Make anniversary news, not an announcement, Part 2

Any given year, every company founded more than a year ago celebrates an anniversary, and any event so common, by definition, is not news. Generating interest from media requires creating or finding stories that are compelling and out of the ordinary.

This week, we continue our own 25^th Anniversary observation with the second half of our list of 25 ideas to inspire your anniversary tactics. No matter what you choose to do, make sure the story can’t be told without mentioning your company, and whenever possible, brand the event or activity so that it reinforces your own company brand.

Give back

15.   Select a charitable organization for a company service project. Identify an initiative that is unique, highly impactful and lends itself to moving pictures and sound. Then, create a well-timed, mediagenic event that readers and viewers will find heartwarming and greatly needed in your community.

16.    Celebrating your 15^th? Make $15,000 donation to an educational institution for a non-traditional, experiential educational activity. Invite a reporter to imbed in the experience.

17.   Is there a national or global commemoration relevant to your business such as Engineers Week, Energy Day or National Chemistry Week? Develop an educational outreach project and submit a photo release of your employees interacting with students to local papers in your operating communities.

18.   Observe your 50^th Anniversary by inviting 50 teachers to shadow employees for a day, thus giving them exposure to real-world applications of educational concepts. Ask them to share their learnings through social media. Invite an education reporter to participate.

Engage

19.   Do you have people who perform unusual jobs? Invite a reporter to tag along and maybe take a turn at the task for the day.

20.   Set a new record related to your key capabilities. It’s actually easier than you think to get into the Guinness World Book of Records.

21.   Run an odd, but fun, contest that is relevant to your products or services and share the results via social media. Pitch the story to that reporter that covers the zany and off-the-wall.

22.   Invite customers or clients to write a guest posts for your company blog to showcase your sphere of influence.

Don’t forget

23.   Check your numbers. Are you about to produce your 1,000,000^th widget? Milestone accomplishments can also be news.

24.   Promote your anniversary in all your standard news releases throughout the year.

25.   Watch for opportunities to “newsjack” a story to demonstrate your company’s expertise gained from its many years in business.

For our 25^th anniversary, we have followed our own tried-and-true anniversary advice for our own celebration. Stay tuned to see how we leverage the occasion to generate outreach with our key audiences.

Do you need help generating media coverage and awareness of your upcoming anniversary? Ward’s creative team of professionals can assist you in developing a plan to make your next milestone an event the media will notice.