The love season is here with us again. Epitomised by the ancient romantic tale of Valentine’s Day, the modern consumer has turned it into a time of uncontrolled spending and carefree indulgence all in the name of love. And businesses have been quick to cash in.
Even our good old traditional banks have not been left behind. National Bank of Kenya will treat its customers to a “yellow Valentines” after recording its best performance last year in 48 years.
Bank customers will be treated to yellow Valentine gifts, including yellow chocolate, yellow candy and yellow cupcakes at branches by yellow-clad employees in an elaborate plan to put a smile on their faces.
During the weekend, customers paying for shopping with a National Bank Visa card will also enjoy a three per cent discount.
The bank’s Managing Director Munir Sheik Ahmed, will also serve customers as a teller at an undisclosed bank branch . . . all in the name of love.
Other businesses are offering their own delights. Villa Rosa Kempinski, the luxury Five Star hotel in Nairobi, has been the talk of town after announcing a Sh5.4 million Valentine’s weekend offer, branded as “the 50 shades of Valentines”.
The 50-hour package is made up of a limousine convoy pick-up of the guests from a location of choice, champagne, two nights stay in the presidential suit, a sky city and Mara excursion, as well as a special spa session at the Olare Mara Kempinski. “Already two couples have booked and their electronic money transfer is being processed by the accounts office right now,” said Kempinski marketing manager Kithure Mwingirwa yesterday.
Besides the Sh5.4 million couple’s treat, the hotel is also offering lesser packages in four of its other outlets.
“We have prepared room for 780 guests to be hosted in our other four hotels with a dinner going for Sh5,000. Already 400 tables have been booked. The guests will enjoy a five-course meal, with a welcome glass of bubbly wine as well as performances by a belly dancer, violinist and guitarist,” Mr Mwingirwa adds.
The hotel started the expensive luxury treat last year, and the trend has caught on among other hotels. In 2015 Kempinski jolted the country when it announced a Sh2.34 million Valentine’s package succulently branded as “a night of diamonds”. And thus started a new culture where love is measured by spending power.
The package delivered the services of a butler, private chef, serenade at dinner and other treats, including luxury diamonds and sapphire jewellery.
Hot on Kempinski’s heels are other hotels which have come up with Valentine’s packages of their own. Newly-launched Acacia Premier Hotel in Kisumu has dubbed its package
“Lakeside Valentine’s Romance”. The Sh500,000 romantic treat features a helicopter ride around Lake Victoria, lunch at the picturesque Maboko island in the Winam gulf of the lake, and a yacht ride from the island to the hotel for a private dinner at the hotel’s presidential suite.
Another versatile player in the luxury field is the Nyeri-based Giraffe Ark Hotel which want to ensure those struck by the cupid’s arrow pay for that sensual feeling called love by splashing Sh1.2 million on Valentine’s day.
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The offer, themed ‘a Night of 1,000 Dreams’, includes a limousine ride, gourmet with a personal chef, personalised spa treatment and a free seven-day stay at the lodge for the next 99 years. The luxurious, high-end lodge, located in the Aberdare Range, is 11 kilometres from the Aberdare National Park and 35 kilometres from Mount Kenya National Park.
“The offer is for only one room which is the presidential suite and a couple has already booked in and settled,” Jackton Amutala, the General Manager Giraffe Ark, says.
The nature of consumer capitalism has it that consumer demand is manipulated, in a deliberate and coordinated way, on a very large scale, through mass-marketing techniques, to the advantage of sellers. The idea of a free market economy makes rubbish of restrictive measures that want sellers censored on what they put out through advertising. This being the case, emotive days such as Valentine’s get commercialised as companies put up mass media messages to attract customers.
A look across newspaper adverts shows a host of supermarkets giving price offers all geared towards attracting buyers during Valentine’s.
Naivas Supermarket has announced a 45 per cent discount on teddy bears, perfumes and other love gifts that go with the hallowed day.
The electronic company Yamaha is giving a 20 per cent discount on its wares, cleverly calling its customer’s through the tantalising line: “Let your heart truly feel the beat this Valentine’s”.
Many like to travel during this love season and this has seen even the troubled national carrier Kenya Airways take advantage of the day and offer discounts to those travelling the London route. Even a betting company such as Lotto has brought an offer where if someone wins any of its three jackpot prices, his or her loved one gets Sh1million free!
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