During the COVID-19 marketing scramble, one email stood out amongst the flood of others this week.

It was from M&S with a useful and warm suggestion for changing things up a bit. The subject line: Let’s make dinner special tonight – How to elevate your everyday dining.

More than three weeks into lockdown, the prospect of a “special dinner” sounded very appealing. I also liked the inclusive, approachable tone: “let’s”, the promise of a bit of help: “how to…” and the implication that it is doable enough to make this a reality tonight.

So I opened it.

Inside was an invitation to join the #makeamealofit movement, encouraging people to cook great meals, sit down and enjoy them together, with suggestions for fancy dinnerware and dresses to wear.

Sure, they were mostly trying to get me to buy said dinnerware and frocks. I wasn’t totally blown away. But it also took me back to when my husband and I were getting to know each other long-distance over Skype calls and had digital date nights on Fridays.

It seemed so… relatable.

Recognising human needs builds affinity

Creating special occasions and taking time to celebrate is such a common human need and often a crucial ingredient to keeping spirits up.

With this campaign it felt like the M&S team were saying: “Hey, it’s still OK to express gratitude and happiness by taking a moment to celebrate being healthy and connected”.

Who can’t get on board with that?

FYI, below is the full mail.

View the M&S email campaign online.