and Houston. Passers-by will be given flowers, along with invitations to visit cityofyellowroses.com.

The campaign builds upon a similar campaign that the bureau sponsored last year, which was “very successful,” says Casandra Matej, executive director of the San Antonio Convention and Visitors Bureau.

The goal of the campaign this year, like the one last year, is “to own the holiday season devoted to romance,” Ms. Matej says, “and drive people to San Antonio during that time frame” as well as “educate them just how romantic San Antonio is year-round.”

Asked for examples, Ms. Matej cites the Marriage Island in on the San Antonio Riverwalk, where “hundreds of weddings are done each year” and the weddings that take place on the steps of City Hall each Valentine’s Day.

The attitude of the campaign is “romantically Texan,” she says, and “we hope it will create a lot of buzz.”

A new aspect of the campaign for 2013 is the idea of aiming the ads at men, which is underlined by a tongue-in-cheek presentation of the special Web site as “The Gentlemen’s Guide to Valentine’s Day.” That is explained by research indicating that “men spend two times more than women” in the run-up to the holiday, Ms. Matej says.

The special Web site is devoted to three subjects: etiquette, style and dating. “As one of the 10 most romantic destinations in the nation, we know a thing or two about courtship,” text on the home page of cityofyellowroses.com begins. “So sit back, put on your reading glasses and transform yourself into the devilishly charming gentleman this blog will undoubtedly help you become.”

In one animated video clip, men are advised on how to deal with puddles. There are three options: “The Holy Matrimony,” carrying a woman across the puddle; “The Sport Coat Carpet,” a Walter Raleigh-style maneuver that covers the puddle; and “The Man Plank,” lying prone over the puddle.

There is also an animated video with three rules about using cologne: “Don’t over-season,” “Leave the mixology to the bartender” and “Stay above the Equator.”

A third animated video is devoted to advice on sportsmanship, the gist of which is “the gentleman who loses now wins later.”

There are also a guide to compliments, gift ideas, an invitation to “Explore romance in San Antonio” and a guide to dining, which declares: “Food comas are not romantic. Neither is waiting for a table.”

The male tilt to the campaign is different in that “tourism advertising generally speaks to women,” says Craig Mikes, who is creative director at Proof Advertising as well as a principal there.

The intent is to “help the guys spend their money a little more efficiently,” he adds.

To insure the campaign spoke appropriately to its intended target, “we put an all-male team on the project,” Mr. Mikes said, but then “watched them struggle and fumble” with the assignment.

“We knew what we had to do,” he adds. “We knew we had to create a guide, to help a guy out planning a trip to a city he was not that familiar with.”

As for the humorous tack, that is meant to help the campaign stand out amid a sea of look-alike efforts, Mr. Mikes says, in that “Valentine’s Day ads always take the greeting-card approach, soft and gentle.”

“This has more of a masculine flavor than a traditional Valentine’s Day campaign,” he adds.

The campaign formally begins on Tuesday and is to continue through Feb. 17.

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Article source: http://www.nytimes.com/2013/01/14/business/media/youve-got-to-have-heart-san-antonio-says.html?partner=rss&emc=rss