While the annual commemoration of Valentine’s Day is most commonly associated with love and romance, corporate Ghana and small enterprises see it as a major sales opportunity.
Every year, in many parts of the world – particularly those parts that have embraced the culture of the western hemisphere – February 14 is a day with special significance. This is Valentine’s Day, a day put aside to celebrate love and romance. Ghanaians have embraced this global commemoration with more gusto than most; many Ghanaians have lobbied that it should be made a public holiday.
But for many enterprises, corporations and institutions in Ghana, Valentines Day celebrations are well worth the disruption that inevitably accompanies it; only the end of year festivities {the season that lasts from Christmas eve to New Year’s Day} and Easter rank ahead of it with regards to spending on leisure and recreation; and this only because Valentine’s Day activities are necessarily condensed into just a few hours, rather than several days. Measured by sheer intensity, Val’s Day beats all comers on Ghana’s social calendar.
Out in the open the biggest beneficiary enterprises are those that sell food and drinks, as well as chocolates, an item usually associated with love and romance and indeed which Ghana’s government is trying to leverage on by declaring it National Chocolate Day in order to boost sales of a product which corporate Ghana produces to the highest international standards.
Similarly, chocolate sales are estimated to be up to quadruple the daily average for all the other days of the year.
Cocoa has been the mainstay of Ghana’s economy over the years, but citizens of the world’s second largest cocoa producer reportedly have a low cocoa consumption rate.
In response, the government has introduced cocoa consumption into the country’s school feeding program to boost local patronage.
This year, Valentine’s Day is expected to be lower key than in previous years, as a result of the liquidity crunch that is afflicting most households. But this is deceptive. In actual fact an expectation of a slower than usual Valentine’s Day is primarily the result of advertising budget cuts by enterprises that usually announce their wares and services the loudest.
