Marketing a Milestone

Our weekly newsletter — Long Story Short — recently released its 300th edition.

It’s a major milestone for the humble newsletter, which has covered everything from the marketing origins of Mother’s Day and bacon for breakfast to those Steven Singer billboards and the Loch Ness Monster.

Milestones and anniversaries can be a valuable marketing and communications tool.

They can provide a meaningful news hook with a lot of flexibility in messaging. An anniversary is reason to look back and celebrate the past and honor leaders or teams who helped you get to where you are today. Or it can be a chance to look to the future and announce a new hire or a new initiative.

Milestones that Matter

On their own, an anniversary or other milestone often isn’t all that newsworthy. The key to these initiatives is to give people a reason to care about the milestone.

Some organizations do that through campaigns with impressive content and visuals. Disney’s in the midst of this right now with its Disney100 campaign, which includes videos, downloadable content and live events at resorts as well as the Franklin Institute right here in Philly.

Other organizations use anniversaries to publicize philanthropic and community efforts. For its 100^th birthday, Lowe’s dialed up initiatives like 100 Hometowns, which distributed $10 million to 100 impact projects in communities around the nation.

Others rely on traditional content marketing techniques by highlighting the impact their organization has had. IBM’s 100^th anniversary included a global lecture series titled The Ideas that Shaped a Century that featured IBM experts and other thought leaders.

In each case, the campaigns were essential in spreading the word about the company milestone.

Reverse-engineering a Reason to Celebrate

When a significant anniversary or milestone is coming up, it’s a great opportunity to amplify brand messages and initiatives. Starbucks used its 50^th anniversary to push its sustainability commitments.  

But savvy marketers know that you don’t have to wait for an anniversary to use milestones as a marketing lever.