• by Erik Sass , Staff Writer @eriksass1, February 13, 2015

The association between romance and small, interlocking plastic bricks may not be immediately -- or indeed ever -- obvious, but that doesn’t mean Lego can’t bank off of Valentine’s Day for a social media win. In fact, the toy brand blew more natural Valentine’s categories like jewelry and candy out of the water, according to social engagement data from MediaPost’s Digital Engagement Index, powered by ListenFirst.

Lego generated 1.6 million social interactions across its social channels in the week from February 6-12, including a whimsical Facebook post celebrating Valentine’s Day with Lego Minecraft characters. Then the brand returned to the social spotlight with its cute “Unlikely Valentines,” showing odd couples reconciling for the magical day (e.g., Lego Joker presenting Lego Batman with a Lego token of his affection); the images are available for download and sharing across social channels.

By comparison, candy and jewelry brands have had a rather lackluster pre-Valentine’s week. In the jewelry category Cartier garnered the highest engagement score, with 207,361 interactions across its social channels, due in large part to the continuing success of its short film“The Proposal” on YouTube, with promotions across Facebook, Twitter, Instagram. The next-highest score went to Tiffany’s, with 59,336 interactions for its #ConciergeofLove promotion. Much further down the totem pole were Kay Jewelers and Jared, with fewer than 10,000 interactions each.

Turning to sweets, M&M’s leads an unimpressive pack with 70,715 interactions for the week February 6-12; the candy brand’s Valentine’s Day promotion began on January 27 and highlights personalized M&M’s. Twix’s promotion began on February 4, advertising its Valentine’s-themed offerings, and in the same period generated 39,686 interactions.

In conclusion: if Lego can win the social media game on Valentine’s Day, pretty much anyone can -- provided they have the right creative.