How old will your company be in 2020? How about 2021? People celebrate “milestone” birthdays, like 30, 40, and 50, and we think it’s important for companies, too. At Marbury, we love helping clients celebrate their impressive anniversaries with what we call, “Marbury Milestone Marketing.” We hope this article may inspire you to do some marketing of your own.
If your company is celebrating a major milestone (we suggest at least 20-25 years in business) in 2020, you should start the party planning now! Milestone Marketing is an interesting and sentimental way to celebrate your company’s longevity among your team; but it is also a great tool to show your community that your company has staying power. You’ve managed to innovate and have continued to offer a valuable product or service to your market, and you plan to be around for longer! You are a respectable brand. A winning brand. That’s something to be shared.
So, what are some ways you can use Milestone Marketing? We thought we’d share a few examples that we’ve created for clients over the past…well, 9 years…but who’s counting?
Logo Lockup
This is one of the more simple tactics within milestone marketing. It’s easy to add a banner or seal to your existing company logo calling out the milestone you are celebrating. Use that logo mark on all materials and digital platforms your company uses for the ENTIRE anniversary year. This small update can have a big impact as it reminds everyone who sees it that you have staying power!
Timeline Brochure
If your milestone involves a few notable events, consider having a brochure created and printed. Use pictures of notable items or events in your company’s past and include some quick thoughts from employees, past and present. A timeline-themed brochure makes a great marketing piece for potential clients, as they will be able to visualize the growth of your company from inception to your current standing as an industry leader.
Anniversary Video
Creating a celebratory video is a wise investment, as it can be used in a variety of ways and for years to come. Interviewing past employees and the visionary or founder of the organization is a wonderful way to honor those who have contributed to the growth of the company. It’s also a wonderful way to boost the morale of your current team and remind them why you do what you do. Marbury worked with an Athens-area hospital to honor their retiring CEO. He had been with the hospital for 30 years, so the video focused on his journey over the years and celebrated what he had accomplished during his tenure.
Commemorative Book
If you are celebrating a hefty milestone (50+ years), you likely have enough history and special stories to create a beautifully designed book to memorialize your organization’s journey. Sharing historical (or hysterical!) pictures of meaningful events, people, and memorabilia make for a fun trip down memory lane for all members and stakeholders. It’s also a powerful reminder of the reason you were founded and how far you’ve come.
Marbury worked with BrandBank to create a book for their 90th anniversary of serving their communities. There were some amazing photos of the first branch in the Lawrenceville town square, scans of bank receipts showing the costs of things in the 1920s, and even some paraphernalia like check cancellation stamps, adding machines and even a 50s-era ashtray (Mr. Brand was an avid cigar smoker)!
If you are a consumer-based company and have a gift shop or place where customers can buy branded merchandise, your book could be mass produced as a coffee-table collectible and sold to your fans. “What’ll Ya Have? A History of the Varsity” was created by Rob Marbury’s previous agency to celebrate the Varsity’s 75th anniversary. The book was sold in the restaurant chain’s gift shops, and featured photographs of memorabilia that had just been sitting in someone’s attic for years.
Event or Museum Display
What better way to celebrate your past than by taking people back through it in real time? If you have items from your company’s history, like your founder’s old desk or a phone used to schedule your first clients, you might consider hosting a special event to recognize your milestone and allow attendees to see and touch these relics of your past.
Marbury created a 5-station “museum” for our client, Cherry Bekaert, complete with phones, desks, adding machines, and old ledgers to represent various decades of history. The signs we created for the museum event included timelines, quotes and old photos that were then replicated by Cherry Bekaert to hang in their headquarters, and many of their offices.
Interactive Timeline
You may choose to take your employees and clients back in time with an online trip down memory lane. An interactive timeline can live on your website and provide rich details about your company’s history with animations, videos, and stunning pictures. Marbury created an interactive timeline for Kimberly Clark’s website to celebrate their innovative history and it helped bring the notable company’s inspirational past to life.
So, how about you? Do you have an anniversary coming up in the next couple of years? If your company is celebrating a significant milestone in your industry, now’s the time to start thinking about milestone marketing! Give us a call, and we’ll be happy to brainstorm some ideas and put a simple proposal together to make it a STAND OUT YEAR for you. You can reach us at shelly@marburycreativegroup.com.
