Knowing how to party

Hands up who’s ever had a gallstone? Or a severe gut ache? Maybe a really bad stitch or most horrid sickening feeling in your stomach. Well those of you who don’t have your hand up…you haven’t lived. This is the feeling I get every time I see someone tackle their anniversary with a vacuum cleaner on blow rather than a fine bristle paint brush!

All too often I see companies painfully campaign out their ‘X’ year of business. Most do it badly and often use the wrong mechanisms to stimulate any real value out of the occasion.

I’m a big advocate of celebrating milestones in a business. It can boost staff moral, stimulate clients and customers while adding credibility to the longevity of your operation. Business has always been a tough game and it’s not getting any easier, so why not boast how long you’ve been making it happen for?

Large organisations seem to do it best. Funny that!

At this point I can almost hear the usual cries of “but they have a bigger budget” or “they have specialised in-house staff” or my favourite is “do we really need to go that far?”.

Well, the answers are simple. Yes, they do have a bigger budget but they also have a much larger market. Work out the ‘cost per thousand’ and you’ll probably be getting a better deal.

Yes. They may have an in-house team with amazing expertise, but that means that you need to get innovative. Consultants can be hired at a reasonable cost and if you’re smart then you can produce fantastic results by being clever.

Finally and most importantly… YES! Go hard or go home! Do it properly or don’t do it at all. Celebrating 50 years for example, and looking ordinary is probably not a great move. Have a party with your family at a Chinese restaurant or something…but don’t make it public!

Like most aspects of marketing, doing it well and understanding the right mediums to utilise, to get your message out there is vital. You can stand to make some fantastic gains out of the exercise but you have to do it well.

So don’t end up putting your customers in hospital with a case of bad ‘anniversary campaignitis’.

Celebrate in style and make it worth your while.