thortful rolls out Valentine's Day campaign across social media and broadcast video on demand

Online retailer thortful has launched a new Valentine's Day campaign. Rolled out across social media and broadcast video on demand, this features Mrs Thortful, a calm under pressure, confident character who finds the perfect card and response to every person and situation.

Built around the notion that people often know how they feel but struggle to say it, the campaign shows Mrs Thortful stepping in to save the moment, whether that’s romantic, funny, awkward or deeply heartfelt.

“Mrs Thortful is about confidence and clarity in moments that can feel surprisingly stressful,” says Beau Lyons, Creative Director at Noise. “She’s useful, reassuring and instantly recognisable, a character that helps bring thortful’s personality to life in a really human way.”

The film marks the start of a broader brand platform developed by Noise, designed to give thortful a consistent, ownable presence across key cultural moments, where people feel pressure to get it right - and where generic gestures fall short.

Mrs Thortful will return later in the year for Mother’s Day and Father’s Day.

“thortful already has huge cultural relevance because of the creators behind every card,” says Samantha Harris, Global Strategy Director at Noise. “This campaign is about making that value instantly clear, helping people feel seen, understood, and confident they’ll find a card that actually says what they mean.”

The campaign also aims to put thortful’s community of independent creators front and centre.

“Working with Noise on our first campaign together has been incredibly exciting. Mrs Thortful is rooted in a very real human tension we see every Valentine’s Day, when feelings are clear, but the words suddenly aren’t,” says Sarah Pearce, Marketing Director.

“As the campaign goes live, we’re excited to see how people connect with the character and recognise themselves in those moments of pressure. thortful exists to cut through the beige and help people say what they actually mean, with humour, honesty, and a bit of edge. This campaign captures that spirit perfectly: warm, human, and unmistakably thortful.”

2026 RTIH Innovation Awards

Online retail will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.

The awards will open for entries in April. They celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.

Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Thursday, 15th October.

Check out our 2025 winners here.

Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.

In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”

“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”

He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”

Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.