Happy anniversary! And is that a big deal?
Clients often ask us what they should do about an upcoming anniversary: Can we make hay out of it? How? What’s the best way to do it? Does it even matter? What should the budget be?
Of course, the answer to these good questions is the ol’ “it depends.” And I find myself wanting to back up and look beyond the details of scope and plans.
While many PR and marketing pros yawn at the thought of promoting an anniversary (big sigh), I maintain a deep and abiding affection for anniversaries as a special PR moment. I’ll never tire of them because the meaning-making hits home with me. An anniversary lets you take stock, knit together the big picture, give credit and thanks to others, claim credit, and generally reflect on both the past and the present.
Meaning is … meaningful!
Having worked with many clients on exactly this, I have found that the meaning aspect of an anniversary is, wait for it, very meaningful to the folks involved—the leaders, the brand ambassadors, current employees and, crucially, alumni. Anniversaries are the premier time to engage alums, who often are B2B companies’ best source of referrals. All of these stakeholder groups can star in anniversary communications, with individuals coming to the fore via storytelling, appreciations, events, photos, posts, videos and so on.
If you’re really creating social and environmental impact or breaking new ground in significant ways, there’s no question that your anniversary is a moment to soak up the meaning, make sense of it, relate it to the current moment and uncover the pivotal stories. With a powerful narrative in hand, you can then figure out the best way to reach your audiences with these messages.
One client’s recent 40th anniversary was the impetus for a brand relaunch, a series of compelling videos and interviews, and a heart-warming event that created goodwill and energized the community. People left the event wanting to have more time together and feeling more connected to the organization’s work.
Don’t expect media coverage—but it can be a happy byproduct
It’s unlikely your anniversary will draw media attention, and that should not be your primary goal in promoting the milestone. That said, press coverage can be a happy byproduct if you think about the most creative and compelling aspects of your anniversary celebration as a PR opportunity.
We landed that side benefit when we created a campaign designed to celebrate a professional services firm’s 20th anniversary with its staff, clients and prospects. We commissioned 10 original cocktails with nonalcoholic pairings for the occasion, naming each drink with a humorous nod to the firm’s industry. The drinks collection, rolled out in monthly Friday blog posts and compiled in a recipe book, brought the fun to in-person company meetings that were the mainstay of the firm’s culture and contributed to marketing and relationship-building efforts. We thought it was novel enough to pitch to our media contacts, and the campaign landed features in the regional business journal and the local daily’s business page.
If you mine your anniversary’s meaning and reach your stakeholders, you might be surprised by how much good stuff you can generate: invaluable benefits like company pride, a sense of coming together and gratitude, and the energy and morale needed to reach the next milestone. Those are things money can’t buy (though it takes money to do all the marketing and PR work, to be fair) and anniversary celebrations are a golden opportunity to bring them home. Like I said, they never get old.
