Summer is here...if you want it to be

When does summer start?

We've just about made it to March, and there's daffodils and crocuses popping up all over so it's safe to say that spring is very close, if not already here...but you might give me a funny look if I said summer has already started.?

For some people it has.

Because summer isn't really a season, it's an emotion, a state of mind, like Christmas.

There's so much hope and expectation attached to summer.?

We live differently in summer. We're spontaneous, more relaxed, we break rules like wearing shorts and flip flops in the office. We're happier.

We become a more idealised version of ourselves.

So no wonder that as soon as there is a glimpse of sun and a touch of warmth people turn on summer mode.

This what the people I saw BBQing in a park I Leeds last weekend had done. It wasn't one group of crazy rogue BBQ fanatics. There were 4 separate groups grilling away.

It was sunny...but it was 10 degrees celsius. It was still February.

But for these brave BBQers, for a few hours, it was summer. They were unlocking their ideal summer self.

For brands and retailers this means if you expand your view of what and when summer happens there's lots of opportunities to be there to help make summer happen.

Summer isn't 12 weeks from June to August. It's a series of moments that people seize when they arrive, as they gone as quick as they arrive.

Summer moments are longer and more frequent in the warmer months, but the are still fleeting. We always have to go back to real life. To work and the stresses of life, even if the weather is warm.

That's why this campaign at the top of this post for Magnum is so great. It recognises that summer is a moment, not a fixed time period and uses this insight to create relevance outside of the summer peak.

So, how can your brand help people to make summer happen, whatever the time of year?